My 1973 Opel Manta A has had oil seeping out around the cylinder head for quite some time. It wasn't enough to be super worried about, but it also made it impossible to keep a clean engine bay. Also, I've always had a bit of smoke out the exhaust when I started the car up. I was dreading this job, as I'm anything but a professional mechanic, but I knew I would have to remove the cylinder head to solve both of these issues.
What I found as I went through this project: My cylinder head is from an earlier Opel, probably a 1970. I also had the wrong head gasket, the wrong valve seals, half of the valve keepers were wrong, and the wrong cam button, just to name a few fun discoveries.
I took my time to learn about the differences between the early 10-bolt, solid lifter cylinder head that I have, and the later 12-bolt hydraulic lifter heads. I eventually sourced all the right parts and was able to replace the valve seals and head gasket. While I was at it, I also installed an oil level extender, extended timing chain tensioner, and a new cam button.
This was quite a long project, and a long video to boot. I learned a lot, and I hope you'll enjoy it!
My main parts sources for this project (not sponsored):
Opel GT Source: www.opelgtsource.com
Edelschmiede: www.edelschmiede.com
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
0:56 - General Disassembly & Head Leak Source
3:07 - Verifying Timing Marks
6:46 - Cylinder Head Removal
13:02 - Valvetrain Disassembly
17:06 - Cleaning Valves & Head
19:15 - Installing Oil Dam
19:59 - Valve Lapping
22:45 - Valve Seals & Valvetrain Reassembly
25:45 - Head Gasket & Cylinder Head Installation
30:48 - Cam Button
32:12 - Extended Timing Chain Tensioner
33:03 - Valve Lash Adjustment
36:05 - Engine Beautification & Reassembly
37:57 - First Start & Second Valve Adjustment
41:12 - First Drive & Conclusions
44:42 - Bloopers & Outtakes