At my house, anyways.... After a long list of delays I expected to hear the motor run today and certainly didnt expect todays setbacks.... I guess I know what comes next, but Im hoping to hear some positive feedback leaning towards the possibility of gasket failure instead of a head crack while Im waiting for results of a pressure check. We turned the motor over and let it run for a few seconds. With some mild play on the distributor & correction of the firing sequence it sounded decent, but it still needed timing adjustment and I was nervous about starting it up using the idiot light oil pressure guage. It didnt take long to notice the coolant streaming out of the drivers side header. We shut it off and started pulling the plugs. It was clear there was fouling and combustion in the first 3 cylinders (1,3 & 5), but #7 came out with nothing on it at all with no temperature and the scent of fuel on it-- NO coolant. We tried checking #7 cylinder for coolant, but found none. We took the intake off were still unable to find the leak. The metallic valley pan looked fine to me, but it was the only item between the intake and the head--- with the exception of some blue silcone. Shouldnt there be some other type of gasket? There was no coolant in the oil and none appeared in the valley or the pan. We worked for a while and removed the head. The head gasket looked fine with one exception, there was one stud that was over torqued and left a light mark that may be the culprit (?), but we dont think so. The head had no VISIBLE cracks or reason to believe it is the problem, other than its the only thing left. I expect Ill take it to Napa to be pressure tested, but I dont know when to expect it back. Im hoping for some positive news and maybe it be a fluke with the gasket, but with the amount of coolant coming out thats very optimistic. I was also wanting some input on the valley pan. It appears that there are two seperate valley pans you can purchase, one of the differences being the lack of or size difference in the port hole that allows exhaust gases into the middle of the intake. I forget what my buddy called it, but I guess on later models it was enlarged for smog system purposes. Anyhow, I have older model heads ('67-'71, with the 1/2 size opening) and an Edelbrock B4B (larger ports) that will probably work with anything. Can I buy the '67-'71 valley pan and just let the ports be covered with that? Plugging the ports was suggested to me for the limited driving the car will see. I thought I saw in a Postons catalog that there was a valley pan and a gasket-- perhaps Ill get lucky and the valley pan/silicone was the culprit. Im sorry for any gibberish that may not make sense above and Ive probably left some out, but its 3 or 4am and I need to get to bed. I should probably mention that the car has probably not been taken through every precautionary step during breakin that it should have but I have minimal mechanical experience and the brains behind this operation (my buddy from work) is old school and Im guessing that alot of what you fellas know about Buicks is not common knowledge. I look forward to your comment and input. I expect to be making some calls tomorrow, possibly dropping the head off for testing and then ordering some new gaskets from TA. Thanks in advance, Leon.
The way I think I understand you is that you have coolant in cylinders 1,3, and 5 only (pouring out) and none in the valley or in the crankcase. Also you have a headbolt mark on the "gasket"? Or was the mark on the head? In any event, sounds like you have a headgasket problem if you filled a cylinder quickly with coolant. There is too much information missing to make an accurate acessment. One thing I can tell: get somebody else to help you. Your friend has no idea what he is doing! And yes, get the paper type gaskets and oil splash pan from Poston or somebody. Also your not saying what was done to the motor before you attempted to assemble it. Have a knowlegeable person come over and look at what you have and size up the problem. A lot of time and money can go to waste. Dennis
If you found no coolant at all in the oil/ and or cylinders, the only way for coolant to get into the exhaust and header is from a crack between a water passage and exhaust port. I would have done a compression check, a coolant system pressure check, and a leakdown test. That would have isolated your problem. If it was a head gasket, I would expect to see some coolant in the oil/crankcase. The metal manifold gasket is correct, and will work just fine if the manifold fits to the heads as stock. Sometimes when the heads or the block are milled, the intake may not fit correctly, and cause problems. This can be corrected by machining the intake manifold. a small bead of silicone should be used around each coolant passage on both sides of the metal gasket, as well as on the ends of the rail seals in the corner where it contacts the heads. Some spray tack or copper coat around the intake ports is a good idea. Hope your problem is just a crack as described above. As long as you didn't get any water in the crankcvase, you should be OK. It's alright to shut it down during break in. I would pour some GM EOS over the cam before buttoning it up again to continue the breakin. Good Luck.
