Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Jake Wade

You need some 1444 Felpro's

Jake I dont think those be the crushable kind, they look similar to the ones i was runnin'

[Jake Wade]

Originally Posted by Gregski

Jake I dont think those be the crushable kind, they look similar to the ones i was runnin'

I use them all the time. I am currently running a set on my personal truck that have been on there for three years now, and that's with cheapie flowtech headers.

They fit the Vortec exhaust ports perfectly. They are the only kind that I have used that I would recommend. They are great gaskets with metal reinforcement.

[SkinnyG]

[SkinnyG]

I've had great success with these:

[buffydores]

Just finished reading the whole thing. So glad it's just a gasket. You've done such wonderful work. I can't wait for my kids to get a little older to give me some more time to work on my stuff.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by buffydores

Just finished reading the whole thing. So glad it's just a gasket. You've done such wonderful work. I can't wait for my kids to get a little older to give me some more time to work on my stuff.

buy them an iPad and you'll have all the time in the world!!!

[Gregski]

so lets get you updated Greggie style

hello old friend

[Gregski]

the goal for today was to replace the headers with manifolds (or at least on the problem side) and although we thought we found the smoking gun (pun?) we did not want to change horses midstream sorta speak

so first we had to knock the ugly off that log

7 minutes with the death wheel and she was naked, and I'll be lying to you all if I didn't tell you that I considered grinding her nice and smooth for a minute, but then I went and got a beer instead

[Gregski]

although I went a lookin' for somethin' fancier than these trusty ol three piece Felpro gaskets I didn't find nothing better, and they've been good to me in the past

[Gregski]

On in 90 Seconds

I kid you not brothers and sisters, manifolds are sooooo easy to work with, but you already know that, so I must admit: headers are a young mens' sport.

[Gregski]

quit drawing this out, did going back to manifolds get rid of your engine ticking sound or not?

Hewk yeah it did, NMFT! No More Frustrating Ticking

[Gregski]

so there was no more ticking sound but the truck sure did sound funny with headers and a Flowmaster on one side and an exhaust manifold and a Turbo muffler on the other, there sure is a difference in sound between the two sides that's fer sure, and I won't tell you I may could have liked the sound on the manifold side, since I must justify my header expenditure, ha ha

so back to the parts house I went looking for some crusher gaskets, only to come away with these beauties that set me back $35 bones

how in the world they is reusable I'll never know

so did I put them on? Um no!

wait what?

I wanted to put them on, but those Felpro manifold gaskets were stuck to the enjin block and I didn't feel like scraping brand new gaskits off, then and there, so I said what the hewk lets give them a go with these them headers, and guess what they worked beautifully, SNMFT - Still No More Frustrating Ticking

so overall it was a good day, I fixed my truck, and my countrymen beat North Ireland in an Euro Cup 2016 match, what? you don't pretend to be a soccer fan every 4 years weather you need to or not?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Gregski

so there was no more ticking sound but the truck sure did sound funny with headers and a Flowmaster on one side and an exhaust manifold and a Turbo muffler on the other, there sure is a difference in sound between the two sides that's fer sure, and I won't tell you I may could have liked the sound on the manifold side, since I must justify my header expenditure, ha ha

so back to the parts house I went looking for some crusher gaskets, only to come away with these beauties that set me back $35 bones

how in the world they is reusable I'll never know

so did I put them on? Um no!

wait what?

I wanted to put them on, but those Felpro manifold gaskets were stuck to the enjin block and I didn't feel like scraping brand new gaskits off, then and there, so I said what the hewk lets give them a go with these them headers, and guess what they worked beautifully, SNMFT - Still No More Frustrating Ticking

so overall it was a good day, I fixed my truck, and my countrymen beat North Ireland in an Euro Cup 2016 match, what? you don't pretend to be a soccer fan every 4 years weather you need to or not?

replying to my own thread, wishing I would have kept those metal round port gaskets

[Gregski]

Wait a minute...

Houston... we have a problem!

The engine runs so smooth now I can hear the PCV valve ratlin'!!!

ha ha ha, no for real

[79sierra]

Good job, I bet you're exhausted!

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 79sierra

Good job, I bet you're exhausted!

lol

[KQQL IT]

Looks like a gasket problem, not a header problem.
Round port gaskets may have corrected that leak.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Looks like a gasket problem, not a header problem.
Round port gaskets may have corrected that leak.

I think you're right, looks like there was almost no seal in two other places, at 2 o'clock on #4 and 5 o'clock on #6. Like maybe the gasket was shifted rearward? IDK but glad you figured it out.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

I think you're right, looks like there was almost no seal in two other places, at 2 o'clock on #4 and 5 o'clock on #6. Like maybe the gasket was shifted rearward? IDK but glad you figured it out.

very interesting observation, this just reminds us to lay the gaskets over the headers before you put them on and take a looksie how well they overlap and fit the holes, also I want to point out how important it be to clean your parts, imagine how hard it would be to see the fresh black smut on my headers if I left them rusty and dirty, I would not be able to tell where the leaks were, just saying my clean freaks, keep it clean

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Looks like a gasket problem, not a header problem.
Round port gaskets may have corrected that leak.

I so should have listened and kept my round port gaskets and used those instead

[rich weyand]

It's amazing how much an exhaust leak sounds like mechanical ticking.

Wonder if there is a way to record the sound with a smartphone, then analyze the sound file to see if it is an exhaust leak or a mechanical ticking.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by rich weyand

It's amazing how much an exhaust leak sounds like mechanical ticking.

yep, it had me completely fooled, it literally sounded like someone tapping a flat screwdriver against the oil pan, it was stick on tin in my ears for sure

Originally Posted by rich weyand

Wonder if there is a way to record the sound with a smartphone, then analyze the sound file to see if it is an exhaust leak or a mechanical ticking.

may take a bit more fancier microphone than what's offered in the iPhone, but what they may be able to do is correlate the ticking to the pulse of the exhaust, though that's what had me thinking pistons, I don't know lesson learned is check the zero cost stuff first, I didn't I went after the distributor, I went after the fuel pump, well in my defense I did adjust the valves that was free, I did shim the starter and that was free, but than I offset those smart moves with 2 needless oil changes with the snake oil additives, but in the end Education Costs and I don't mind paying, Bernie aint the president yet, ha ha, I kid, I kid

thank you all for your help and not giving up on Rusty

[SkinnyG]

Originally Posted by rich weyand

Wonder if there is a way to record the sound with a smartphone, then analyze the sound file to see if it is an exhaust leak or a mechanical ticking.

What if you hooked your timing light to the offending cylinder - would you be able to detect a time difference between combustion and exhaust?

600rpm idle. Rotates 10 times per second. Fires 5 times per second.....

Hmmmmm.....

[enaberif]

FYI... Don't let the PCV valve rattle you. Rich may have a better idea but the second I through my cam into my truck I could always hear a slight rattle from it.

Different vacuum levels make it rattle and there are different valves you could try but I never bothered.

[rusty76]

Finally.