Head gasket on the cheap

[Obwonkonobe]

Hey all, was crusing earlier when all the sudden the driver side pipe started bellowing white sweet smoke... my guess is a head gasket

I’ll be tearing the head off tomorrow and hopefully I’ll just be able to throw some new gaskets in it and have it back by Monday, but I’ve got a couple quiestions,

Assuming it’s just the drivers side, can I only replace the one head gasket? Do I need to do both? And does anyone have any recommendations on what brand or part number? I’ll problably go fel pro, just because I only want to do the job once, but still they have tons of options. It’s a reman sbc 350, no crazy hp, just carb intake headers, basic bolt on stuff, but stock junk heads, low compression. I’m just going to wirewheel and brakleen the surfaces unless someone says otherwise, and put new gaskets in along the way. Thanks in advance!

 

[Obwonkonobe]

Also, I’m going to ASSUME that the heads have come off one other time max, so would it be okay to reuse the headbolts? Again this isn’t a crazy motor, 8.5 to 1 compression if I’m lucky

 

[84 M1008]

Personally, I would do both seeing as the passenger side is probably not far behind unless the driver's side is cracked or warped. I wouldn't put a wire wheel to it either. Get it big sheet of 180 grit sandpaper on a piece of glass and run the head back and forth on it in one direction. It will clean it up and indicate weather it's warped or not.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

You can reuse the heabolts, we did it all the time at my old job. Do both while you’re already in there to do one, you’ll have to pull the intake off to do the one so might as well do them both. Don’t wire wheel, if you have to clean up the block use a buffer wheel, it’s not as hard on the sealing surface. Felpro is a good choice for gaskets, also any machine shop will be able to clean up your head for pretty cheap. Definitely need to make sure there’s no cracks, they’ll usually crack around the valve seats

 

[HotRodPC]

Yep, I've reused SBC headbolts many many times without issue. Just make sure your threads are clean so there is not resistence to throw your torque measurement off. Usually later model engines are Torque to Yield bolts and should be replaced but not these older engines.

 

[JoeR Jr]

I don't recall any SBC using stretch bolts for the heads, so it should be safe to use the head bolts again. The wire brush and/or razor blade is great for cleaning the block and head. I'd avoid abrasives like the plague for cleaning the block. There's no stopping the grit from making it into the pan, and then to the oil pump. I've replaced more than one engine due to someone using sanding disks to clean gasket surfaces.

It's advisable to yank both heads, but if you're willing to take the risk of repeating the repair, you can just do just the one side. Get the head checked for cracks and warpage if you can't do it yourself.

Joe

 

[Obwonkonobe]

All good advice, thank you! I’ll problably just use razors and towels, and check everything with a straight edge

 

[shiftpro]

Replacing only one gasket could result in different compression ratios from one side to the other. If you knew for sure which gaskets were used, then you could replace just one side. Different gaskets compress to different thickness which would effect the compression.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

I don't recall any SBC using stretch bolts for the heads, so it should be safe to use the head bolts again. The wire brush and/or razor blade is great for cleaning the block and head. I'd avoid abrasives like the plague for cleaning the block. There's no stopping the grit from making it into the pan, and then to the oil pump. I've replaced more than one engine due to someone using sanding disks to clean gasket surfaces.

It's advisable to yank both heads, but if you're willing to take the risk of repeating the repair, you can just do just the one side. Get the head checked for cracks and warpage if you can't do it yourself.

Joe

Wire wheels lose wires all the time and the same grit gets thrown around cuz it’s usually gasket material and whatever else is left on the sealing surface. I’ll admit the abrasive pads do throw off a little dust but it’s more controllable than little tiny wires going everywhere.

The nylon buffer wheels are better, since they don’t lose particles off of it. Wire wheels should stay away from that kind of stuff IMO

 

[shiftpro]

I would pull both heads, clean the carbon off the tops of the pistons AND inside the combustion chambers. Shoot some WD40 inside the heads ports to determine how bad the valves and seats are. You might be opening a can of worms... meaning you might just give the heads a valve job. One thing leads to the next.

Also to clean the crud out of the cylinders, it will never be perfect but I just oil up the cylinder walls and turn the motor over and over while wiping the cylinder walls as the piston goes down.

Use Right Stuff by Permatex on the front and back of block where the intake sits, and also around the ends of the intake gaskets where they meet the flat center part of the block/intake. I like to sit the intake in place with the head-to-intake gaskets installed and get an idea how much space there is (between block and intake) to make a bead of Right Stuff.

 

[Obwonkonobe]

Okay so I put in my Hendrix cd and got to work, I really have no spare cash so I just did the one, but everything looked good and went smooth

I plan on putting vortec heads on when I find a pair for the right price, so when I do that I’ll go and do the job right, I only wish I’d done that wd40 trick before reassembly, that sounds real handy. One last quiestion, what works best for valve cover gaskets? I picked up a new cork set today because the old ones are shot, I’ve never been able to get a good seal anyways

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Okay so I put in my Hendrix cd and got to work, I really have no spare cash so I just did the one, but everything looked good and went smooth

I plan on putting vortec heads on when I find a pair for the right price, so when I do that I’ll go and do the job right, I only wish I’d done that wd40 trick before reassembly, that sounds real handy. One last quiestion, what works best for valve cover gaskets? I picked up a new cork set today because the old ones are shot, I’ve never been able to get a good seal anyways

Felpro has blue silicone gaskets, for the oil pan and valve covers. The only way to truly seal the valve covers up are to get cast aluminum valve covers or similar, they’re sturdy and not sheet metal thickness so they don’t warp and bend, they also have better clamp down ability. You don’t have to but I always like to use a light layer of rtv on most of my gaskets.

It’s all pretty spendy but worth it.

 

[Obwonkonobe]

Felpro has blue silicone gaskets, for the oil pan and valve covers. The only way to truly seal the valve covers up are to get cast aluminum valve covers or similar, they’re sturdy and not sheet metal thickness so they don’t warp and bend, they also have better clamp down ability. You don’t have to but I always like to use a light layer of rtv on most of my gaskets.

It’s all pretty spendy but worth it.

I got some beefy aluminum valve covers that won’t warp, what kind of rtv should I run?

 

[Snoots]

I would suggest high temp red.

 

[JoeR Jr]

Wire wheels lose wires all the time and the same grit gets thrown around cuz it’s usually gasket material and whatever else is left on the sealing surface. I’ll admit the abrasive pads do throw off a little dust but it’s more controllable than little tiny wires going everywhere.

The nylon buffer wheels are better, since they don’t lose particles off of it. Wire wheels should stay away from that kind of stuff IMO

Here is some good reading on this: http://www.holmanparts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/06_GasketSurface-Cleaning_V2.pdf

Their recommendations are kinda extreme, recommending only wooden or plastic removal tools on aluminum. The problem with the abrasive disks is that the oil filter doesn't catch them. My personal experience makes me avoid them, like personal experience makes you dislike wire wheels.
either way, be careful cleaning gasket surfaces. You risk ruining the sealing surface and getting debris in the motor oil.

Joe