Mike The Grad's Coolant Splat

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

I would not recommend using steel shim gaskets on a used (or even rebuilt) engine unless the block and heads have been verified flat. They work well on new engines, but shifting over time and high thermal stress from overheating can cause enough shift that they will not seal, right off the bat. You have a crack on that cylinder head, which needs to be dealt with.

Quoting myself here: " Make sure your heads are good and flat no more than .003" over a distance of 3" before you assemble it, and if they are not, get them milled or ground".

"If everything is straight, flat and not cracked, put it back together with a cheap set of new head bolts and fel-pro 1094 steel shim head gaskets as long as the pistons are at least .025" below deck".

"Oh crap is that a crack or two between the valve seats on the bottom picture"?

Quoting magwakeenercew2jh: "Uh-oh! You mean *this*? Followed by picture of cracked head.

All quotes on this thread.

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Quoting myself here: " Make sure your heads are good and flat no more than .003" over a distance of 3" before you assemble it, and if they are not, get them milled or ground".

"If everything is straight, flat and not cracked, put it back together with a cheap set of new head bolts and fel-pro 1094 steel shim head gaskets as long as the pistons are at least .025" below deck".

"Oh crap is that a crack or two between the valve seats on the bottom picture"?

Quoting magwakeenercew2jh: "Uh-oh! You mean *this*? Followed by picture of cracked head.

All quotes on this thread.

Hmmm, welcome to the intertubes, where very few may have read every post you may have made in a thread, which in this case I did not. Don't get too butt hurt by my not laboring over your every post. I won't be the only one.

[Mike_The_Grad]

So after a crazy weekend, I was able to find out some interesting news. I cleaned up the head surface of the drivers side where I had the gasket blowout on cylinder #7. I wasn't able to see any blatant cracking or warpage. I used a straight edge and flat feeler gauge with .003 indicator along with a background light source. I measured vertically and horizontally across the entire head to block mating surface, not to sure how to measure diagonally across combustion chambers... There is no doubt in my mind and also my Buddy's that this thing is flat. My friend recommended his ex-bosses opinion. This guy has been racing and building dragsters since the late 60's early 70's. Also the fact that my friend has a certain negative opinion about him as a employer, but acknowledges his mechanical ability speaks to me. He confirmed I have 2.02 heads. He felt that no internal damage had been done to the heads themselves. He HIGHLY recommends that I pull the engine and place it on a stand, so I can pull crankshaft and pistons to replace rings and main bearings. Then he can inspect cam, lifters, and cylinder walls. He said if everything checks out, do a light hone by hand and replace valve guide seals then put it back together. All in all I think its good news. Considering it still will be a few weeks til its back on the road. After I told him the truck was sitting for about 8 yrs. In my driveway,with just water no coolant in it, and no hood or even tarp for about the last two of those years that that's exactly why this happend. Live and learn is what I'm gathering from all of this...
Pictures: head gasket with failure, some type of scratch on number #7 cylinder above piston tdc that is pretty close to where the gasket failed

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Mike_The_Grad

So after a crazy weekend, I was able to find out some interesting news. I cleaned up the head surface of the drivers side where I had the gasket blowout on cylinder #7. I wasn't able to see any blatant cracking or warpage. I used a straight edge and flat feeler gauge with .003 indicator along with a background light source. I measured vertically and horizontally across the entire head to block mating surface, not to sure how to measure diagonally across combustion chambers... There is no doubt in my mind and also my Buddy's that this thing is flat. My friend recommended his ex-bosses opinion. This guy has been racing and building dragsters since the late 60's early 70's. Also the fact that my friend has a certain negative opinion about him as a employer, but acknowledges his mechanical ability speaks to me. He confirmed I have 2.02 heads. He felt that no internal damage had been done to the heads themselves. He HIGHLY recommends that I pull the engine and place it on a stand, so I can pull crankshaft and pistons to replace rings and main bearings. Then he can inspect cam, lifters, and cylinder walls. He said if everything checks out, do a light hone by hand and replace valve guide seals then put it back together. All in all I think its good news. Considering it still will be a few weeks til its back on the road. After I told him the truck was sitting for about 8 yrs. In my driveway,with just water no coolant in it, and no hood or even tarp for about the last two of those years that that's exactly why this happend. Live and learn is what I'm gathering from all of this...
Pictures: head gasket with failure, some type of scratch on number #7 cylinder above piston tdc that is pretty close to where the gasket failed

Hey Mike The Grad: Is the picture posted by magwakeenercew2jh of the cracked valve seats a picture of your head?

[Mike_The_Grad]

Mechanicalman: yes it is a picture of my passenger side head. But I think what may appear to be a crack might actually be carbon build up stuck on there from me cleaning the head. I only really had time to clean the driver side this past weekend. On Friday I will clean the passenger side up and post pics.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Mike_The_Grad

Mechanicalman: yes it is a picture of my passenger side head. But I think what may appear to be a crack might actually be carbon build up stuck on there from me cleaning the head. I only really had time to clean the driver side this past weekend. On Friday I will clean the passenger side up and post pics.

Might be a good idea to take the heads to a good machine shop for a steam clean and a magna-flux just to be sure.

Make sure you inspect the lifters, and make sure they don't get mixed up as to what hole they came out of. Post us a picture of the worst one.

That "scratch" on the upper part of the cyl wall just below the deck is likely the result of coolant dis-lodging a piece of carbon and the carbon getting suck between the top of the piston on the side above the top ring and the cyl wall. You should be able to visualize the top ring if not spray with penetrating oil, blow it out and clean it out if nec. The piston ring needs to be free and floating in order to seal. Don't scrape or wire wheel the pistons (you can jam the extra carbon onto the rings into the grooves and stick them), just spray them with penetrating oil or douse them with top engine cleaner and let them soak. Wipe it out before you install the heads then the pistons will self-clean when you start the engine.

A good trick is to coat the cyl walls with grease, then rotate the engine and the rings will push the grease to the top carrying the dirt off the top of the rings with it then simply wipe it out with the piston down.

I wouldn't pull the engine out just yet if you don't think you put it in a hydraulic lock and the #7 top ring is free (the piston should move independent of the ring and the ring should stay against the cyl wall). Looks like the piston is stamped "30"? Probably been re-bored.

I'd be more optimistic of the bottom end than I would be of the heads, but hope you get away with just a pair of head gaskets.

[Mike_The_Grad]

Mechanical man: yes the engine has been totally rebuilt. I think in '92. At the 300k mark. And its got 74k on the rebuild. The work was done by my ex's grandfather. He had a shop here in town for quit a while. From what I hear he has a damn good reputation. I don't doubt any of the work he's done on any car. I know the crank is .10 under. My financial situation may change here shortly, so I'm thinking of taking advantage of the situation and do a little more than just change gaskets. The only true thing that's hurting me is being without a vehicle. And the more I send to the shop the longer the turn around is...

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

Hmmm, welcome to the intertubes, where very few may have read every post you may have made in a thread, which in this case I did not. Don't get too butt hurt by my not laboring over your every post. I won't be the only one.

Not an expert on butt hurt, don't know what that means. But obviously you know something I don't.