#1 cyl need to be TDC before Head removal?

jerrywagner said:

No, you just have to establish TDC on #1 when putting it back together, very easy, after putting back together with cam properly aligned, leave spark plugs out and turn engine by hand until compression stroke on #1 then replace distributor with rotor pointing to the #1 distributor cap

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ChiXJeff said:

What? Rubbish. No need to find TDC when R&R a head at all.

Granted, if you're down to the cam, sure. But he's just replacing a head gasket. There's NOTHING in the head that needs to be timed with the bottom end, just drop the push rods back in and tighten down the rockers.

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ChiXJeff said:

Something that may make your life easier, especially if you're doing this alone is a couple of alignment studs. Pick up a couple of soft bolts with the right threads, cut the hex head off, notch the top for a screwdriver, and break all of the sharp edges. These don't need to stick up much from the head, but they'll keep the headgasket in place and align the nead for you. To get them out, unscrew them with a long screwdriver and fish them out with a magnet.

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