Heads are off - What should I See

micksix

Registered User
I had blown headgasket's on my 1993 SC. I just pulled the heads off and I'm not sure what I should see or rather what I should be concerned about. Before I started, I verified that there was no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil. Now that the heads are off, I see quite a bit of antifreeze. Is this normal? My main concern is if it can get into the lower part of the engine like this? I just don't want to waste time and effort on the heads if the lower part of the engine is toasted, this is my first time changing hg's. I was also concerned about the cylinders appearance, looks kinda crappy. Not what I expected! I've attached some photos for opinions, please help :eek: Thanks

MickSix :confused:
 

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coolant will get into the cylinders once you pull the heads. Whatever was stuck in the coolant ports as well as the intake will leak out once you break the seals. I'd used a paper towl and just mopped up everything in the bores as well as the lifter valley. A little coolant is normal just cause it spilled from the heads. Wipe it up before it gets down to the lower end. Make sure you changed your oil before start the car again. Then i would change it after a few hours run time, so make sure nothing else comes out. Better safe than sorry.

As for the bores, they look good as well as the cylinders. Here's what mine looked like after i did my cam swap. You should also be able to see the factory cross hatching on the cylinder walls, and the pistons should be clean. Look for scoring on the walls, but i think you're in great shape. Compare to my pics. Mine were in the same condition as yours and i run 13.2's. Hopfully i'll get into the 12's before the season ends and the motor gets a high end rebuild. But yours look in great shape.

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That helps a lot

fastsc92 said:
coolant will get into the cylinders once you pull the heads. Whatever was stuck in the coolant ports as well as the intake will leak out once you break the seals. I'd used a paper towl and just mopped up everything in the bores as well as the lifter valley. A little coolant is normal just cause it spilled from the heads. Wipe it up before it gets down to the lower end. Make sure you changed your oil before start the car again. Then i would change it after a few hours run time, so make sure nothing else comes out. Better safe than sorry.

As for the bores, they look good as well as the cylinders. Here's what mine looked like after i did my cam swap. You should also be able to see the factory cross hatching on the cylinder walls, and the pistons should be clean. Look for scoring on the walls, but i think you're in great shape. Compare to my pics. Mine were in the same condition as yours and i run 13.2's. Hopfully i'll get into the 12's before the season ends and the motor gets a high end rebuild. But yours look in great shape.


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thanks fastsc92! It looks just like the 2nd pic you posted, puddled in openings. The stuff in the cylinders wasn't much, I soaked that up. And I can see the crosshatching, you could too if I had a better camera. Thanks for the feedback and quick response.

-MickSix
 
no problem man, i also cleaned the bores and the tops of the pistons with some carb cleaner. Then i added some oil to the walls to stop from rusting. Aftewards it got the deck surface to a super clean shine, and for the pistons it used a brass wire wheel mounted on a drill and got the tops looking brand new. Good luck you to man, anymore questions jsut feel free to ask. Oh, dont know if you're interested but i'm going to have a set of fully ported heads for sale within the next week.
 
Ported heads

fastsc92 said:
Oh, dont know if you're interested but i'm going to have a set of fully ported heads for sale within the next week.

I'd be interested, But more than likely short on cash :D if they're ported. How much are you lookin to get for them and what's the story?
 
I was looking for $400 plus shipping. They are port matched on the intake side, and blended into the runners, the bowls are ported and opened up, and short turn radius is smoothed. The exhaust side has bowl work and the short turn radius is removed. The heads retain stock valves, that are cleaned up and the faces polished. The chambers are polished, and the valves unshrouded. I just purchased a felpro intake set as a templet to port the heads as well as new felpro valve seals(installed). I'll include both with the heads. The heads are complete and ready to be bolted on. I have pics if interested, of the heads i did this winter that are currently on my car now ( these will receive the same treatment)
 
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