[Healeys] Head Gasket Woes Part Three

[WILLIAM B LAWRENCE]

Correction: tried = trued.

________________________________
From: john harper <ah100tech at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 5:24 PM
To: WILLIAM B LAWRENCE <ynotink at msn.com>
Cc: Steven Kingsbury via Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net>; Steven Kingsbury <airtightproductions at me.com>
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Head Gasket Woes Part Three

Steve

You say that you had distributor problems. Could it be that you ran the engine with the distributor over advanced? It is possible that you had pre-ignition or knocking. If over advanced then the pressure on the pistons can be very high before 'over top dead centre'. This might put more pressure on the head gasket than expected.

The flame front temperature must have been very high to burn away a groove in the head.

Best regards

On Wed, 23 Feb 2022 at 17:02, WILLIAM B LAWRENCE via Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net<mailto:healeys at autox.team.net>> wrote:

I had a bunch of trouble with head gaskets before my last rebuild. It occurred to me that the laminated copper gaskets I was using had an area of overlap in the combustion chamber that exposes the thin copper to erosion by hot combustion gases. My theory is that the copper burns away and exposes the asbestos core which is then gradually burned out until the gasket fails catastrophically. I used a solid copper gasket for a time with good results, but couldn’t get it to seal between the oil and water systems. At the last rebuild I installed the Denis Welch competition gasket and had both surfaces tried and finished. The results have been great.
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From: Healeys <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net<mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net>> on behalf of Steven Kingsbury via Healeys <healeys at autox.team.net<mailto:healeys at autox.team.net>>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 4:34 PM
To: Healey Mail List <healeys at autox.team.net<mailto:healeys at autox.team.net>>
Subject: [Healeys] Head Gasket Woes Part Three

Let me start with a little history with this email. My engine has just a shade under 3,000 miles on it since rebuild. The head was checked for cracks, none found and was ever so slightly shaved to make sure it was completely flat. The machine shop I use builds race engines and they do really good, reliable work.
Then the block was gone through, new sleeves inserted and bored so to fit my new pistons. Again the top of the block was checked and double checked to make sure it was flat and mated to the head.
When I fired this engine up for the first time after rebuild, she lept to life! No turning it over and over and over. She fired right up. I was quite pleased.
I ran the engine for about twenty minutes at 2,000 RPM, never got above 180 degrees and then took her out on the road. I took care not to over rev, and drove up a long hill in third gear at low RPM to help set the rings.
I did have some problems with the distributor, but that was fixed and at fifty miles I checked the head again for torque. I drove the car more and retorqued the head again at 150 miles, all was fine.
I checked again at 500 miles and again at 1500 miles. All was fine.
Anyway, this history is to let you know I think I did everything I could and did everything overly cautious to break this engine in correctly. And this engine was running great! My car was a joy to drive and loved cruising down the freeway at 80 mph! Seventy was a sweet spot and was a joy to drive.
I'm now thinking of going with the aluminum head thanks to the combined wisdom of this list. Aluminum head with the steel gasket. I've heard nothing but good news about them and I don't want to have that worry/doubt while driving down the road. I am also going to continue down the path of fixing this head as I think it's worth it in the long run.
I want to thank all of those sending in suggestions and tips and cautionary tales and things to look for and all of the views have led me to believe, bite the bullet and spend the money.
Thank you all and I will report back!
Steven Kingsbury
BN1
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