| MG | -- 02-14-2015 @ 7:23 PM |
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Back in the mid '90's I had the original engine in my '34 rebuilt. At that time, I requested to my engine re-builder that he replace the heads with the reproduction aluminum heads as manufactured by Kearney Pattern Works located here in San Jose, CA.-(they advertise in the V8 Times) The rebuild went well and the engine ran smooth and cool - temp seldom went above 170 degrees. So, last year I decided I needed a valve job due to some unequal compression readings. After the valve job was done, I replace the the head gaskets with Felpro steel clad head gaskets because they were the only ones available to me at that time - big mistake! Another big mistake was I did not coat these steel clad head gaskets with any kind of sealer - I put them on the block dry. I torqued down the heads, started the engine and it never sounded better. A little bit later, I did a re-torque and made a compression check and all reading were at or near to 110 lbs. I was a happy camper until later I discovered that I had a nasty overheating/boiling problem - this, especially when exiting highways. Today I decided to do something about overheating problem - I pulled the heads with the intent of replacing those steel clad head gaskets with composite type gaskets manufactured by 'BEST' as recommended by 'JM', who regularly posts on this forum. While I had the heads off, I had a machinist friend of mine check the heads with his straight-edge gauge. The left side head was fine but he found that he could slip a .018 thousands feeler gauge between the right side head and the straight edge - this toward the center of the head - not good. So, I'm saying to myself, what are my options with respect to this warped head. Is the ".018 thousands" 'out' that bad? Was this head always warped and was only brought to light because of the UN-coated steel clad head gasket? Or, do I have to replace the heads? I decided to call Jon Scobel, former owner and founder of Kearney Pattern Works to get his thoughts. He was of the opinion that the the .018 thousands wasn't too bad and that I could probably get away without having to replace the heads if I used good quality head gaskets with a good coat of quality head gasket sealant. Needless to say, I'm open to any of you for your input in this matter. Sincerely, MG BTW - New heads from Kearney Pattern Works cost $1800.00 a pair.... This message was edited by MG on 2-14-15 @ 9:28 PM
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| ken ct. | -- 02-15-2015 @ 3:36 AM |
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Hi MG , why notjust have it milled like .016 to .018. The small unbalanced sides wouldn't make much diff. or mill both of them the same cut. ??? omo. ken ct.
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| 40 Coupe | -- 02-15-2015 @ 7:03 AM |
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have both heads milled to the same spec. get them flat 0.020 is not that much to remove. You may want to clay the heads just to make sure your reproduction heads have the clearance. I agree the steel gaskets do well with the copper spray sealer. I am not sure the composite need this spray, maybe a light coating of grease. There should be NO NEED to replace the heads! Ask Kearney what torque spec. they suggest and follow re-torque after first warm up and cool and then again at about 100 Mi.
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