should i run this engine or not?

[SnS C10]

ok everyone so i posted a few threads about getting water mixed with my oil. also, looks to be like a spark plug hit my number 8 piston( i had bought brand new ac delcos and they did not hit). the plugs were put in from the previous owner. anyway, the engine was running perfectly fine, and i noticed an oil leak. it was milky. so i pulled the heads, and the gasket was blown. discovered the piston has little "dings all over it." Was going to pull the oil pan and check a few of the rod and main bearings to see what the bearings look like. if they all look good, is it okay to run the engine with the piston like this? since it seemed to be running fine to me, i dont see why not? engine is a stock 350 with hooker super comp headers, flowmaster, and petronix hei. I just need this truck to be able to move around and drive occasionally. I was thinking of just replace the head gaskets and bolting it all back together. the cylinder walls look okay as well. what do you guys think?

[ItsRandy]

Are you sure it was a blown head gasket? Why was the spark plug hitting the piston? Wrong reach spark plug?

If you put it back together with the idea you may be rebuilding it sometime in the future you will only be out a few gaskets, however, you need to be sure why the spark plug was hitting the piston. You may have bigger problems in that hole (too much clearance in the rod bearing).

Take some emery cloth and knock off any sharp edges on the top of the piston, sharp edges will create hot spots and cause pre-ignition.

[SnS C10]

Randy, the other plugs were much longet than the ac delco r44t plugs. Once I put those in, it ran fine. The head gaskets are very corroded and very very thin in spots. The water jack ports on the gasket and block and head are corroded and some were even about 75 percent blocked it looks. I cannot find any cracks in the block and it was not leaking from the intake gasket. There was water in the cylinders so im assumimg since the gaskets are basically rusted away and clogged at the same time, that the coolant started going everywhere it could. Im thinking of replacing gaskets and putting it back together at this point and taking down the sharp edges on the piston
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[71tahoe]

Originally Posted by Shaun23a11en

Randy, the other plugs were much longet than the ac delco r44t plugs. Once I put those in, it ran fine. The head gaskets are very corroded and very very thin in spots. The water jack ports on the gasket and block and head are corroded and some were even about 75 percent blocked it looks. I cannot find any cracks in the block and it was not leaking from the intake gasket. There was water in the cylinders so im assumimg since the gaskets are basically rusted away and clogged at the same time, that the coolant started going everywhere it could. Im thinking of replacing gaskets and putting it back together at this point and taking down the sharp edges on the piston
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Did the other head have what looked like orange RTV also? Looks like the PO may not have been careful with a carb or intake replacement and dropped a washer in there. I have a crate 350 that my son and his friend did a cam swap on and 2 cylinders look like that. Water in the oil and extreme pressure in the coolant system blew the bottom rad hose. Better have those heads checked. You probably have a dent near the cyl. wall that caused your water leak and may be looking at a burnt valve from the escape of whatever was in there nicking the exhaust valve or seat.