So I'm looking to do a head swap to the mini me and before I buy it I'm trying to get the head off so I can inspect the pistons and see if this engine is even worth a (insert some sort of obscenity here). Right now I have the valve cover off and have removed the exhaust manifold, I have also removed all of the visible head bolts, are there bolts under the cam?, I'm trying to remove it with the intake manifold still attached is this not possible?

 

There is a bracket underneath that holds the intake manifold to the block. You need to reach up and unscrew the bolt in the bottom of the manifold. Once that is done the head will come off with manifold attached (*), or you can remove the nuts and push the manifold back off of the studs in the head and leave it with the car. Either way the bracket underneath has to be undone. The exhaust is the same way. Unbolt the pipe from the bracket on the lower front of the block. Remove the heat shield and take the nuts off then pull the exhaust manifold or header forward off of the studs so the head can be lifted off.

There are 10 large bolts that hold the head to the block. They can all be removed after removing only the valve cover. When working inside the valve cover, stuff rags in the oil return holes at the corners. Anything dropped in there will land in the oil pan and be very difficult to retrieve.

(*) Of course there's a bunch of stuff attached to the intake manifold that will need to be disconnected to free it from the car. Unplug all the sensors and unbolt the wire clips so the harness stays with the car. Note that some of the sensor plugs can be interchanged, so mark them which one goes on what. After unplugging injector wires, take the fuel rail loose with injectors as a unit and set aside. There are 2 or 3 small coolant hoses on the bottom of the manifold. And of course the throttle cable and intake pipe.

 

^thanks The bracket has to be what I'm missing, I had everything else out, I guess I'll get to have fun with that tommorow. Anyone know a good place to get the vtech head for a mini me swap from? Idk about flea bay as I don't trust them to have pulled the head out wrong and warped it.

 

I have a spare z6 head, but it needs work. PM me if you are interested.