Guest JAMIE T Posted February 22, 2001 Share Posted February 22, 2001 Don't put anything on the new head gaskets, just put them on. I have a supercharged 302 that was in my mustang and I KNOW about blown head gaskets. Scotchbrite the deck, also use pipe sealent on the bolts that go into water jackets(do any bolts do that on a SBC?) Has the engine been doing that since you put the heads on? or did it happen later? This might sound dumb but make a check list of all the things that can cause a blown head gasket, clean surfaces, proper bolt torque, correct gasket! and also after it is started, like the coolant temp, lean fuel mixture, etc... I hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted February 22, 2001 Share Posted February 22, 2001 Ellobo, I wouldnt worry about polishing them; I've read that polishing doesnt really benefit an engine at low rpm's & may cause your engine a loss of heat at the detriment of power. If after the machine shop confirms they're not warped nor cracked then I'ld only ask the machine shop to deshroud the valves & a mild porting of the Intake/Exhause ports: which would aid the air density/filling of the cylinders. Ellobo-did you ever find the Dallas Salvage Yard#'s you asked about....if not; You can find them on the Second Page of the Buy/Sell/Trade Forum. Good luck on your heads-that's a bummer. Kevin [This message has been edited by Kevin Shasteen (edited February 22, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 OK, have a slight problem. I have a light gray smoke coming out of the passenger side valve cover, coming out of the breather tube. I have the same problem on the driver's side when I take the oil plug out(to put more oil in). I thought I might have a bad seal on my head gasket(I just put the new double hump heads on). I have a little bit of a sweetness smell in the exhaust. I pulled the rad cap, and filled it all the way to the brim, and ran the car, but it didn't overflow the rad. I also checked the oil, and It doesn't look like a chocolate milkshake. I know something is up, because I'm losing oil, and I'm also losing coolant. The coolant could be cuz I have the fans on there through the fins, So I'm getting a new alum rad(see post) and gonna make brackets to hold the fans on. I guess I just don't know what is wrong. I was gonna go and pull the heads and have them checked out at a local machine shop and have them port and polish them as well. Might as well since they are off, and then clean up the block, and put a new gasket on. I used felpro, with gasket salack, last time, any suggestions on what to use? Well thanks for the info out there. Talk to you all later. Sean ------------------ "I feel the need, the need for speed!!" "Don't hate the player, hate the game!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoFlyingZ Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 Sounds like you may have a head gasket leak. That or a cracked head. I hope that it is, at worst, the head gasket. This is just MHO. It may be other gasket leaks but the vapor coming out of the valve covers is a bad sign. ------------------ worlst@hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted February 23, 2001 Share Posted February 23, 2001 I agree, sounds like a head gasket. Are the surfaces of the heads nice and flat, and have a good surface on them? Any sign of oil or water going into the cylinders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted February 24, 2001 Share Posted February 24, 2001 Also can check for condensation on the upper end of your dip stick, bottom of breathers etc. I once had a crack in the lifter valley of my block, so don't rule anything out yet. When the heads are off you can verify if the gasket(s) are leaking. Not always that obvious. Sometimes it takes a trained eye. Make sure you've pinpointed and cured the source before reassembly. Felpro as most hipo head gaskets need no sealant. Good luck! JS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 26, 2001 Share Posted February 26, 2001 Well, pulled the heads off and they are in the machine shop right now. The gasket was in great shape. When I was talking to the machine shop guy he said he would say it's my seals on my pistons, that's why the smoke is coming up through the breather. I dont' know why that would be the case, I mean it's a new engine with about 2500 miles. He said it should be doing that. They are gonna check the heads, and everything for me. He also said I could have had a leaking intake manifold, the gasket on that looked good too. Not sure really. I do know I had the wrong plugs on it as well. Turns out "69 vintage" heads require a biger style with a washer on it or something. So he's gonna hook me up with that. On a side note, just got a t56 lined up. Get it on next monday, and hopefully get to start putting it in the following weekend. Now comes the fun part of figuring out what type of clutch, master cylinder and the rest of the stuff I need to get Well, I"m off to study for class. Talk to everyone later. sean P.S. I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but in some post I thought I saw people looking for the transmission blanket/saying they don't exist. They are in The latest Summit that just came out. They have two styles and they both run around a 100 bucks. Just food for thought. sean ------------------ "I feel the need, the need for speed!!" "Don't hate the player, hate the game!" [This message has been edited by ellobo97 (edited February 26, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 26, 2001 Share Posted February 26, 2001 Mike, Thanks for the 411. I think that I might have some sort of problem though, just due to the fact that before I put the new heads and cam on, it didn't smoke, also, it used one to two quarts for every hour drove, so I didn't think that much is correct. If the heads are ok, I'm gonna take the block back to GM when I pull it out for the t56 swap and have them look at it. I'm sure I voided the warrenty when I pulled the heads off, but we shall see. If they won't look at the heads, then I'll just take it to a machine shop, have them look at it, and then,well, might just bore it out, who knows. Thanks for the info, and will let everyone know how it works out. P.S. I didn't mean for this to sound hateful, I really appreciate all the help everyone gives me on here. After rereading it I changed it a little bit. ------------------ "I feel the need, the need for speed!!" "Don't hate the player, hate the game!" [This message has been edited by ellobo97 (edited February 27, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted February 27, 2001 Share Posted February 27, 2001 Sean, My newly rebuilt 350 that is in the truck is smoking on start up or when sitting idle for a few minutes... Truck has less than 1500 miles on it. It is supposed to do that from what I'm told... However, my truck isn't eating oil or antifreeze. Just the rings still sealing up. I know from experience that it takes a few thousand miles for the motor to seal up completely, and I've been told that up to 5000 miles isn't unheard of. If you don't see a milk shake and aren't using a bunch of oil (which also doesn't mean anything, as oil consumption is normal on break-in as well) I wouldn't have panicked! However, since you have the heads off, might as well presure check the heads and their surfaces. Mike ------------------ http://hometown.aol.com/dat74z/myhomepage/auto.html "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted February 28, 2001 Share Posted February 28, 2001 I'd heard that a trans blanket was coming out for the T56s - honestly I'd prefer a blowproof housing given a choice. I've been told that "blankets" can absorb oil just liek header wrap can. No biggie until something gets hot enough to catch fire and then it's damned near impossible to put it out! I spotted a generic blanket in the latest Summit that I considered, guess I'll have to look closer for a T56 specific one. As to the smoking - one to tow quarts?! What's the oil pressure? It almost sounds like an internal plug is missing inside or something. Low oil pressure would also be a result fo that. If I had to guess that I'd say one of the head gaskets leaked - probably from adding sealer to the surfaces. Smoke from a breather in my past experience has been blowby, not sure why just the one side. If you hammer it does the dipstick get pushed out some? Any smoke from the dipstick tube when you pull it? Really weird.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 1, 2001 Share Posted March 1, 2001 I only had low oil pressure once. The smoke does come out by the dipstick when I pull it out yes. They guy at the machine shop said it would have to be blow bye. ( i think that is what he said) I'm not sure what is wrong really. I just hope it's not the block. I know it wasn't doing this before I put these heads on. SO, hopefully it's just the heads. The gasket was solid. Well let you know what the machine shop says later this week, or early next week. sean ------------------ "I feel the need, the need for speed!!" "Don't hate the player, hate the game!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted March 1, 2001 Share Posted March 1, 2001 Sean, there will always be a limited amount of blowby. When you described smelling something sweet the only thing that comes to mind is coolant. I've had leaking and full blown head gaskets. My experience has been that this usually happens on the fire ring on the head gasket causing coolant to be drawn into the cylinder. White smoke out the tail pipe? If you are leaking coolant into the oil it won't always make a "milk shake" of your oil. A really small leak will cause more than normal blow by and smell of antifreeze. You'll also see condinsation on the dipstick, and milky oil on the bottom of the filler plug, breathers etc. Really check the heads and everywhere you can see inside the block for any signs of coolant coming in. Cracks can be hairline, almost invisibe, but look for any unusual residue. Hopefully this is just a case of bad gaskets. What condition were the heads in? Valve seals/ guides. Are they being magnafluxed for cracks? JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited March 01, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 1, 2001 Share Posted March 1, 2001 Hello there John, I checked everything really well. There didn't appear to be any leaks on the head gasket. The heads were in good shape, I thought. I didn't have them checked out, and that was my problem. The guy I bought them from said they just had a valve job 500 miles ago. They all looked clean, and stuff, so I put them on. I still haven't gotten them back from the machine shop yet, so I don't know if something was wrong with them or not. The block seams to be fine. Some of the pistons have some carbon build up on them, but other then that they look great. The intake had some oily residue in it, so That was a problem as well it seems. There was nothing on the oil dip stick at all, no residue, no milky shake, nothing, so I don't know exactly if that helps. Thanks for all the info. Sean ------------------ "I feel the need, the need for speed!!" "Don't hate the player, hate the game!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted March 2, 2001 Share Posted March 2, 2001 Sean, what did your plugs look like, what were compression readings, and I assume you drained your oil? (only heard about 'dipstick' readings) I've been v. busy so didn't catch this thread till today....PS have your heads tested to see if your valves are sealing 100%, $ well spent and cheap to have done. If you're not aware of the valvesprings condition you may want to check that out too since they're off and you seem to be spending some $ to do it right. ------------------ Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. [This message has been edited by Ross C (edited March 01, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted March 5, 2001 Share Posted March 5, 2001 Hi there, I checked the comp, all ok, and the valve springs are all new with the cam I Put in. I"ll have them check the valves as well. THe oil was fine too thanks and the head guy is calling me tomorrow, with the final stuff. sean ------------------ "I feel the need, the need for speed!!" "Don't hate the player, hate the game!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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