[Healeys] Head Gasket Woes Part Three

[Steven Kingsbury]

Perry,I hear what you're saying and you may have a point. I will check the width of the gap between 3 and 4 and also between 1 and 2. At least that will give me something to check and determine if there are differences there. I did not measure if there was any overlap when I put the head gasket in place and then the head. Again, I will check that with a new head gasket.I received word today that my head is making its way to a shop capable of welding cast iron. If I use it or not, I am going to repair it if it can be repaired. The shop it is going to is aware of cracking problems in this style head and will check for said cracks before and after the "fix". Right now, it's a hurry up and wait scenario, but I am bound and determined to get this machine back on the road and motoring under its own power. As to the sizes of the sleeves and the "previous" head work, not much I can do about that now other than be extremely careful as to the size of the next head gasket, or head, or all of the above.As for the fault? I can only guess, and my guess leads me to the copper head gasket. I do not believe it was a Payen, it was the one offered in the Moss catalogue. Maker? No idea. The previous owner was using a steel gasket and I had no idea how many times it had been used, so I opted for the copper as I was advised the newer supplies of copper gaskets were of better quality. If I had the ability to go back in time with the knowledge I have now, I would have opted to install a new steel head gasket. Live and learn, no crying over spilled milk or coolant. Just pay better attention.Again, thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions.Steven K. On Feb 23, 2022, at 2:58 PM, healeyguy at aol.com wrote:Steven  Some thoughts.  Please advise if my assumptions are correct or not. Looking at your photos I can offer the following: Anybody have a penny?AssumptionsThe gasket erosion occurred between cylinders 3 and 4.The erosion of the head material matches the gasket erosion shown in the block and gasket.The head has had machine work done adjacent to the area of head erosion (as shown in the photos) The installed block cylinder sleeves were stock inner and outer diameter.  Thoughts:The block sleeving and combustion chamber machine work appears to have reduced the sealing area for the gasket crimp.in the area of the erosion.The erosion would appear to have started in number 4 cylinder.That area has one of the larger water galleries in the 100 block, even though it is somewhat squeezed between cylinders 3 and 4. The Payden style gaskets have sometimes failed in non-stock engine builds. That said we run 10.25 to one compression in our 100. Since you were able to get reasonable drivability for the first 1500 miles and then added another 1500 miles without reported backfiring through exhaust or intake, It would seem things held together reasonably well until the gasket failed and the head was eroded by the high speed exhaust gases.  Mr Lawrence mentioned bad gaskets producing an overlap of the gasket into the bore. In this case it may not have been the gasket at fault but previous machining on the head and or the size of the sleeves that reduced the gasket crimp..Perry-----Original Message----- From: Steven Kingsbury via Healeys <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 KingsburyBN1 _______________________________________________m 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/healeys/attachments/20220224/fc39a554/attachment.htm>