Head Gasket

[fingers]

Blew the headgasket on the right hand bank today. :cry: Looks like the engine rebuild has just que jumped my (long) list of things to do.[/b]

 

[obi_waynne]

Ohh nasty! Were you thrashing it?

 

[fingers]

Nope, just ploding at 40 and it al of a sudden blew most of its coolant out of the RH exhaust all over the car behind me.

 

[Stiggy]

oh nice, cant say that iv blown a head gasket myself although iv changed a few.

 

[fingers]

Its never a good thing when its your own car. I'm not doing just the head gaskets on this though I will be doing a full rebuild. The job has been on the cars for a while now due to lo oil pressure and a bit of smoke at high revs, I just wasn't planning to do it just yet.

 

[obi_waynne]

How long do you reckon it will take you?

 

[fingers]

Probably a couple of weeks. I have all the gaskets, camshaft and timing gear and heads already A new high flo and high pressure oil pump is on its way from Ohio US as we speak, but I'm not going to order the main and big end shells untill I have stripped it down and measured the crank, just incase. Knowing my luck, if I ordered them now, when I strip it down I would probably find that it either needs re-grinding or has already been re-ground. In either case Std size bearings would be no good.

It also doesn't help that I bought works crane home to lift the lump out but left my tools behind.

 

[fingers]

Started stripping the engine in the car today (pics to follow) and made a cool discovery. Whe I ported my spare cylinder heads I was wasting my time because it already has larger valve ports (much bigger than the heads I have just ported) and the valves are like dinner plates. 8) I'll clean them up and put them back on then.

 

[kemo]

i use a place called ulimate spairs of america in a place called wymondham in norfolk they stock a lot of parts for american car and are a good price last thing i got from them was a 750 double pumper hollie cost me £145 if you want there tele number i will get it for you

good luck with the rebuild mate

 

[fingers]

If you could Kemo That would be great. :wink:

Here are some piccies as promised.

These are the heads to have if you own a small block Mopar

The valve sizes are 2.02inch inlet and 1.60 exhaust, they're massive. 8)

Hopefully I will get the my new competition oil pump and the "fast road/mild competition" camshaft fitted this weekend and get it all back together. 8)

 

[obi_waynne]

Those valves are MASSIVE! It looks like a nice setup to me.

 

[fingers]

Managed to do some more today. Got the cam, timing gear, lifters and new oil pump in the block. Cleaned the heads up, replaced the valve stem seals (Between the two heads I found only 1 :shock: ) Valve springs and retainers. I found that the tea strainer on my oil pickup had the other 15 valve stem seals blocking it up. That would explain my poor oil pressure.

I fitted my valley baffle (stops the cam from spraying the bottom of the intake with hot oil), got the timing cover, waterpump, crank pulley and power steering pump back on. Then I tried to slide the exhaust headers downt the sides of the engine before I put the heads on. You cant get them in from the top. You have to jack te car atleast 2 feet into the air, remove all the steering linkage, the starter motor that I had also just fitted, and remove the oil filter. I managed to get one header in place today, it only took me a hour and a half, I'll have a go at finishing the job on sunday.

 

[obi_waynne]

So now the baby has arrived youre finding spare time for the near lee I can see you at 3 am with baby in one arm and a wrench in the other

 

[fingers]

And if I get stuck with somewhere to put my spanners down, I can tuck them in the back of his nappy.

 

[obi_waynne]

Urgh!! You've probably not though that one through have you?

 

[fingers]

Yeah, that could be messy that one.

 

[fingers]

Finally got he engine back together a week before the show in Kent, took it for a run and disaster struck. The water pump let go. :cry: Unfortunatley I was unable to source one before the show and had to miss it. After getting hold of another pump, I fitted it up, got the beast running again and one of my new core plugs started to leak. Luckily, it was one at the front of the O/S head, so out it came, cleaned out the hole and in went another. Engine now all done, back together and running with no leaks. 8) It now has that lovley rough V8 idle and it goes like poo of a stick. The carb could do with setting up properly as it is a bit hesitant when you pull away from standstill but as soon at you get to 1000-1500 rpm your bum is firmly in the seat and the back dips a little as it launches itself. 8) 8) 8) . I have a new performance electronic ignition kit which I will install next weekend and then I will spend a bit of time getting the carb set up properly. All in all, a job well done and I pat my self on the back. :wink:

New engine specs
displacement was 318 cubic inch / 5211cc - now 331 cubic inch / 5433cc
Cylinder heads have large ports and large valves
Intake - Holley 4 barrell carb (modified to increase air flow) with Edelbrock performer intake manifold
Cam - CompCams 268H camshaft (fast road/light competition) power range 1000 - 5500rpm with matching timing gear, lifters and valve springs
Exhaust - Hooker cometition headers, straight through exhausts with 1 cherry bombon each pipe. Soon to have performance silencers fitted as is a little loud.
Also has baffles fitted inside the engine to keep the oil where I want it.

 

[thexav]

I think you can be well pleased with that. Are you going to get any Dyno tests done?

 

[fingers]

I will do at some point as I would like a concrete figure on what the old beast is kicking out now.