Still leaking?!!!!!!

[USMC302]

I read in 5.0 magazine just the other night, the techs torqued AFR heads on a stock block to 95.......I think I should be safe. We'll see not this weekend but next, I'll post back up and let everyone know. Thanks for all of the input.

[andy669]

I'll believe what ARP tells me before any magazine article. 95ft.lbs should only be used if it is a 1/2 inch stud, which 351w's have.

Assuming the block was decked in the proper machine, its kinda hard to screw it up without noticing. Now if someone set it up in an endmill and took cuts with a 1" cutter, thats a different story. I really doubt its the block, or the heads. I think its just bad luck. Oh yeah, and the junk fel pro head gaskets. I always use Cortecos on my N/A stuff. They are excellent gaskets, and priced real reasonably. I buy complete engine gasket sets for $70.

Andy

[USMC302]

Originally Posted by andy669

I think its just bad luck. Oh yeah, and the junk fel pro head gaskets. I always use Cortecos on my N/A stuff. They are excellent gaskets, and priced real reasonably. I buy complete engine gasket sets for $70.

Andy

That's actually the best news yet, I know the heads are good and 99.999% sure the block is too. If the new sealant doesn't work I will try the Cortecos. I will try just about anything now.

[Dark_5.0]

Originally Posted by andy669

I'll believe what ARP tells me before any magazine article. 95ft.lbs should only be used if it is a 1/2 inch stud, which 351w's have.

Assuming the block was decked in the proper machine, its kinda hard to screw it up without noticing. Now if someone set it up in an endmill and took cuts with a 1" cutter, thats a different story. I really doubt its the block, or the heads. I think its just bad luck. Oh yeah, and the junk fel pro head gaskets. I always use Cortecos on my N/A stuff. They are excellent gaskets, and priced real reasonably. I buy complete engine gasket sets for $70.

Andy

The junk fepros have never let me down

[andy669]

One more thing I was thinking: Make sure theres not an extra head dowel pushed all the way up inside the head. Some times reused dowels can be real loose and when you pull the head off you might not even see it cause its all the way to the top of its bore. If the machine shop put new ones in, and theres one still stuck in the head, that will definately cause a leak. A similiar situation happened to me a few weeks ago, but it wasnt on the motor, it was on the flow bench. For awhile there I had the best flowing intake port in the country (it was sucking air beneath the head surface). I didnt notice what the problem was until I reversed the bench to exhaust and the rubber seal between the head and plate started flapping.

Andy

[~The Jester~]

Good call! Never thought of that!

[Rev]

Originally Posted by andy669

One more thing I was thinking: Make sure theres not an extra head dowel pushed all the way up inside the head. Some times reused dowels can be real loose and when you pull the head off you might not even see it cause its all the way to the top of its bore. If the machine shop put new ones in, and theres one still stuck in the head, that will definately cause a leak. A similiar situation happened to me a few weeks ago, but it wasnt on the motor, it was on the flow bench. For awhile there I had the best flowing intake port in the country (it was sucking air beneath the head surface). I didnt notice what the problem was until I reversed the bench to exhaust and the rubber seal between the head and plate started flapping.

Andy

That actually did happen with me recently. I was reinstalling the heads temporarily to check piston/valve clearance after a new cam installation. I only installed the passenger side head with the old gasket to check the clearance. I noticed that I was missing a dowel which I knew I had earlier. You guessed it, there was an extra one crammed in the hole at the rear of the passenger side head. I'm damned glad I found out before the final installation of the heads after all the work of a new cam and intake being installed. Fortunately, I caught that screw up before it could do any real harm.

Rev

[82 GT]

Man...if this was me and I had this much trouble with the heads sealing, I would be so pissed off by now that I would probably weld the heads right to the block