I'm going to have a go at removing a mark one fabia 1.2 petrol cylinder head.

 

My question may sound daft, and I'm asking because I've not got a repair manual yet, but I'll be buying that.

 

Are there any specialist tools needed to remove a cylinder head.

 

I'm not a novice at mechanical stuff but it has been some time since I've tinkered with cars (My bag is old Lambrettas).

 

I know I'll need a valve spring compressor, I've got a decent set of tools and torque wrench etc, but is there anything I'll need that's non standard ?

You'll need whatever bit fits in the headbolts, which are M9 thread with 'inner multipoint head'.  I think this means a spline (XZN) bit will be required, but I'm not sure how the sizing goes on these, if it's the same as the thread size or not necessarily.  I think Haynes covers the procedures reasonably well, though I haven't done the job myself (yet) so can't really say.  There's also a locking kit which immobilizes crank and cam in their correct relative positions which may/will be required when you come to chain re-fitting. Like this, but I have seen them a fair bit cheaper than that one.

 

Which 1.2 engine is it, 6-valve or 12-valve?

 

It's a bit of  a faff apparently because the chain cover and sump both have to come off I think. Take lots of piccies as you go, there's not enough info one the web about these engines, I find. There was a guy who did a 6v a couple of years ago and wrote a bit about it on here, username had 'serf' in it but I can't remember exactly what it was.