Head Gasket Trouble - Pull Engine
- Thread starter stang89bidges
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OK guys, just got the phone call back from machine shop. Block is fine, no cracks. What they did find was rust, grit, and gunk inside the bolt holes(heads bolts). They were nice enough to go ahead and clean those out for me.
So it looks like my coasting home every chance I could get when it overheated helped.... Let's just go with luck shall we?
So this means I'm going to be able to reassemble again soon. I'm pretty happy with this result and I'm confident that with the bolt holes cleaned out I'm going to get a proper torque reading and the dam thing will stay together this time.
I'm going to be following your all advise on many of the decisions we talked about. Please stay tuned for a part list I'm going to put together of parts I will be reusing and parts I will be replacing with new.
I will also be listing procedures I will be performing to the engine before reassembly. As I perform them I will be taking pictures and video for documentation purposes as well. If I run into any problems maybe these will help in getting answers from you guys... ;-)
Here we go!
So it looks like my coasting home every chance I could get when it overheated helped.... Let's just go with luck shall we?
So this means I'm going to be able to reassemble again soon. I'm pretty happy with this result and I'm confident that with the bolt holes cleaned out I'm going to get a proper torque reading and the dam thing will stay together this time.
I'm going to be following your all advise on many of the decisions we talked about. Please stay tuned for a part list I'm going to put together of parts I will be reusing and parts I will be replacing with new.
I will also be listing procedures I will be performing to the engine before reassembly. As I perform them I will be taking pictures and video for documentation purposes as well. If I run into any problems maybe these will help in getting answers from you guys... ;-)
Here we go!
Parts list - First draft
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s110...ce5e2de1da5c/c5f4adb40f1eac946b1aff78fd575515
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s110...ce5e2de1da5c/c5f4adb40f1eac946b1aff78fd575515
I'm doing the work, my project, I'm here to learn. I enjoy this. Passion. Hobby. Money. Metal. My fox love. Nobody touches her but me.
Choose any of the above.
Choose any of the above.
Smile.Yeah my stepfather's profession was a mechanic so I have most tools. I have to rent a couple like the 3 stone hone and cylinder brush. But for the most part I have the tools.
I have to say I really enjoy these talks we all have. I don't know why but there is something about all this engine and machine work, performing it all myself, and I'm assuming the self gratification, just really gets my blood flowing and really gets me excited. Motivated.
Enough of my turn-ons... On with the work!
Here is what I plan on doing procedure wise before assembly.
Port heads:
http://www.powerblocktv.com/episode/HP2012-09/budget-cylinder-head-refresh#.VNQ2572ttDs
Engine block work: http://www.powerblocktv.com/episode...hining-and-cylinder-head-porting#.VNQ2BL2ttDs
Port heads:
http://www.powerblocktv.com/episode/HP2012-09/budget-cylinder-head-refresh#.VNQ2572ttDs
Engine block work: http://www.powerblocktv.com/episode...hining-and-cylinder-head-porting#.VNQ2BL2ttDs
ill just say be careful doing anything you get off those horsepower guys. especially, in your case, dealing with the flatness of a cylinder head. using a piece of welded tubing as a "flat" surface to use as a sanding block? really? the tube is probably more bowed than the head. i'd rather use a stone to remove any raised burrs, nicks, scratches, stubborn gasket etc., they tend to leave the actual surface untouched while taking down the high spots, especially with harder materials (iron). we use 4" round stones are work to make sure our mill tables, fixtures, and actual parts actually sit flat on each other, theyre fairly inexpensive (i'm looking at one on msc right now for less than $25), and as long as you dont drop it, are really durable.
i just got my tfs head done up with new valves (bought for less than $200 off summit, chances are with stockers you can skip this) and took the heads to a local machine shop for the valve job, resizing the guides, and had the deck milled/surface for under $400, and this place was a bit higher than some of the other local places (although the have one of the better workmanship and timeline reputations around the stl metro, and were dropped off and picked up the next day). just doing the decks was 150, which would be well spent since youve already had sealing problems.
i just got my tfs head done up with new valves (bought for less than $200 off summit, chances are with stockers you can skip this) and took the heads to a local machine shop for the valve job, resizing the guides, and had the deck milled/surface for under $400, and this place was a bit higher than some of the other local places (although the have one of the better workmanship and timeline reputations around the stl metro, and were dropped off and picked up the next day). just doing the decks was 150, which would be well spent since youve already had sealing problems.
This type?
MSC# 05108402
Sharpening stone, round.
My heads are flat, machine shop resurfaced. Block I may grab a stone for. I used straight edge on it, flat with my knowledge. Got some gasket material to remove.
MSC# 05108402
Sharpening stone, round.
My heads are flat, machine shop resurfaced. Block I may grab a stone for. I used straight edge on it, flat with my knowledge. Got some gasket material to remove.
Also, I think the idea of the bar stock is its used across the whole length of the head, and not just a small area like a grinder wheel, and with only the pressure of the bar stock, it's not going to make your surface uneven. I can believe in this method provided you ONLY use the bar weight and don't add pressure.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
thats the one.
maybe i'm thinking the wrong thread, but didnt you say a machine shop checked your block? did they check it for flatness, or just for cracks? these 302 castings can be thin sometimes, and the deck CAN warp, usually not enough to really be a problem on a stock-type, n/a build, but adding boost can find the weak spots in a hurry. there was a magazine project car a few years back (not that the mags are any better to follow than the tv, but just an example) that had similar problems, fresh surfaced heads on a stock bottom end with a little boost, block checked fine with a straight edge, but after umteen head gaskets, they sent it off to the machine shop and had something like .005" out of flatness. not saying this is your problem, just giving possibilities..
maybe i'm thinking the wrong thread, but didnt you say a machine shop checked your block? did they check it for flatness, or just for cracks? these 302 castings can be thin sometimes, and the deck CAN warp, usually not enough to really be a problem on a stock-type, n/a build, but adding boost can find the weak spots in a hurry. there was a magazine project car a few years back (not that the mags are any better to follow than the tv, but just an example) that had similar problems, fresh surfaced heads on a stock bottom end with a little boost, block checked fine with a straight edge, but after umteen head gaskets, they sent it off to the machine shop and had something like .005" out of flatness. not saying this is your problem, just giving possibilities..
the problem with that is you'll make whatever surface your sanding as bowed as the bar, and the tubing they use in the video is NEVER flat, its just rolled, welded sheet metal, and is usually twisted and warped waaay to much for that purpose. probably works fine for those guys on tv just because it probably only runs for about an hour or two total before they take it apart to do something else, and their performance results are usually way low for what most people with similar parts get.
in the shop, usually if you want to make something flatter by sanding on it, you take your part over to a precision surface plate (granite block thats ground and lapped as flat as humanly possible), , tape some sandpaper to the plate, and lap the part on the plate. kinda hard to do with an engine block. they do make different shapes of stones though, some are long squares or bars, and might would work better for what you're doing, we just use those round ones at work all the time and they work pretty well for our application.
I got back into town this weekend, called the shop and they did check the deck for flatness, I was wrong about that. Good to go, deck is flat, no machining needed.
Which means I won't need to be doing any sanding on the deck, they have already done this for me.
I have a piston question. Dropped pulling it out of cylinder during disassembly. Put a tiny dent in the top edge of the piston. Is this an issue? Doesn't look like it's going to scratch the cylinder walls as the dent want severe and it's more on the top of piston rather than on the side.
Thoughts?
I have a piston question. Dropped pulling it out of cylinder during disassembly. Put a tiny dent in the top edge of the piston. Is this an issue? Doesn't look like it's going to scratch the cylinder walls as the dent want severe and it's more on the top of piston rather than on the side.
Thoughts?
- Dec 19, 2010
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Yeah, I will take a few pictures tonight and get them posted.
Ate the factory Pistons cast or hyper?
Ate the factory Pistons cast or hyper?
