I need to replace my head gasket, need help diy

I had a 1972 B-510 too. It was fast back and yellow. Great little car.
Frisky little auto car.

Best car I ever owned was a brand new Nissan 240sx 4speed manual
2.4.
Owned that car 10 years. Nothing failed on it except clutch at 80,000 miles.

I agree it’s really important to get the head to a machine shop and check it’s deck. If not and it fails again you will kick yourself.
I bet the op’s car has seen repeated over heats.

Used engine is best bet. Lots of them out there.

 

Back in the day, I worked for this delivery company. The fleet of vehicles was 72 Datsun B-510's!! Talk about fun to drive! Frisky is the word. I was surprised at how much fun it was!! Plus all the space in the back with the seat down. They also were cheap to maintain. Fun vehicle!

 

Very fun. Ran great. I remember the t handle automatic stick, Slam it in D and punch it.Great car. No computers just little bullet proof motor. Why can’t they make a car like that now lol….
8 track stereo with Deep Purple machine head in it permanently…lol..
Maybe a Yes Fragile backup..

 

That engine was to most spunkiest small, stock, 4 cylinder engine I have ever driven!! The car wasn't anything visually to be proud of, but man, the motor was pure driving fun!!

 

I know! It was a blast to drive. Really light car handled pretty good.
Yellow with dark beige buckets.

 

I priced out an engine for 1800$ CAD Tax include as backup plan just incase the head and block are warped and rods are bent

 

Just some added comments after watching a few youtube videos:

This guy did a very good job explaining the process. He deserves most of the credit. there are some other good videos to watch too, but check out dobrowskis video first.

PRIUS HEAD REMOVAL 1.8l - YouTube

Pay attention to his diagnosis early on in the first video; this requires a way to pressurize the cooling system and a special side-view endoscope dropped into the cylinders while pressurizing the cooling system. this will give you definitive proof if you really need to do this job, as you may see the actual coolant dropping on piston while applying pressure. Also note in one of his videos that he pulls the power line (white coax-type cable) coming into the engine compartment fuse box. he is claiming that the engine could turnover when pulling off the block ground straps if you don't have this fuse box power disconnected first. Seems easy and worth doing to avoid some big risk.

Other notes:

1. This appears to be a very complicated procedure. I would watch as many videos as you can and document each step in a spreadsheet or word document, before doing the work. And have a backup car you can drive - unless you have done this a few times before.
2. While watching the videos, there seem to be some special tools, which are key:
some extra jack stands and/or a way to support the engine, bent-head socket wrenches, possible angle-sensing torque wrench
hose clip pliers, various bent nose pliers, special head bolt tool (12-pt socket), special endoscope and cooling system pressurizing
tool. and I'm sure I'm missing something else.
3. Applying FIPG (form in place gasket sealer) methods should be tried on an easier procedure- if you have never done it.
4. if you are not organized, dont even think about this procedure, as I suspect it will result in a torn apart engine, which is impossible to put together.
5. cleaning/sanding the head and various coverplate interfaces is something not really addressed in the videos. Probably want to research that before attempting the job.
6. After thinking about this, im not sure if the gasket actually goes bad or the engine block or head becomes warped from overheating. im inclined to think it might be a warped engine, meaning you go through a lot of work replacing the gasket, for nothing.

for item 6, its important to know what the standard operating temperatures are for the 2ZR engine. im not sure what they are but you can use iphone app car scanner plus with veepeak OBDII adapter to pull that data in realtime. if you find the ideal (new gen3) prius engine temp range, i would be interested to know what it is.