Hi Guys

Can anyone tell me part numbers and where to buy either in Perth or online this:

Top Over All Head Gasket Kit

Car is: 1971 Datsun Sedan. Car motor is stock from dealer and been told its a A12, did they come stock from the dealer as a A12 & where do I look on the motor for this info?

Ive attached (I think) a photo taken of the oil leak,
Thanks
Wendy

Attach file:

---

  oil leak.JPG (150.74 KB)

Yes that's where the 1200 got its name, from the 1200cc engine.

It looks like it *might* have some oil seepage from the head gasket, which somtimes happens. Or it might be oil run down and around from the valve cover gasket. The "overall" kit is for changing the valves seals. Sometimes the kit is less expensive than the 3 gaskets however.

1. Re-torque the head bolts and see if it clears up. This should be done every two year in any case. The valve cover gasket can usually be reused unless it has the cork type.

2. If you decide to change the head gasket, You don't need a top end overall kit. Just the head, manifold and (maybe) the valve cover gasket. Any auto parts store will carry these.

Or to put it another way, the kit is a REGRIND kit. Just to change head gasket the valve grind kit is overkill

11042-H3927 KIT-GASKET VALVE REGRIND A12

VALVE REGRIND gaseket it is also called "HEAD SET" -- see Head Set for A12

Thanks your an angel

This car is my project, I've had six other Datsuns in my lifetime but always had a bloke to help me redo it, this time it's just me doing it,

I have a Toyota as my daily driver but plan to offload that when the datto is finished, I have decided it has to be finished before 13 September next year,

Sometimes I think I ask some silly questions but I would rather ask than go ahead and do something that is plain stupid or something that is expensive to fix

The siliest question to ask is the one you don't ask.

Picked up a rocket cover and head gasket from Coventrys today for $45

Went to stupid cheap and they quoted me $6 for the rocket cover gasket, kid was very vague so I walked away from that one

Guys at covs were great, heaps of info and I brought a tool

And i got myself a 1/2 inch drive tongue wrench, I know I could of hired or borrowed someone's but I have access to a mountain of tools here anyway so another one isn't going to hurt,

And forgot to ask a really important question


Sooooooooooo

What is the sequence I need to use to tighten down the head?

My dad tells me ill either kill or cure the Datsun!

Congrats on getting the torque wrench.

The sequence is a spiral pattern, starting from one of the middle bolts. Tighten in stages, not all at once.

See Changing Head Gasket for photos.

Firstly tighten the bolts down til they touch the head. Start at the middle 2 of the bolts,(number 1&2 at the front, 3&4 next, 5&6 in the middle, 7&8 next & 9&10 at the back), so numbers 5&6. Set the torque wrench to a lower setting to the final torque, which for me is usually 70 ft/lb's. So start around 50 ft/lb's & tighten in the pattern of 5,6,3,4,7,8,1,2,9,10. Next, adjust the torque wrench to 60ft/lbs & use the same pattern,5,6,3,etc. Finally set the torque wrench to your final torque & go around the bolts again using the same pattern. You can then go around the pattern again if you want, it can't hurt. The head gasket you got sometimes has information like torque settings & such, but I've found the 55 ft/lbs in the original manual isn't enough & they say 70 ft/lbs for basically the same engine in the Sunny. Once you got the head torqued down, you can put the rocker gear on, just a warning that the torque for the rocker posts is only 15-20ft/lbs, so it's easy to strip the thread out. I've seen a couple of heads where people have used the head torque figure, & it always ends in tears. Don't forget you have to retorque the head after it's warmed up & cooled down. It's best to do this first thing in the morning. You actually have to undo the bolts slightly, then do the little 3 step torque pattern to re-do them. Some gaskets claim you don't have to retorque, but they are the ones that seem to fail the quickest. So good luck, & remember, if us dumb-arse blokes can do it, so can You.

PS theres a right way & a wrong way for the head gasket to fit & if you put it on back to front, water will leak out the back of the head (been there, done that). line up all the holes & you should be fine.

Thanks Guys

I cut and paste the detail that you just gave me,

and dont worry about the damb-arsed bloke thing, I'm blonde so its going to be a challenge!

I'll let you know how I go on the weekend when I get more wine so I can start!

Wendy