Working Man's Burbon

[HO455]

Thanks Leon I'll look into that down the road a bit as tough times have arrived in Burbanville.

Last week I noticed that the drivers side exhaust was blowing a fair amount more white vapor than the passenger side when the truck was cold. Before I could take a closer look at it the weather got down into the 20's and snow was being forecast. Then last Saturday I went out to go to work and the truck cranked over a couple times and then the battery wouldn't turn it over. (So I hopped in the S10 and got snowed in at work with no snow tires. Oh yay! Those Firestone Indy 500 tire aren't much of a snow tire. Photo #2.)

At the time I was thinking that it was cold and the battery was getting old or possibly I messed something under the dash when I was wrestling with the wiper motor replacement and now I have some parasitic load on the battery.

Fast forward to today when I decided to get to the bottom of the issues. First I pulled the battery (Dated 9/19 not new, but not antique) and after hooking it to the charger it showed 8 volts so that was encouraging.

Next decided to retorque the head bolts. However the inside of the valve cover wasn't very encouraging (Photo 1). All of the head bolts were all at torque. Then I started pulling spark plugs thinking I might be able to locate a bad cylinder and when I pulled #7 a couple tablespoons of antifreeze ran out of the cylinder. Uggggg.... I guess the battery is probably okay as it appears I hydro-locked the engine.

Well I guess it's time to make a Summit order.

[3757chevy]

Dang it!

[LockDoc]

-
Well, that sucks...

It looked like your weather had been kind of crappy lately. I hope it is something you can correct pretty easily. Good luck on it.

[Beach-Burban]

Fingers crossed for you!

Woody

[Ol Blue K20]

What a bummer, I hope it's not real bad.

[HO455]

Thanks everyone! I'll be popping the heads off next week.
Stay tuned I'm sure there'll be more carnage to view.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by HO455

Thanks everyone! I'll be popping the heads off next week.
Stay tuned I'm sure there'll be more carnage to view.

I'm hoping no carnage.....

[CG]

Well dang! Course with every setback you've had you come back better and better.

[Average Joe]

Well Cwap!

That sucks about the head gasket or whatever the issue is. How many miles were on the rebuild? Seams like you just installed that motor. Time flies I guess and you drive the heck outta yours.

[HO455]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. To answer Average Joe's question the engine has about 57k on it. It was a low dollar rebuild from a local shop that advertises them on Craigslist. As such the gasket quality isn't top shelf. The front and rear main seals are leaking at this point too. I going to have to yard the engine out at some point to solve those leaks.

I dove into the engine disassembly Wednesday morning and had it apart and the heads and intake pretty well cleaned up by 5 pm. But it was back to work on Thursday so it won't get much more done till next Tuesday.

The good news is that it looks like just a gasket failure. As I haven't seen any physical problems with the block or head. The emulsified oil was in the tops of both valve covers and had been pulled into the base of the carb by the PVC system. Four of the push rods showed bad oil at the rockers but none in the valley or on the distributor and it doesn't show on the dipstick or in the coolant. So it hadn't been leaking for too long.

[HO455]

More of the ugly.

The last photo shows what I believe is the source of my occasional odd misfire. The insulation on one of the plug wires has split apart. It was hidden behind the distributor under the bottom of the coil. I never noticed it with my cursory check of the wires at the plugs and on the cap. I saw some normal wear under the distributor cap but cleaning it didn't make the misfire go away. And now I know why.

I'm toying with the idea of swapping the heads from side to side. The idea being if there's a bad spot on the head it may seal better on the other bank. In addition if it starts leaking again I'll know if it is the head or the block that has failed.

What do you folks think of that idea?

And please speak up if you think I missed something here.

[HO455]

And today we have an odd tool tech tip!

Several years ago I picked up this vacuum pump at a electronics surplus store. It was a hospital unit new in the box for $18. It has a guage and the vacuum level is adjustable I generally use it for troubleshooting vacuum leaks in the heat /AC controls in my S10 or for adjusting hideaway headlights in 68/69 GTOs. With the liquid cup it will also suck up fluids, so I used it to remove coolant from the WMB during the tear down. I've thought about using it for cleaning brake out of master cylinders but I'm pretty sure brake fluid would ruin the plastic parts.

The rebuild shop put steel plugs in the block drains and I didn't catch that they weren't brass during the install of the engine. Fast forward to last Wednesday and the plug on the passenger side refused to budge. I ended up rounding the hex off. Grrrr...

Not wanting coolant to drain out of the block into the valley and oil pan when I lifted the heads off the block I used the pump to suck coolant out of the block through the head bolt holes.

I was happy to find that there seemed to be no emulsified oil in the water passages. Woo Hoo!

[D.B]

Thats a pretty cool tool to remove the fluid and apparently priced just right. I think your right about the brake fluid. I wouldn't use it for that.

[CG]

Id have to farm this kind of stuff out, its great you can handle it on your own.

['68OrangeSunshine]

I knew a girl who got fired from her EMT job for stealing the Suction Unit out of the company's ambulance and using it to make an automatic bong. [1980s]

[HO455]

Progress update. After 2 days of cleaning parts I got a good portion of the engine back together. When it comes to cleaning parts I never make flat rate.
I've got the heads, intake, distributor installed, and headers bolted back down. Tomorrow will be running the valves and putting the rest of the gingerbread back on.

I did have a real Homer Simpson head slapper after putting the intake manifold on. I had the manifold sitting on a rag while I rigged a handle to help me set it on the block. Once that was done and all the sealant applied to the ends, I grabbed the intake and set it on the block.

After getting all the bolts installed and torqued I grabbed a mirror and a flashlight to look down the hole for the distributor so I could align the distributor shaft with the oil pump drive. At this point I realized things had gone awry. While looking for the oil pump drive position I noticed what turned out to be a rag in the lifter valley. AAAgggggggg!

Apparently when I lifted the intake the tin heat shield on the bottom of the intake snagged the rag and I didn't notice it when I set the manifold in place.

So.......... The intake came back off and the rag got removed and an hour later I was back where I was. Fortunately I noticed it when I did as it could have been worse.

On the upside I'm quite pleased with my new work light. A couple years ago I picked up a 4 foot work led light on sale. I finally broke it out for this little adventure and along with two bungee cords I've got a nice bright work area.

I do have to give a kudos to whomever at GM provided 4 conveniently located holes in the hood stiffener. Thanks dude!

[Average Joe]

Originally Posted by '68orangesunshine

i knew a girl who got fired from her emt job for stealing the suction unit out of the company's ambulance and using it to make an automatic bong. [1980s]

😂😆

[Average Joe]

Nice work.

My Pops told me a story about finding a rag in a lifter valley back in the day. He always theorized it was to quiet the solid lifters. Maybe it was just an accident. Go figure. ��

[IT Cowboy]

I came here for recommendations on Bourbon

[396ci]

Originally Posted by IT Cowboy

I came here for recommendations on Bourbon

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

[HO455]

In over 1100 posts you're the first one who asked that.

Try Four Roses Single Barrel OESK.