Head gasket replacement

[97tiger885]

The head gasket on my 96 Trident has failed.  I have coolant leaking from the rear section and heavy  white smoke from the exhaust.  The mc has 33,xxx miles. 

Any reason I shouldnt try to replace this myself with your help?

This will be my first head removal.  How much time should I expect the job to take?  Should I  get the head inspected?  Can I redo the liners or should I farm that out?

What parts will I need and what is the approx. cost?   The head gasket kit looks to be around US$200.

Very disappointing.  This was to be the backup and future replacement for the Tiger. 

[Mustang]

You won't know till you open her up.
But it is not unusual for the liners and rings to be in spectacular condition at 33k
Hell I bet they still have cross hatch hone Mark's in them from the factory.
You don't really Ned the head gasket kit. Just a new head gasket for around 60 bucks and a tube of hylomar to seal the liners(about35bucks)'
A triumph manual will help but I can send the relevant pages If you need them

[ssevy]

A good machine shop can check your head for warping if you don't own a machinists straight edge. If you do decide to install it yourself, you'll need a decent torque wrench. Some engines use stretch bolts that can only be used one time. I have encountered this on some car engines that I have rebuilt. I don't know if the Trident falls into this category, but I'll bet someone here has the answer.
Permatex makes a generic copy of the Blue Hylomar. I believe they had the rights to it for a while, as they used to sell it under that name. Now it's this stuff:



The English version may still be available somewhere, but I used the Permatex to install the head on my Farmall Cub tractor last spring, and it worked great. Since it remains tacky, it is especially good when you have to retorque the bolts after a given number of hours of running.

[97tiger885]

Thanks for the info.  I think I will open it up before ordering parts.  Just in case there is more severe damage.   

I have the Triumph Service Manual.   

Taking it apart isnt the problem.

Putting it back together is the challenge.   

I will wait until Spring hits.

[ssevy]

If your life is as busy as mine, I'll give you a helpful suggestion. Get a big sheet of butcher paper and lay it out on a large table near your work area. Every piece that comes off gets placed on this table and numbered, adding short descriptions if the part's location isn't obvious. A digital camera or even your phone can also do a "before shot" at several steps along the way if necessary. The point is, leaving a job like this for a few days or from one weekend to the next makes it a challenge to remember all of the reassembly details. I have spent many a few minutes staring at a part or bracket and thinking "Now where the hell did that come from?"
Using this organized system means simply beginning with the highest numbered piece (which came off last) and working backwards until all the parts are gone. If you have the time, it also makes it easy to identify parts which need replacing and order them, simply swapping them in on the table next to the old part once they arrive.
Also, I just received a bunch of dealer service bulletins for the Tbirds, Legends, etc., and you may want to see if there are any pertaining to your bike out there somewhere? Sometimes the torque specs or other details change, or they update a part. A bike of your vintage will not be known by most dealers, so the web is your best friend.

[Bixxer Bob]

The Gold Star for brilliantly simple ideas goes to    SSEVY 

I've always used boxes, labels and photos, but this is a GOOD idea!!!

[ssevy]

Thanks.  Trust me that I arrived at this system only after years of bulling and tearing something apart like my ass was on fire, only to stare blankly at the piles of parts when it came time to put it all back together. 

[Sin_Tiger]

Far too organised, no fun in that at all 

[97tiger885]

If your life is as busy as mine, I'll give you a helpful suggestion. Get a big sheet of butcher paper and lay it out on a large table near your work area. Every piece that comes off gets placed on this table and numbered, adding short descriptions if the part's location isn't obvious. A digital camera or even your phone can also do a "before shot" at several steps along the way if necessary. The point is, leaving a job like this for a few days or from one weekend to the next makes it a challenge to remember all of the reassembly details. I have spent many a few minutes staring at a part or bracket and thinking "Now where the hell did that come from?"
Using this organized system means simply beginning with the highest numbered piece (which came off last) and working backwards until all the parts are gone. If you have the time, it also makes it easy to identify parts which need replacing and order them, simply swapping them in on the table next to the old part once they arrive.
Also, I just received a bunch of dealer service bulletins for the Tbirds, Legends, etc., and you may want to see if there are any pertaining to your bike out there somewhere? Sometimes the torque specs or other details change, or they update a part. A bike of your vintage will not be known by most dealers, so the web is your best friend.

Excellent ideas.  Usually I use cupcake pans to sort my parts.  I put a paper label with the parts in each cup.  And I do a diagram where needed. Occcasionally I get confused after the third pan fills up.  The table idea is great.  Unfortunately my 4x8 table is downstairs but I think I will use it per your suggestion.  Photos on my tablet will be critical. I probably will snap a photo, print it and write a brief description of what I did and the order I did it.

[ssevy]

For my current garage, I bought one of those plastic folding tables with steel legs, and it works well. Two other items that I find are indispensable are a wire brush  mounted in an old electric motor for cleaning up threads and corrosion, and a big bottle of Never Seize, which I use on most all threaded connectors. My father was one of those self-sufficient WWII vets who grew up during the Great Depression, and therefore recycled everything, so cleaning rusted parts is in my DNA. We had two doodlebugs that he made out of old Chevy cement trucks, one with two transmissions bolted together, which gave you a double reverse gear that was so low you could walk away from the machine and it would gradually dig itself out when it was stuck. This one also had a rear end from another truck which he converted into a winch with a boom, and we used to skid wood and pull boulders the size of VW Beetles with it. On the second one he welded up a sickle bar mower for cutting our hay fields. We would just transfer the one old 6 volt battery we had to whatever machine we needed, which also included this awesome little Lloyd car from Germany, which we chopped and ran for a utility vehicle long before these even existed. I think it was 42 HP, with a 2-cylinder air cooled engine. I got so good at pulling that engine and reinstalling it that I could do it after school before I went to bed. We didn't have any money invested in any of these (because we didn't have any), except for fuel and welding rod, but it sure was a great way to grow up out in the country. Sorry for the sidetrack

[97tiger885]

Ssevy, I hear you. My dad was a farm depression baby. We had jars and jars of nails, screws,  nuts, bolts, and fasteners.  We had boxes and boxes of string,  razor blades, door knobs, locks,  steel wool, pool balls, cupcake pans binder's twine, burlap sacks,...,all unsorted.  If you needed it, it was probably there somewhere.  Hundreds of tools.  Most in terrible shape, but we had it. Very cool as a kid. Unfortunately, he had no mechanical skills. My dad taught me by counterexample the value of a clean, organized, well-lighted workspace, well-kept tools and fixing things correctly.

Now for the tech part:

One of my mentors taught me to use an outline on cardboard to keep track of differing size bolts from a cover.  Draw the outline of the cover on the cardboard.  Punch the bolt thru the cardboard in its proper place.  That keeps all the bolts oriented in a neat, visual way. And it doesnt matter if you bump it or drop it.  The bolts stay in place.

[nickjtc]

Get a big sheet of butcher paper and lay it out on a large table near your work area. Every piece that comes off gets placed on this table and numbered, adding short descriptions if the part's location isn't obvious.

Works like a charm until the cats get in and decide to frolic on the table top. Don't ask. 

[threepot]

Works like a charm until the cats get in and decide to frolic on the table top. Don't ask. 
[/quote]

Oh shit! 

[97tiger885]

Get a big sheet of butcher paper and lay it out on a large table near your work area. Every piece that comes off gets placed on this table and numbered, adding short descriptions if the part's location isn't obvious.

Works like a charm until the cats get in and decide to frolic on the table top. Don't ask. 

I thought about that.  No pets here, but I might be tempted to move stuff if the work gets delayed.  My plan is to put small stuff in zip lock bags.  The bags will get stapled or screwed in place.

[Bixxer Bob]

It's worth doing though. I dismantled a kid's electric scooter for repaint recently. I did none of these things because there's only a few parts.  Then some weeks passed. I looked at the pile of bits yesterday and thought, "Bollocks......"

Anyway, back on topic.....