Before anyone gives me a hard time about doing a search first I HAVE. The problem is everyone says something different.

I am swapping a 086 casting head onto a 1997 2.4l. My question is what head gasket do you use. Some people say the 2.4 others say the 2.3. I would tend to believe that you would use a 2.4 since you have to machine the cooling passages in the head to match the block. Also will the stock 2.4 timing chain and tensioner take up the slack of the new head or do I use a different chain.

Please don't reply to this if you READ a post somewhere about this subject only reply if you've done the mod and actually know what your talking about. Theres nothing worse then spreading wrong information about things you know nothing about.

Thank in advance to anyone who replays and answers my questions.

i'm in the same boat as you!!!!!
I would also like to know from someone who ACTUALLY DID IT!
and how big should i drill the water holes?

anyone? there is got to be someone here that have actually done this...

use the 2.4's gasket. there was a nice post around here that I had bookmarked but my PC died.

have you done it?

do a member search on members who have actully done it



Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!

Yeah, I am in the middle of doing the swap right now, myself. The block and crank are in the shop to be prepped for the forged internals. Unfortunately, because of my slow income, you'll probably have it done before me.

I have already matched the head to the 2.4l gasket (It makes no sense to match it to the 2.3L gasket, since it is already matched stock. If you did that, you would have to match the block to the gasket, which I don't know if is even possible).

As far as your question of whether or not there would be slack in the timing chain(Keeping in mind that I haven't finished the swap yet): I have read through just about every post on this and not once have I recalled seeing anyone mension using the 2.3L timing chain housing, which would mean that the cams line up with the holes in the timing chain housing of the ld9, which means the cam gears are in the stock location, which means you haven't changed the length of the timing assembly, and therefore no difference in slack of the timing chain.

Again, I haven't finished the swap, and anyone who has, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

the thing about the head gasket is that some poeple says that because 2.3l have 92mm bore and 2.4 have 90mm bore and putting the 2.4 gasket with 2.3 head will create hot spot and eventually gasket failure. I have read on the quad 4 forums that you should match the head to the 2.4 gasket so it match the block, and then match the 2.3 gasket to the head.
i dunno if i explained it right.....

here is what i found on quad4forums.com and i quote:

Quote:

Fbod383 wrote

First step is to remove all the usual stuff in order to take off the head. Next step once the head is removed and all the old gasket material removed from the block, make sure the oil check ball is clear of debris (this will affect startup wear it MUST be clean) For ease of installation you will need the intake cam tower in order for the P/S pump to bolt up, and for the Cam Position Sensor. NOTE: although this is a 2.3 head, you cannot run HO camshafts with out a stand-alone ECM. Next comes the Head gasket.. you MUST use a gasket from a 2.3 or the smaller bore ring from the 2.4 gasket will create a hot spot for detonation. Now comes the hard part. You will need a drill and some Good High Temp RTV.. the orange stuff. The outer water jackets don�t line up perfectly, not do they need too. But just take the drill and open up the hole in the 2.3 head enough to allow water to flow through.. I usually open enough to stick a pinky finger through, you will see what I am talking about when you compare the two heads. Now, around these water passages you will need to use the RTV sealant.. use it around ALL of the water passages, even if no drilling was required (the end with the casting # doesn�t) Then reinstall the new head torque to 2.4 Specs using new 2.4 head bolts or ARP studs. Everything else will bolt back on.. at this point you can also do the secret cam swap while your at it, I would recommend using the Quad4s valve springs on the exhaust side, and HO intake and exhaust manifolds. We have seen from a stock 2.4 from 127-135hp to the wheels, after the stock 086 head (we weren�t sure how a ported head would affect the ECU), secret cam swap, and HO manifolds with 2.25� exhaust power jumped to 158-161hp which translates to roughly 195hp.. But this does require the ECU to be reflashed.

and then i read that i should use the 2.4 gasket, so i'm all mixed up and dunno what to do.
thats why i want to have the opinion from someone who actually did the swap.
thanx

I just checked out the head, and am 99% positive I know what their talking about.

With the stock head gasket, the gasket overlays a little of the area where air is supposed to flow in from the valves. That is with a stock ld9 gasket from GM. The Felpro gasket I have (which says it is for a 2.4L Vin T) has thinner distances between each cylinder, and none of that area where the air flows in is covered up (it is close though). I will send you pictures of the differences if you like, but it will have to wait till tommorrow, cause I have crappy a** dial up, a 4 MP camera (which I don't have time to figure out how to decrease the resolution) and I have to wake up early for work. Later.

here is the picture i have from my head with the cometic headgasket.
I dont have it with me now, its at my mom's house since i dont have any room for that here.


here is the difference between the felpro and cometic:
notice the different size in water holes


and here is where i open the holes with a dremel. dunno if i should open up more holes tho... maybe you can help me!

I sent you an email Merlin.

here we go....

Quote:

I don't know exactly how to post pictures on J-body.org, so I'll just send them to you here.

I don't know how the cometic gasket compares to either gasket, as far as the bore size (I know performance wise: it is better than both). You showed a picture of them side by side, but the only differences I could tell between them were the water passages.

The easiest way I found to drill and dremel new water passages, was by using both the head gasket and using my stock "779" head to check which holes would need to be drilled or bored out. I used your picture and circled in blue where you hadn't already circled in red, where I bored out.

As you can tell, the stock gasket overlays the area around the edges where the valves are. These are circled in blue. The same spots were circled on the Felpro picture and you can tell that they don't overlay.

The Felpro gasket I used was for a 2.4 Vin T w/o EGR (99+). You said you have a 97', but you are swapping to the 95' ECU, so I wouldn't think you would have to worry about running an EGR simulator.

Don't flame me for saying this, cause I'm sure you already know this, but: you say you have the HO cams. Personally, I wouldn't run those until after doing the 2.3L oil pump swap, cause they will push your redline, as well as your power band higher in the RPM range...and the stock oil pump (from what I have heard from just about everyone) drops in oil pressure somewhere in the mid 5K RPM to low 6k RPM range (I don't remember exactly and I'm too lazy to look it up).

I hope at least some of my babbling helped.

Brian