Head gasket replacement

[AhhMazda]

2003 Mazda Protege 2.0 non-turbo 5sp manual (mods if in wrong location please move)
SO this is a long term project: Engine overheated, low compression on two cylinders and coolant in oil.

Thus far: Belts off, Crank balancer off, timing belt cover unbolted and removed, valve cover and coils off.

Next up is the intake manifold. This isn't my first rodeo, but I'm not seeing a way to get to the lower intake manifold bolts? I was thinking the best way would be to pull the upper/lower intake as a unit, is this the best way of doing it? Can I access the lower bolts from underneath? Doesn't look it but I wasn't under there long.

Exhaust manifold: looks miserable to disconnect from the downpipe, seems easier to unbolt it from the head (even if they shear, heads coming off and going to a machine shop anyway..)

Any tips for those that have done this before?

 

[MrGiggles]

If it was ran with coolant in the oil you might as well find yourself another engine. Coolant is very detrimental to bearings.

The whole intake can be pulled from the top. There are Youtube videos of the process, you'll need a long 3/8 extension, and a wobble really helps things along. There is a bracket that needs to be undone from underneath though. Unless you're gonna delete the butterflies, just pull the intake back from the head an inch or two and leave it there.

For the exhaust, remove the handful of nuts that hold the manifold to the head, then remove the 6 12mm nuts that hold the manifold to the precat. My car had 160k on it and it came apart without much trouble. Put some anti-seize on them when you go back together.

Make sure you send the head to a machine shop for dye testing and surfacing, this is not optional. Use a high quality (Fel Pro or OEM) head gasket and new head bolts, and follow the torque sequence in the FSM.

Installing the cams can be tricky, just take your time and again follow the FSM.

FSM:
http://web.archive.org/web/20061223062340/http://protege5.ugly.net/

 

[P-Funk!]

^x2, and FWIW:
Yes, you can also take the lower half of the intake manifold off and then the upper half so you can expose and access those last manifold head bolts easier.