Hello All:

1967 Volvo 122S Wagon. As some of you might recall, last week I found cylinder #3 had 35PSI compression. I finally procured a garage and did a leak down test last night - with #3 at top dead center, both valves closed, the air is leaking out of the exhaust pipe. I also observed that the rocker for that valve is noticably higher than the other rockers, indicating a retreat of the valve into the head, no? Tonight I pull the head.

I got some great advice from SteveW about doing that last week. Here is the excerpt:

"You need to remove the valve cover, and pull the rocker arm assembly to access the head bolts. Disconnect the upper radiator hose, heater hose from the back of the head, temperature sending unit, choke cables, fuel line, ignition cables, throttle linkage and the exhaust manifold flange to the exhaust pipe. Once the headbolts are removed, the entire head with intake and exhaust manifolds can be removed."

A few questions:

-I have never removed the rocker assembly before. It seems pretty straightforward, just removing the bolts. Correct? I assume I need to stagger the loosening since the various rockers will be pushing against the valve stems. I won't need a spring compressor to get this back together, will I?

-It appears that there are two hoses coming from the back of the block. Excuse my ignorance, but does this filter the hot coolant from the engine into the heater core in the dashboard and back out? If so, I assume I have to remove both hoses, correct? Do I need to drain the block of coolant before I do all of this?

-The temperature sending unit is the wire coming from the back of the head, I assume. Any special care tips?

-Choke cables, fuel line and ignition wires are self-explanatory, but the throttle linkage is a bit perplexing. I have looked at it but cannot figure out the most efficient way of disconnecting it from the carburetors.

-If by "exhaust manifold flange" SteveW meant the three-bolt triangular flange, I might have a problem. They look like they will not be coming apart any time soon, although I will shoot it with some PB Blaster first. Barring that, what do I need to do to get the exhaust manifold off? Are there other options?

I know, another long post from Pooch, but I really am new to all of this and I am doing it solo (which is probably why the valve got burnt in the first place). Many thanks for the help.

Cheers,

Jeff Pucillo