head gaskets

metanoiadude

Registered User
my head gaskets have gone. when i start the car and get on the gas (into boost) blows my radiator fluid out of the resivoir. i have already purchased an upper gasket set from scp but was wondering, do the heads require plaining or is that a recomendation? i am probably going to get them plained anywaysjust to make sure there flat and not warped. also when the heads are plained that will make the combustion chamber a lil smaller b/c of the metal taken off the head to make it flat, do i need to do anything special b/c of this raised compression or is it such a small amout i dont need to worry about it? just a couple things i would like to know before i jump in and start tearing things apart.

thanks
 
If they have never been done before, I would just take them to a good machine shop and have the pressure checked, decked and a valve job done on them and you should be good to go.
 
Also, get ARP head stud set, p/n 233-4003, these are for the chevy 6 cyl. but will fit better that the ones for the Ford 6 cyl. Have used these my self on two SC's and they work great.
Just get rid of those stupid torque to yield bolts.
Good luck with the head set job.
 
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Take the advise on the ARP studs, they are a good investment.
Your heads should clean up with a .005 cut.

A digital camera will save your rear if you are a week end mechanic. even document taking out the windshield wiper cowl and its hardware.
You think you will remember how it goes back together---but you will forget a detail that will get you later. Baggies--markers---tags---note pad

There are some great threads on this repair, do your home work first.
Plus there are guys here that will help you with questions---no matter how many time they have been asked before. After you have done a head gasket job on one of these cars, its easy to have sympathy for the latest victum!
 
thanks

thanks for the good advice yeah the windshield wiper cowl was a fun job. the motor on mine went bad luckly i had a spare just laying around so it only took an hr or so once i figured out how to get everything apart. i got the arp head studs from scp also i figured bill should know whats best. was thinking about getting roller rockers to put in since every thing will be apart any ways, but no money to buy the roller rockers yet :( . so just getting them plained .005 will have very little effect on the compression and should be fine.

again thanks to all of your for the good input
 
Got That T-Shirt

I just finished up the head gasket project on my titanium SC last month. Let me know if you need any information, P/N's, things to look for, trouble spots, etc.

By the way, I had my heads planed 0.005" to clean them up and give a good (smooth) surface for the FelPro MLS head gaskets.

JD
 
thanks for the good advice yeah the windshield wiper cowl was a fun job. the motor on mine went bad luckly i had a spare just laying around so it only took an hr or so once i figured out how to get everything apart. i got the arp head studs from scp also i figured bill should know whats best. was thinking about getting roller rockers to put in since every thing will be apart any ways, but no money to buy the roller rockers yet :( . so just getting them plained .005 will have very little effect on the compression and should be fine.

again thanks to all of your for the good input

Resurfacing the heads is a good idea and it will have very little effect on the compression....nothing to worry about.

David
 
a good saturday

today was so beuatiful i decided to start tearing things apart. heres a before and after pic total time about 7 hrs. and a whole box of parts. at least i caught the leak before it melted the heads.
 

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up date

got heads intake and exaust back on. almost done :D . an up date that i found out. re tap the exaust threads in the head before putting bolts in. on mine every bolt locked up in the hole before they were tight i guess its b/c of the chemical stripper that they use to clean up the heads, it must corrode the thread holes so i re tapped all the exaust threads and it went together nicely. if your wondering what size to use its am 8mmX1.5mm
 
all finished

all raped up accept one little thing. i need new o rings for the fuel rail connectors. one of them was in pretty bad shape and needed replacement. any sugestions where i might get some the stores around here dont carry them and say there listed as a factory item. so is the ford dealer the only place i can get them or is there another alternative.
 
Felpro makes rebuild kits that includes the pintle cap, and an o-ring for there and the top.

It's fairly universal so likely the guys you talked to just don't know parts. Injector o-ring talk has happened before so see if any of the links below have a number
 
its running again

well i found the broken o ring at an auto zone but the only set they had was 1 that the small o ring was too small and the big o ring was the size of the small o ring (the one i needed) so i replaced it and now the car runs again. after 2 months or so i can drive the bird again. imm all too happy with all the help ive gotten on here and that my car still runs.:D one guy that i knew who did head gaskets once he was dont the car never ran again and wound up in the junk yard.

i was figuring on wiring the bypass valve open for the first 500-1000 miles just to make sure the gaskets are seated nice and good before i put any boost on them. or is that not needed, just figured it was a good idea make sure everything is together good before beating on it"lightly of corse;) ". also after the 1000 miles i plan on doing a coolant change and oil change just in case some junk got into somewhere it dosent belong.


thanks again to all the members of sccoa for your help.
anotherone stays out of the crusher
 
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if they blow again you did something wrong, may as well keep the boost to it. If you think you did something wrong, you better just tear it back apart now. Be confident in your work!!
 
There isn't anything to seat in... Best case would be to run for a bit, then retorque the head bolts. But that's not easy, thus the extra umph most people put on and re-check a few times before closing it up.

If there is any reason to think your initial issue was due to a engine tune problem or detonation, then I'd hold off until you get that issue resolved, or you're sure to have another problem.
 
only other problem i have is the CEL come on and off intermitently, mostly while decelerating then as soon as i hit the gas again it goes off. im thinking its O2 sensors giving a bad reading or something, probably needs a tune. got all the up grades listed on my members page with no tune on it. just bolted them on and went. but i dont have any other issues or anything with the car, no detination, and it was running great begore the HG's went.
 
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