Just got finished on a 4 day project: replacing blown head gasket in my truck. Wow. Had to work in the driveway as the garage is filled with 53. Got it all apart and discovered that the 350 is bored .080 over, which explains why it tends toward the warm side. Put some .28 head gaskets in to bump p compression a little, new intake gaskets, exhaust gaskets and copper collector gaskets. Had a distributor cap issue, then got her fired, only to have steam coming from BOTH exhusts. Re torqued the intake, then ran it up nice and warm and it seemed to work. Welded up the cracks in my headers....shure was nice not to have header leaks. Went for a drive, just remaked how good the exhaust sounds and BANG, sounds like a tractor. Sheared off 2 collector bolts.
Ouch ! This is why I like low compression engines , mostly stock ~ I can run them much harder and not have to worry about these failures . Did you use Kopper Koat or other sealer on the head gaskets ? . I learned a nifty trick from the Porsche Factory : when torquing up high compression heads , begin @ 5 # and go 'round working from the middle outwards , repeating the pattern and increasing in 5 # increments until you reach the desired torque specification. This draws the head & block up slowly and more accurately , reduces head gasket failures in high compression (or old worn out not properly flat) engines
I ran in to that problem on my 261, with 9.5-1 pistons .120 off the head and .08 off the block it didn't take long to blow out the stock head gasket. The fix how ever that has lasted several years was head studs instead of bolts and a can of silver spray paint.
Actully, found that I sheared off 4 of the 6 collector bolts. Apparently they werent grade 8 like the man said. It is hardly a high compression engine, has dished pistons and a stock head. It has run very well for the 5 years I have had it, straight out of the junkyard and never opened.I have 2 other engines that have followed me home, I may start building one up for when this one finally craps the bed. Didn't use any sealer on the head gasket, wasn't reccommended.
Consider This : Don't automatically rebuild your old engines , rather take them apart and see whatcha got , overhaul as necessary , taking the time to do the job carefully , balance everything and match everything , use a cross drilled crankshaft & polish and match the combustion chambers as this will increase the power at all loads & RPM's more than you can possibly imagine , even on a 6.5:1 CR SMOG engine . Building a medium duty low compression engine is great because you can use a 3/4 truck cam to pep it up and then run it balls to the walls all the time and since it : A : will be lightly stressed and B : will be balanced far better than original It'll produce vastly more tractable power and last longer , all whilst running cooler and getting fabulous fuel economy too . You have to do this to believe it . Or , you can be like everyone else and hop up a 350 with extra crap it doesn't need and watch it die in 30,000 miles like 99 % of all Hot Rod engines do . It's your choice , you pays your monies and makes your choice . Me , I'll be wheezing across the desert yet once again in my old mystery 1957 235 Passenger car engine . WAITAMINNIT ! did I just talk about V-ate engines ?! never mind ! I DON'T EVER touch them
Hey Russ! Isn't it odd that "Nate" and "V8" rhyme, yet he swears at and is against them? Things that make you go "Hmmmm"
The Dark Side It aitn'tgonna happen guys If it was , it would have years ago.... I wasn't even impressed by my old Mercedes DOHC V-ate , a real romping stomping Hot Rod that was too ! . I'm a Luddite and I like it just fine . You'll see me driving a Toyletta first .
