Engine question.

[Ivan141]

Whatever you plan to do with the old head, get it pressure tested first.

[caper]

For sure!

[Ivan141]

BTW, I,ve had the piston rings on my old bluetop go bad in the past, had at least 2 pistons with broken ringlands. This was on a MAP engine..

[[Walaki]D`Lair]

thats why I said they MOSTLY appear on AFM engines

[caper]

The head pressure tested fine and they had to machined it 0.013". Which would definitely explain my overheating and coolant usage. I'm still concerned about the pitting in the block surface around the #4 cylinder. I measured it with a straight edge and the rest of the block was perfect but at the pit marks it's 0.007" out. According to the manual when checking the block anything above 0.020" is out of specs. Which seems really high to me! Honda, where I work, only recommend a tolerance of 0.004" when checking blocks! The block is still in the car and I don't really want to remove it and strip it down if I don't have to but of course I don't want to have a repeat issue with overheating either. Plus I'm worried if the block has to be decked that the combination of the head and block machining may be too much. I'm tempted to install the new head gasket and see what happens. Worst case I've got to remove the head again and have the block done. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[caper]

A couple more quick questions. Can I use the torque specs in the online manual posted on the site on my '85 blue top? Has anyone had any luck using graphite head gaskets? I used an OEM one originally but I can get an aftermarket one online much cheaper(including head bolts) and of course it may only be together a short time. Finally, has anyone ever used the copper spray for head gaskets? The reason I ask is because it's suppose to seal pit marks which, if you've been reading this thread, you know I've got.

[caper]

Well the engine is back together using a cheap gasket set I picked up on ebay and I coated the head gasket with four coats of Permatex gasket sealer. I decided to chance leaving the block alone. Worst case I have to remove the head again and completely rebuild the bottom end. Hopefully I'll get the summer out of it as is and do a total rebuild over the winter as planned. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!

[oldeskewltoy]

caper Wrote:Well the engine is back together using a cheap gasket set I picked up on ebay and I coated the head gasket with four coats of Permatex gasket sealer. I decided to chance leaving the block alone. Worst case I have to remove the head again and completely rebuild the bottom end. Hopefully I'll get the summer out of it as is and do a total rebuild over the winter as planned. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!

the four coats of Permatex scares me *IF* you have to disassemble it errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[NoHachi]

oldeskewltoy Wrote:

caper Wrote:Well the engine is back together using a cheap gasket set I picked up on ebay and I coated the head gasket with four coats of Permatex gasket sealer. I decided to chance leaving the block alone. Worst case I have to remove the head again and completely rebuild the bottom end. Hopefully I'll get the summer out of it as is and do a total rebuild over the winter as planned. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!

the four coats of Permatex scares me *IF* you have to disassemble it errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Nah, usually no problem to disassemble. But the trick with gasket sealant and/or liquid gaskets is to use as littlte as you possible can. At least thats what I learned.

[vlgi]

NoHachi Wrote:

oldeskewltoy Wrote:

caper Wrote:Well the engine is back together using a cheap gasket set I picked up on ebay and I coated the head gasket with four coats of Permatex gasket sealer. I decided to chance leaving the block alone. Worst case I have to remove the head again and completely rebuild the bottom end. Hopefully I'll get the summer out of it as is and do a total rebuild over the winter as planned. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!

the four coats of Permatex scares me *IF* you have to disassemble it errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Nah, usually no problem to disassemble. But the trick with gasket sealant and/or liquid gaskets is to use as littlte as you possible can. At least thats what I learned.

Usually the sealer is designed to fill in small scratch or damage to the surfaces the gasket sits on to provide a better seal, if you use too much it will probably be a weak point that could cause a leak / drop in compression. That said I've seen people use silicon on broken gaskets, and it worked. I mean sure this was like daily driver not a performance machine