Lancia Gamma Forum

Hello to everybody hope you all had a good christmas i did up until boxing day when i found  had some spare time to fit finishing touches to the 3 year gamma restoration like numberplate boot carpet front scuttle ect just small things before i could actually drive for the first time since owner her as I've only ever driven her up/down the drive however as i was fitting all these bits the engine was running so i cold warm up make sure all was well before the big drive to test the car and auto box as i have never tested it before and to take some pics to upload to the consortium then i noticed water running from the n/s of the engine  close look i found what looks like a corrosion hole between the exhaust manifold and water pipe on the n/s head I've wiped it away but it just keeps coming from this possible crack or it has corroded from inside out and the heat as finished it off so i need to replace the head  but have a couple of questions as i cannot be the only person to swap a head on one of these beautiful cars anyway i have a spare series one head i think as it came from a engine with fuel injection but the series one spring loaded belt adjusters and no cam plastic cover backing plate so assume series one if so can this head be fitted to the series 2 engine i would like to swap the cam and rockers from my original head is this possible also? and anything i should be aware of when stripping /rebuilding the head any help would be appreciated thanks Keri

The actual heads are the same, in fact n/s and o/s
Heads are the same so you can just swop the
external parts and the cam shaft of course, you
must keep the camshaft carriers as they are
matched to each head, you will see matching
numbers on the carrier and the head.

I agree and second all of the above.
Heads are the same and interchangeable. Camshafts are slightly different but still can be interchanged between S1 and S2 cars. I am told that an S1 cam in fuel injected engine will give slightly more power but I am not sure that's true. But do not swap the bridges or cam carriers as they are matched to the head and should be numbered accordingly (as mentioned above).

Thanks for the replies thats good to hear i can use the series one heads i say heads as i looked at the opposite head and that has cracked also really bad i think it was caused by the recent cold spells the car had no antifreeze in after i flushed it out i left water in to rinse it it before adding antifreeze but life got in the way oops anyway onwards and upwards i will order gaskets from the club do they come with torque setting?  or can you help with this also.
thanks
Keri

For torque settings look at http://www.lanciagammaconsortium.info/htmlfr/gamma006.htm (http://www.lanciagammaconsortium.info/htmlfr/gamma006.htm)

The Consortium can provide all gaskets. Engine gasket set comes without the head gaskets which are sold separately. 

Hi Theo thanks for the link i was going to order the head gaskets from the consortium today using the new e mail address but noticed they stated that they stock head gaskets for early and late engines so what are the differences as i now have a late series2 block with early series 1 heads which head gaskets do i order also do you know if they stock the intake manifold to head spacer gaskets.
thanks
Keri

what are the difference between head gaskets for early or late engines? also i noticed on one   head there is a hole   drilled into each exhaust port which then goes into the crankcase what is this for as on the other head it appears to be blocked off by hard crud of some sort but you can just see a tiny hole so could be drilled ok i assume these take crankcase gases out of exhaust in the flow?

There’s a slight difference in the holes for the cooling ducts between early and late head gaskets. A Lancia engineering change notice states that early gaskets can be used with the later heads if an extra hole is drilled in the gasket. So if using a later gasket with an early head, the extra gasket cooling hole shouldn’t make a difference. So our advice is that if in doubt, use the later gaskets. Small changes to the Gamma engine were applied often and not all changes were at the introduction of fuel injection, normally referred to as S2 although strictly speaking there was never officially a series 1 and series 2 Gamma. What we normally refer to as series 2 was simply a facelift and the introduction of fuel injection for some markets. My file of Lancia Gamma “Engineering change notes” is a full A4 folder bulging at the seams! But as you are sure you have S1 heads then you might as well use the early gaskets. The full gasket set comes complete with manifold gaskets but they are the thin ones and not the thick spacer gaskets. The engine in my car is the opposite of what you will have. My car is a "series 2" coupe with fuel injection but I have series 2 heads (I think!) with series 1 bottom end. I have replaced gaskets with early ones, on which I drilled the extra hole, and with the later ones and they worked fine. I have also had the inlet manifold fitted with the thick spacer gaskets and the thinner paper gaskets and both worked equally well. The thick spacer gaskets can be reused.

> " hole   drilled into each exhaust port which then goes into the crankcase "
That  doesn't seem right to me and I've never seen it! It wouldn't vent crankcase gases but would pressurise the crankase with exhaust gasses. Crankcase venting is done via the pipe on the oil filler which vents gasses back into the plenum chamber.

Two types of gaskets.
The picture of the head is S2.

It is better to make your own gasket for the intake manifold than to use a kit.

Keri, the holes to the exhaust ports are for the series one emissions system
They trick the engine into adding fresh air to the exhaust gases, it reduces
the emission readings and. Causes the pop pop on over run.

excellent thanks for clearing that up  so does it matter when fitting these to an injection engine i don't think it does as both head types seem to have them from what i can see only reason i ask this is one of the replacements head i am going to use seems to have these holes blocked of with a hard substance which can be cleared if required.

  thanks for the pictures of the head and gaskets but to confirm is the picture of the head defo series 2 as it has less cooling holes in it than the 4 heads i have here so I've assumed the series 2 head has more cooling holes than early head? and also the gaskets that came of mine are the same as the ones out of the packets on the pictures with more holes so are these gaskets series one or two just so i can order the correct ones.
thanks again for all your help

Keri,
The heads are the same it is just the gasket
that was updated with aids to cooling flow

I think where I've misunderstood about the heads is the picture of the head above which is a series 2 must still have the old gasket attached as i can see more cooling holes in my head than i can see on that so thats why i thought they differed by the way the fresh air ports for s1 heads should i block these off on my series 2 or does it not matter as they were not blocked on the heads that came off.
thanks
Keri

hi thanks for that i think where i have misunderstood s1 s2 heads is the picture above shows a series 2 head but at glance it looked different to mine but looking again it still has the gasket attached so blocks off some holes, also the fresh air holes on series 1 heads  do i need to block these off on mine i assume not as the heads  that came off were not blocked and it all seemed ok.

If you are replacing a new intake or exhaust valve, check the stem diameter.
S1 and S2 have different stem diameters.

Hi Neromoto yes as i had to send the head to my machine shop for a new valve seat to be fitted they confirmed it has 9mm valves   so should be later series 2 valves thanks for all the advise it really helps.

thanks to everyone who has helped with this little problem i had well heads are ready gaskets on the way so onto valve clearance when i refit heads as I've read the rule of 9 does not work so i would guess clearance is checked between cam lobe and rocker arm and not rocker arm and valve and possibly on the lowest part of the cam i.e. opposite the lobe lift  end is this correct or is there a cunning way to do this?
thanks again

The valve gaps are measured between the "slipper" on the rocker and the back of the cam lobe (not the lifting part of the lobe).  I just rotate the engine as necessary to get the lobe facing away from the rocker - 0.012" (0.30mm) inlet, 0.014" (0.35mm) exhaust.

(http://www.lanciagammaconsortium.info//images/tappblue.jpg)

See http://www.lanciagammaconsortium.info//htmlfr/gamma003.htm#VAL

Hi, I'm Walter1 from Italy. I agree with everything theo said. Before assembling everything, check the shoulders of the cylinder liners. If the paper bottom gasket is pressed beyond what is allowed, the barrel will be flush with the crankcase and no higher, therefore water or oil will leak.

Ciao walter1. Sto usando Google Translate per questo, quindi spero che abbia senso! Scusate il ritardo ma ho appena visto il vostro messaggio del 20 gennaio. Sono stato a Cipro per la maggior parte di febbraio. Ho cancellato un tuo messaggio a keri. Spero di aver cancellato quello giusto!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hello walter1. I am using Google translate for this so I hope it makes sense! Sorry for the delay but I just saw your message from 20 January. I was in Cyprus for most of February. I have deleted a message to keri from you. I hope I deleted the right one!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________