ok well i got a new head coming. Imma just plop the new head on there in place of my fucked up one(that is if there isn't much piston damage, then im in a whole different boat). But the head does come with new cam caps, comes with everything EXCEPT cams. so ill just reuse my old ones i figure. I'm possitive i did the compression test right. I guess if my pistons are jacked up, imma just reuse the big rods and plop some 95 or evo pistons on there real quick, and hopefully everything will work out. HOPEFULLY i don't gotta replace the damn pistons. but whatever happens then ill let ya'll know. i torqued the head to 78ft/lbs with my arp head studs. That is what i was told by someone else that arp recommends as a torque setting. if anyone else knows differently, please chime in. anywho im out

Most people with ARP's go to 90 - 95 ft/lbs. Some get crazy like John and crank them to 105. I run 95 in my car.

ok so u recommend like 90 ft/lbs on my stock headgasket?

I run 110 ft/lbs using oil, doesn't matter what kind of gasket. Although I run a Mitsu metal hg with copper spray. Haven't blown a gasket yet.

ok well i figured id keep u updated using this same thread, so anywho spent a lil over an hour taking the head off. got it off, good news was that the pistons are ok. The rather confusing news, is that the head seems to be fine. I guess i can't see everything, but it looks like its fine. But i swear i had 0 compression in 3 cylinders and 140 in cyl#3. wierd, could it just be i don't see the damage to the head? could it be cuz i only torqued it to 78 ft/lbs? anywho, here's some pics we took, some are not for the faint, but just thought id share how we get when we work on the ol dsm!!!

pic of the car
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...f/fa880014.jpg

arps taste like chicken
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...7/fa8802c2.jpg

pistons
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...3/fa8802bd.jpg

head i thought was jacked up
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...0/fa88001e.jpg

got head?
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...5/fa8802b8.jpg

nipple stimulators
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...2/fa880020.jpg

Sounds like fun guys, If timing was way off it would let air out of the cyl. but then your valves would be hitting the pistons...

I dont know what the problem could be. I would put it back togeter and MAKE sure timing is correct at all marks... then take another test. If its 0 then get a new guage... and start her up :)

but the gauge worked for one of the cylinders. if it worked for that one, why would it not work for the others? and no way was timing way off, who knows, sumhow maybe it might have maybe almost been sorta 1 tooth off sumwhere maybe. but not WAY OFF, no way. I dunno, im just gunna wait for the new head to come, and put that on, and see what happens there. ill let ya guys know what happens

You wouldn't nessarily see the valves being bad from a visual inspection of the bottom of the head.

ok well we got the other head on, the car works fine now, one cylinder has pretty low compression, but it works for now so im happy, ill just slowly build up the other head to replace the other one, and hopefully some 2g pistons and rings in there too. PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!! only thing is i have idle surge, but ill work on that some other time, anyone have any ideas what it might be? ISC motor? vacuum leak?

Just curious what you mean by "using oil". Are you putting oil on the threads and then torqueing it down? Just wondering how much room from the end of the bolt to the bottom of the threaded hole. The reason why I ask is, would there be a possibility of cracking the block with oil in the holes? We run into this problem at work from time to time when someone spins a bolt in when there is some liquid in the hole. Oil is non-compressable.

I'm not trying to call you dumb or anything like that, Steve, I'm just trying to get an understanding about it. Any info I can get now will help when I need to rebuild mine. I always crave knowledge, but I like to know reasons as well so I know I'm doing the right thing.

Thanks.