Cylinder Hear

[humbucker88]

If I'm removing the cylinder head....do I NEED to remove the followers and shims? I'd like to disturb as little as possible...

[Gnasher]

No all you need do is remove the cams.

[humbucker88]

Cheers, i've currently got the cylinder head off, forgive me if it's a stupid question...but...is there anyway for me to check the condition of cylinders 1 and 4 at TDC with the head off? Short of taking the the whole thing off of course

[Gnasher]

It's not possible to get all the pistons at TDC at the same time.  If you want to check the cylinder walls, well most of it, all you need do is turn the crank over.  Before you do that ENSURE you know how the retime everything and the you have SECURED the cam chain or it will fall inside the crank case
 

[humbucker88]

well i've marked the chain and cams so i can put it back together, but if i crank it 180 to check 1 and 4 wont it mess up the timing/marks? or could i just crank till the chain's back in the same place?

[Gnasher]

The engine has it's own marks you should have aligned these before you removed the head, if you have a manual it's all in there.
 
It doesn't matter what position the chain is just ensure there is no slack at the front the slack should be at the back, what matters is what position the pistons are in relation to the cam shafts it all in the manual.