Thread: Geet'er Done

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Well made some progress anyway. Last night after work I got after it and removed the exhaust manifold (broke one of the 6 studs) and got the Heads off. Head Gasket was bugger'd up on the last cylinder next to the firewall #7 cylinder I believe. I thought I pulled the Head off cleanly but I may have caught the gasket somehow? All the metal rings in the gasket were intact except for that last one that was a little bent up. I thought I would be able to tell if there was a leak between the #1 and #3 cylinder but nothing caught my attention. The #3 cylinder had the busted rocker arm.

So questions or comments from you gentlemen if you don't mind:

Piston tops are almost black as well as the bottom of the heads. Is this a cause for concern? What is the best way to clean them up?

Cylinder walls look very clean and felt smooth with no grooves.

Is there anything else I should be paying attention too?

Is there any certain Gaskets etc. I should use on reassembly or can I just go to the local O'riellys for what I need.

Let me know what you think?

Thanks,

No words of wisdom from anyone? Well I guess I'll take my wrenches and go home I know... I know... Don't away , just away

Besides replacing the head gastkets, what else are you trying to achieve by tearing it down? Are you having a valve job done? Not a bad idea since you have it pulled this far apart. Machine shop can extract that broken manifold bolt for you while they have the heads.

Do your best to keep everything very clean. If you can get a tap and die set, use it to clean out the headbolt holes and head bolts.

Put some gasket sealer or loctite on your head bolts when you install them. Torque them down in 20 ft lb steps using a circular pattern starting in the middle. Find the type of head gasket that doesn't need to be re torqued, or be sure that you do retorque after about 5 hours of run time.

If you have specific questions, ask away. Hope this helps.

By the way this is the first time I saw your request for help

Pat

Originally posted by Stu Cool

If you have specific questions, ask away. Hope this helps.

1) Should I be concern with the black carbon or discolored piston tops?

2) I did not want to take the Heads to a machine shop but just clean them up and replace the gaskets. The Heads are really grimy. What is a good way to get them nice and clean? Can I take them to the car wash or is that a dumb idea. I don't have a parts cleaner but is there a spray like brake cleaner that I can use?

3) Is there a brand name of gaskets I should buy that may cost a little more but seal better and or last longer for this type of application?

4) What type of silicone sealant should I use on the intake manifold?

Sorry, I know this is alot of questions and you guy's have already helped a tremendous amount and I really appreciate it. Basically I have it torn apart and now I want to get it back together the right way but on a pretty tight budget.

To clean the heads, a parts washer sure would be nice, but you can try some Gunk engine degreaser to get started. To clean the combustion chambers you can use a gasket scraper to knock the big chunks off then a wire brush on a drill to finish them up. For the piston tops you can also use the gasket scraper but you need to be careful not to get residue lodged between the piston and the cylinder wall. Try using a shop vac to suck up the residue as you scrape. It helps to rotate each piston up to top dead center to work on it. Also do your best not to scratch or put grooves in the aluminum piston.

It's been a while since I have worked on a disassembled engine in the car this way, so there may be some chemicals available now that would make your work easier.

For Gaskets, I have always done well with Fel-Pro, but any good quality gasket set should work. Go to a "Real" auto parts store, the one that the jobbers go to, and ask for recommendations. Ask them about the gasket sealer also. If you buy a Valve Job gasket set you will get everything you need.

Hope this helps

Pat

Thanks guys that's exactly what I was looking for.

Wow Rich,

We musta been typing at the same time. Can't believe how close our answers were! Guess we must be close to right LOL

Pat

Heres a little tip to save you afew problems later on, check that those head gaskets have the 2 small steam holes in them being a chevy 400 block it will have siamesed bores, those 2 extra holes are for helping water circulation in these 400 blocks.

heres another one while the heads are off see how much of a ridge is below the top of the bore if it's large the engine could be coming up to rebuild tme, I'm only saying this because I noticed you mentioned the the bores were nice and shiney in your first post.

Originally posted by southerner
heres another one while the heads are off see how much of a ridge is below the top of the bore if it's large the engine could be coming up to rebuild tme, I'm only saying this because I noticed you mentioned the the bores were nice and shiney in your first post.

How much of a ridge is too much? and are you talking about about the space between the top of the cylinder and the head?

Thanks

Originally posted by JCT400SB
How much of a ridge is too much? and are you talking about about the space between the top of the cylinder and the head?

Thanks

Yer Clinders are supossed to be honed for several reasons, honing leaves a Dimond tyoe pattern nof small scraches in the cylender walls, these are nessesary.

Now as for the ridge, as the piston moves up and down yer rings scrape the walls and remove more and more metal, put one of your pistons to BDC and look for a Landing or ridge at the top of the bore, this is were your piston rings stop at TDC, if you have a rigde its bad, it means you have worn away alot of metal, when I took my 302 apart the pistons punched my bore .035 over so I had no choise but take the block to the machine shop and have her bores .040 over. If you have a ridge it means you'll most likely have bad compression cuase yer piston isnt riding as tight as it should be.
to check for the ridge the easyest way is to put yer piston at BDC and lightly run yer finger up the bore, at the top you will feel a bump or a smag, thats yer rigde, get it gone if you have one.

Otto

Thanks I'll look at that