[Mk2] [Turbo] Removing the head in situ

[Wingers]

I'm trying to get the head off with the engine still in the car and just wondered how hard this is to do?

I've stripped the turbo, both manifolds fuel rail away, and disconnected a fair few sensors and hoses.

I think that the only thing left to remove is the timing belt but I'm not sure how to do this.
Can you access the tensioner mounting bolts when it's in the car?
Or is there any other way to do it instead?

Cheers,

Wingers

[MR!! wren]

the tensioner is mounted on the head itself, remove the engine mount and the top timing belt cover, and you can get it off a piece of p1$$, as all that's left is the head bolts. best get a new tensioner pulley and cambelt if you're doing the head, depending on when it was last replaced

[Wingers]

Yep - wasn't too bad taking it off in the end. The tensioner and timing belt have only done about 1500miles so they're going back on

I'm not too sure what does need replacing though.
I assume head studs and head gasket are single use but everything else should be good to go back on I think?

Wingers

[Driftlimits Performance]

you don't need to remove the engine mount to remove the tensioner. only the top cover.

[Wingers]

Oh yeah – I didn’t catch that bit.

I didn’t remove that though. The only mistake I made was trying to remove the hose from hell. In the end I lifted the head a bit and then had enough movement to undo a rubber hose at the end of it.
Knowing that first would have saved a bit of work. Other than that it wasn’t too bad. You have to remove a lot of components first but it was generally fairly straight-forward, with no really awkward bits.

Wingers