I had it on a 55gal drum. I pulled the head off to do the work and figured do hg at the same time considering the mileage on it when I bought it. So no worries about it dropping into the abyss

If you dont pull the head you can buy tools to pressurize the combustion chamber slightly with compressed air to keep the valve seated.

@@Jake-im2lv thanks

Technically you could but it gets sketchy. In order to get to the seals you have to remove the rocker assembly , and the rocker assembly is held down by the head bolts. I’ve heard of people ratchet strapping the head to the block to keep compression on the head gasket but I wouldn’t want to run the risk of popping the hg and finding out later down the road. Best to pull it anyways to see engines condition and slap a new one on there.

Not much else really. Start ups had a little bit of blue smoke but once warmed up it cleared. But it never hurts depending on your engine mileage. I was at 303k on the original engine without a rebuild so it was best to go abit deeper than planned on cleaning and replacing parts. Did new chain and steel guides, timing cover and oil pump. (If you go rockauto the cover and pump will cost less than 100$ total for aisin)

I have the head off for this. I could never get a direct answer on if the rope trick would work or not since the rocker assembly has to be removed to get the seals off, which are held down by the head bolts. I didn't want to risk popping the seal and not knowing it so i pulled the whole head.

Glad I could help!