redracer wrote: Just read this--Sorry to hear about your problem. After 45+ years of working on these cars, I too have my first
blown" head gasket, but not for the reasons that seemed to have happened with yours("too loose on the head nuts_. Anyway, some engine work had been done on this car, although the head nuts were "over-torqued"(O.E.M gasket--needed a breaker bar to loosen them!). Cylinder #4 appears where the "leak" is, and would "boil" the coolant after the engine gets warmed up.
bruce/redracer
Bruce:
Another interesting failure. Head nuts over torqued? Any idea if that might cause a failure?
Boiling the coolant after the engine warms up is definitely a symptom of a head gasket having expired. I suppose the block and liners may have been decked flat, so the gasket had inadequate clamping force on the liners. Might explain why the nuts were over torqued - to compensate for the lack of clamping force on the liners?
Overheating or perhaps burning coolant may have tipped the builder off that the gasket wasn't clamped adequately, so he tightens down the head nuts to avoid having to remove the head. Or perhaps the gasket failed immediately, so he puts in a new gasket and wants to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Hmmm. Well, let us know what the nip looks like. That may hold the answer.
BTW, I also have an extra block should you decide you need one. But then I would imagine you have a couple in your parts stash already. =:-)
Vance
PS: After this discussion, I verified that the nip is indeed still there on my engine, and when I took the engine to the machinist to get the new pistons fitted, I did not check the box next to "Deck the block" on the work order. Problem avoided!Last edited on 02-15-2025 07:48 pm by vnavaret
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