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Headgasket repair shop in Northern New Jersey needed


winterset

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anyone know of a shop where I can tow or drive my 1996 to so I can have all the headgasket repairs properly performed on my Northstar?  I have not started it in about 1 year, and when I did, the problem appeared to be much worse as a giant cloud engulfed the neighborhood.  I shut it down as not to kill the cat, or gas the neighborhood dogs and children. lol

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I don't know these shops but this is the recommended list from Northstar Performance: http://www.northstarperformance.com/locations.php

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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I recommend that you make sure that whoever repairs your car uses Timeserts and new GM head bolts for your specific engine.  You can order them by VIN at any GM dealer or online through GMPartsDirect and other GM dealers that offer parts online.  The reasons for my opinion are

  • Timesert thread repairs offer huge strength increase over original aluminum threads.
  • Northstar torque-and-twist head bolts are in fact tension springs that moderate head clamping forces over the temperature range of the engine during all operations, including overheating and limp-home mode.

The second one is most important, because the thinking behind most "improved" repairs are that the OEM head bolts are weak and such, which is not at all true.  If you use head bolts that don't match the OEM head bolts for tension spring constant, and have about the same temperature expansion, the head clamping forces during normal operation will be far higher than the head and head gasket are designed for.

Video on exhaustive test of aluminum thread repairs:

The comparison of failure strengths for the original and repaired aluminum threads is near the end.  Please forgive the additional 90% of the video that isn't relevant to Northstar head bolts.

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