16v head gasket surfaces

[treed2@u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

Okay, so I pulled everything off the 1.8 today and it's ready to be
hoisted out the bottom.. that will happen tomorrow morning. The only
trouble I had was that three downpipe studs are stuck inside the exhaust
manifold and I need to find a way to get them out somehow so I can replace
them. One is broken off but still has an inch protruding from the flange.
I tried heat and liquid wrench and they didn't budge but I'll try a stud
remover tomorrow.

I took the head off already to remove the exhaust manifold and I noticed
that both the head and block are both pretty scummy from the head gasket
and I tried to clean them up a little with some carb cleaner but it
didn't help much. I will do a better job later but I'm wondering how
clean do these surfaces need to be? I would be afraid to use any abrasive
for fear of scratching the soft aluminum head.

I put the head back on with the same gasket and head bolts (the bolts were
filthy.. had to clean them up them up with a brass wire brush just to get
them to thread in again) temporarily so that I can have two lift points to
connect the hoist to.

More details on the engine swap tomorrow..

-Toby