Mazda 323 1.6 8v head gasket and head bolt torque settings .

[DamirGTI]

Dear Guy , it's been a while since my last visit over here , hope you're well ! and that the things got better with your business .

Anyway , i've started rebuilding/freshening up my brothers car (it's a 1990 year Mazda 323 with 1.6l 8v unit) , well cylinder head mainly , and upon collecting all the spare parts yesterday i have one dilemma with regards to the head gasket for which i would like to hear your opinion .. and the head bolt torque settings .

As always , pictures stands for thousand words ! so , here's the old OE head gasket (it's 100% OE item as this engine hasn't been apart yet since we bought the car from new) :

top side


bottom side


New head gasket (aftermarket item) :

top side


bottom side


Now , the thing that bothers me is this - the OE gasket has precoated areas around oil holes whilst the other , aftermarket gasket , doesn't so i'm not sure weather i should use some kind of sealant on this the same areas as on the OE gasket or should i fit it dry as it is ?!
The head gasket assembly instruction which came within the package says : "Do not use any sealants , greases etc. on the head gasket unless prescribed by the engine manufacturer"

Further on , head bolt torque settings for this type of engine are :

1 Stage : 40 Nm
2 Stage : 76 to 81 Nm

This "76 to 81" i don't quite understand , does it mean that each bolt should be torqued twice in just one stage and one sequence i.e. starting from the bolt No.1 torque up to the 76 and then again to the 81 Nm before proceeding further to the bolt No.2 , and so on ?

Heres some more pictures of the engine (it's all a bit dirty sorry ! will make some better ones when i clean up all the parts as i would like to ask you a few questions regarding what can be made with the cylinder head from this engine ..) :

engine


block with the head removed


head


Thanks !

Kind regards :)
Damir

[Guy Croft]

1. No - don't use any sealant.
2.Tighten to 40Nm all bolts then go round them all again and up to 76Nm then finally up to 81Nm. Use the circular sequence shown on the att.

I guess from that torque setting they are 10mm bolts?

Those engines can be made to 'fly' with some GC style port and seat work BTW! I did one once.

G

[DamirGTI]

Hi

Yes , the head bolts are 10mm . Thanks for info , all is clear now will do as said .

Quite right Guy ! when i removed the head and started with the inspecting ports , said to myself , this might be interesting head for modifying (at least from my perspective , though i'm not an expert !) as it's , i dare to say , a bit bad/rough as a standard item when compared to some other heads which i saw till today , it has loads of sharp edges/spikes/casting imperfections inside the ports , not so much in the inlets which i would consider as a good but the exhaust ports are truly horrific !!

Will start a new thread with the head pictures .

Thanks !

Regards
Damir