I will be pulling my head. Questions:

Can I detach the turbo from the manifold and pull the head with the manifold attached? I could then remove the manifold outside the engine bay.

Also, is it possible to just unbolt the intake manifold and leave it in place or should I pull the head with the intake manifold attached and likewise unbolt it outside the engine bay?

 

is it a stock turbo? if so the angle on the studs makes it a PITA, i find it easier to just remove the manifold especially if you have headstuds. and the intake manifold, i find it quicker to leave it on the head and unbolt it outside of the engine bay.

 

I hear that most people pull the intake manifold with the head... as for the exhaust, I would try to unbolt it in the car...

 

Thanks. Pulling the head with the stock head bolts out is easy with the turbo left in the car. With ARP studs, I can see how reinstallation would be tough with the exhaust manifold attached to the head.

 

Also I was able to pull the head with the intake manifold left in the car. Took a lot of patience to unbolt the intake manifold from the head.

 

It's the studs on the turbine housing that make it a PITA. I switched mine to bolts when I removed my turbo last time. Now the exhaust manifold comes right off.

The bolts aren't as strong as a stud but they are more than strong enough to hold the turbo on.

/brox

 

The stock O2 dump has supports on the block that should hold up the down pipe and such if you disconnect the Exh mani. The intake mani also has a bracket with two bolts on the block and two holding it to the intake mani. If you were to then pull the bolts holding the intake mani off the head, I guess it would stay put.

Personally, I removed the exhaust mani and pulled the head with the intake mani attatched. But I reinstalled it after the head was back in the car (I did pull the engine and tranny as well for a rebuild so it all came out) I didnt find it much of a challenge. You just need to label everything and have a good set of tools with preferrably double box end wrenches (offset box ends are a plus) and swivel sockets. These are not required but will save you some grief...oh and a flex head ratchet comes in handy.

Have fun doing it....go slow and it will be easy.

 

^ Agreed. I pulled the head with IM attached and removed it from head once out of car. Easy to take the whole exhaust side off first

 

I just ordered the ARP Head studs and wondering how much of a pain itll be to replace....and what the tq specs are if i was to do it.

 

Using the ARP moly lube we used 71 ft-lbs for the studs.

 

How long did it take you guys to to do....its just me in a home garage its sounds like you have tear apart the whole top end.

 

We also did the timing belt/tensioner/balance belt. That took the longest. Never having done this before, The head was pulled in under 2 hours. The hardest part was breaking the intake manifold bolts loose. There is very little space to turn a wrench. The head with ARP studs can be reinstalled fairly quickly (2-3 hrs). The timing belt took like 5-6 hrs. I had a GM master technician helping me but he had never worked on Evos before so some things took extra time to figure out - like tensioning the timing belt properly.

 

so it all went okay then?

 

Car runs like a champ!