Just as a way of introduction. I have had my 55 second series since 1992. I replaced the worn out 6 with a 350/350 combo. Now the engine is sick. Upon start one day a discordinate sound from the right side let me know something is not right. Ran rough at idle and fairly smooth with increased rpm. Did a compression check. Odd side, 170 across the board. Even side, 170, 140, 140, and 170. Gonna take the head off tonight and see. Head gasket? $35 fix. Cracked head? Yeha. Now I can upgrade. Sell the Explorer and put the money in the truck
Head gasket Welcome to the forum. You can get lots of good information here. I have a '58 with a 350/350 also. On the wall of my garage hangs a head gasket that was blown between the middle cylinders, it serves as a reminder to me that short cuts will cost you in the long run. It blew because I did not run a tap or thread cleaner into each bolt hole and therefore the torque was not correct. Others on here can affirm what I just said. I hope your problem is only a head gasket and not the head. Also use the better gaskets, a little more money but worth it. Gerald in Florida
I plan on it for sure. The shop that rebuilt the engine 20 years ago put the heads on so I do not know what they used or how they did it. The tap usage is a good tip, I would not have thought of that. If the problem is the head, well then Summit, Jegs, and Edelbrock will have to send some catalogs. Thanks for the suggesstions.
What? No pictures? These guys LOVE pictures. Welcome. You will find loads of valuable information from these guys. Probably a little sarcasm too.
No pictures yet. I really haven't felt the truck was worthy of pictures, but I should take some. I took off the head and the gasket looked fine. Rats. But the intake valves on 4 and 6 are a bronze color, not black like the rest.
cracked head maybe You are probably right about the cracked head, some heads are more prone to cracking than others. Too bad you are way out in the west, I have a set of 350 heads taking up space in my garage you could have. I bet shipping from Florida to Arizona for them would be expensive. Just in case you are interested, they are original heads off a 1974 350. 110,000 miles on them. The engine they were on ran good, I replaced them with a better set of heads.
How much would the shipping be to Arkansas? which is where I am. Even the post office makes the mistake sometimes. I have the head in the shop and I have not heard any bad news so maybe I am ok there. What better heads did you use? If this one is cracked then I think replacement will be in order and an upgrade would not hurt. Except in the wallet.
better heads Somewhere around here I have a little book with casting numbers on blocks and heads. In that book there is info about each head or block. Things like heads with better flow, more likely to crack, combustion chamber info, block info like percentages of metals in the block. My brother had the set of heads I used, according to the info, these particular set of heads had no past history of problems. Also, he gave them to me for free, gotta love the price. I did some porting and polishing on them and then took them to a machine shop, they leveled them and did a valve job, I replaced the old valves with Manley stainless valves, new springs, keepers, everything was replaced with new stuff. Good idea to use new head bolts. That compression on your head was going somewhere, most likely a crack. Doubtful that 2 valves would burn the same to give identical readings. If I can find it, there is a book here showing different colored valves and what the colors mean, I will look for it and see if it offers any clues about your head. In the mean time, I will weigh one of the heads and see what it would cost to send the pair to you. Gerald in Florida it is sunny and in the mid 70s
I appreciate that. I do think that adjacent valves having the same low compression reading is odd. That is why I initially thought and hoped it was the head gasket. If were valves or rings the readings would be different. The pressure is going some where at the same level. If it were the gasket though, the compression would be close to zero because it would go from one cylinder to the next. One consulation is I did find an exhaust leak I have been chasing for 20 years. I had replaced both header to head gaskets and the collector gasket and finally gave up. Since the header is off, I found some pin holes in the original weld at the collector. The muffler shop welded it up no charge. So far a bright spot in a dark day in this truck's life.
head weight Weighed a head on a digital bathroom scale 3 times, read the same each time, 50 pounds. For your info, the head casting number is 333882. Used in 1974 to 1976 passenger. Was in a 1975 Impala. They have 76 cc combustion chamber. Exhaust valve is 1.50 inches, intake is 1.78 ?, I think, I know it isn't 2.02. I am hoping your head is salvageable, maybe it just needs leveling. If you have a bad head you should replace both (my opinion) with a matched set. Maybe yours are the same casting number as these and you will only need one. With my kind of luck that would never happen to me. You can call your local freight movers and find out the cost to ship one or both of the heads from Ocala, Florida, zip 34471 to your location. Let us know what you find out. Gotta go mow my yard now. Gerald in Florida
Just an update. Got the head back. It needed new guides. No cracks which is good news. Now I am waiting for the Summit intake kit I ordered and a warm day if this winter ever decides it is really spring. Or I have to build a garage. I have to go to Oregon for a week, so it may be a while before I get to it. I think I am going to put the other head in the shop. If one had worn guides and other has the same milage, then it stands to reason that it has worn guides as well. Get that done while I am in Oregon. So two more weeks at least before I can start putting it back together.
also new to the forum I have a 59 gmc. I,m buying replacement doors. where is the best source for buying these parts? This is my first truck project. I have been restoring antique tractors for years. Any advice on the installation of the doors. I just discovered this site and have read a lot of good advice on numerous topics. Thanks in advance
Door Fitment Rebuild the hinges firt ! Task Force rigs have lots of problems with saggy doors . Joe AKA ' Mother Trucker ' in the classified section m has doors from rust free Arizona .
