William West wrote:
>
> Hello!
>
> Well, my 1500 cylinder head is back at home after its short stay in the
> machine shop emergency room, with a new helicoil where the water pump bolts
> up and a nice, shiny, resurfaced face (seems she was warped a wee-little
> bit----four thousands out).
>
> On Saturday, I'll be putting her all back together again. Having heard head
> gasket replacement horror stories over and over again, I was hoping that
> some of you would share some of your sure fire, no mistakes tricks for
> proper installation on the first time around.
>
> Any thoughts on sealant (should anything be used or is it always better to
> use no sealant on head gaskets)? Surface preparation(dry? light sheen of
> oil?) Torquing tricks (I've heard people say that it is better to torque to
> half the specification first, and then tighten to full specs.)
>
> Thanks in advance!
> Will
> "What's the point in livin' unless you're living wild?"
I agree fully with Dean. NO SEALANT ON A HEAD GASKET...... If you want
to use something, one old timers trick is to spray a coat of aluminum
paint on both sides of the gasket & try to get the head on while it is
wet. This must be a paint with some actual metalic content. The theory
is that the metal particals help bond with the metal on both sides. I
have done this on heads I feared might be a problem. The paint does not
make the gasket stick on disassembly or pose a clean up problem. Does
it really help????? I don't know.
Always torque in steps, & in the proper order to bring the head down
evenly or it will warp again, defeating your work in machining it. Make
sure your bolts are clean & free of grease or oil accept possibly a
light coating of oil evenly applied. Dirty threads cause innacurate
torque readings & create a situation of torquing unevenly, thus,
possible damage to the head, & possible leakage of compression, oil & or
water.
Keep every thing clean neat & orderly in your work & you will have no
problems.
Good luck.
Tom Strange, Classic Autosports Ltd., Appleton, Wi., 920-733-5013
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