Taking off passenger head about 37 bolts so far

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HotWheelsBurban

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Those 2 bolts were hold downs for that map sensor bracket i have them barley in there
Okay cool thanks. Last 350 I pulled an intake off of, was so long ago it had a carburetor on it. Probably at least 20 years ago....
 

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And get everything in the way OFF of the engine and out of the way.
Tape and a marker numbering each end of each connection you disconnect is important as bagging and tagging bolts and other hardware.
And that’s not just for newbies. It’s good practice all around.
I had probably 2 dozen different labeled bags when disassembling the blue truck for paint. And if I’m pulling an engine I’m numbering connections, even some things that seem obvious when you take it apart may not be weeks or months later.
 

Hugomartin

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Got it all off should I start a new thread what a pain in the A

I still do not know what I’m doing or what to do next should I just pay someone to clean it up or should I just take out the bottom end of the engine too ? Thanks for the help
 

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Hugomartin

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God I don't miss that sh@t. Hat's off to you.
It wasn’t much fun I didn’t think I needed to take off so much I got cardboard cutout to organize my bolts. And getting to every bolt in tight spaces with different size extensions was a real P I A

Sad part about is all this work So far about 15 hours in and realize I still don’t know what to do to fix my situation of low to no compression and oil shooting out my dip stick over 50 mph when it did drive
 

Bextreme04

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It wasn’t much fun I didn’t think I needed to take off so much I got cardboard cutout to organize my bolts. And getting to every bolt in tight spaces with different size extensions was a real P I A

Sad part about is all this work So far about 15 hours in and realize I still don’t know what to do to fix my situation of low to no compression and oil shooting out my dip stick over 50 mph when it did drive
Flip the head over and take a good picture showing the underside. Chances are it will look fine, but maybe not. Take a good clear picture of the top of each piston, especially the ones that had low compression.
 

SirRobyn0

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Got it all off should I start a new thread what a pain in the A

I still do not know what I’m doing or what to do next should I just pay someone to clean it up or should I just take out the bottom end of the engine too ? Thanks for the help
I'd say it's your choice start a new thread or carry on in this one. If it was me I'd change the title of the thread to something like "Taking passenger side head off, now on to repairs" So folks know that your moving along in the same thread. For me it makes it easier to have all of the conversation in one spot (thread) so if I need to go back and look and I don't have umpteen many threads to search through hoping to find what I was looking for.

If it was my head I would take it to a machine shop to have the valves looked over. And see if they find your compression issues. I'd still pull the other head and have it looked over as well.

Eric gives good advice, get a picture of the head up here. Like he said chances are nothing will be visible but there could be something to be seen as well.
 

89Suburban

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It wasn’t much fun I didn’t think I needed to take off so much I got cardboard cutout to organize my bolts. And getting to every bolt in tight spaces with different size extensions was a real P I A

Sad part about is all this work So far about 15 hours in and realize I still don’t know what to do to fix my situation of low to no compression and oil shooting out my dip stick over 50 mph when it did drive

More bad news, it's easier to rip apart than to put back together. But the closer you get to the finish the more motivating it is.
 

AyWoSch Motors

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@Hugomartin

The reason why you have oil coming out your dipstick, is because of it having 20 psi compression on a couple cylinders. All the extra compression those cylinders should be making is sneaking past the rings, and pressurizing your crank case, which shouldn't be pressurized.
The reason you have 20 psi compresion, could be from really bad rings, cracked rings, warped cylinder, cracked or scorn cylinder, or a hole in the piston.

Itll need to be completely stripped down, inspected thoroughly, and at the very least, cross hatch honed, new rings, seals, and bearings. But will possibly need machining.



If you did a compression test and its getting anything like 20psi on any of the cylinders, the engine needs to be rebuilt, ground up.
To rebiuld it, it needs to be pulled.

(Info for next time, not picking on anyone at all, we all learn)
You would have been better off pulling the whole engine complete, and torn it apart on a stand. Could've had the engine out in about 2 to 3 hours, and torn down to a bare block in an hour or so.

Even at this point, pull the engine. What you need to do to be able to fix it, is going to be done outside of the truck, engine on a stand.

Also, only thing id say you have to worry about keeping in order are lifters, pushrods, and rockers, and later, rod and main cap bolts. Bolts i wouldn't worry about. Personally, if i were you, when i put the engine back together, id just throw away the old head bolts and intake bolts. Head bolts will stretch, and untemper, and your intake bolts will get rusty. Just buy a new set of head bolts at the parts store, maybe.$50, well worth it. And get 12 new intake bolts at the hardware store, just match the thread and lenght. Id suggest getting grade 8 or stainless steel bolts, but thats up to you.

For future reference, proper procedure for either pulling the heads or pulling the engine, is: coolant, oil, wiring harness, fuel and vac lines, accessories and bracketry related, carb or throttle body, distributor and wires, plugs, exhaust pipe or donut, exhaust manifolds, intake manifold.
After that if your pulling just heads, pull heads. Or if your pulling the engine, leave the heads, and pull starter, engine mount bolts, bell housing bolts, and out it comes.

If done right, will go quite smoothly.

My friend and i recently pulled the engine in his C20. It went from running, drive into his garage, to engine out and stripped to a shortblock in about 2 and a half hours. Block was still warm, haha.

Good luck with everything. And don't feel bad, we all learn.
 
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SirRobyn0

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^^^
Sound about right guys?
Yes it's great!, and your post is much more all inclusive than any of mine, but before understanding what all his issues were in post #5 I told him if he's pulling one head he should pull them both, and in post 7 I told him he needed to pull the engine in post 11 and rebuild it, other folks said it before me as well and he is carrying on pulling the single head.
 

AyWoSch Motors

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Yes it's great!, and your post is much more all inclusive than any of mine, but before understanding what all his issues were in post #5 I told him if he's pulling one head he should pull them both, and in post 7 I told him he needed to pull the engine in post 11 and rebuild it, other folks said it before me as well and he is carrying on pulling the single head.
Saw that. Read threw the whole ordeal. Figired id put together all my thoughts on the subject, in one post.
Sum up what we're all thinking...
 

Hugomartin

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@Hugomartin

The reason why you have oil coming out your dipstick, is because of it having 20 psi compression on a couple cylinders. All the extra compression those cylinders should be making is sneaking past the rings, and pressurizing your crank case, which shouldn't be pressurized.
The reason you have 20 psi compresion, could be from really bad rings, cracked rings, warped cylinder, cracked or scorn cylinder, or a hole in the piston.

Itll need to be completely stripped down, inspected thoroughly, and at the very least, cross hatch honed, new rings, seals, and bearings. But will possibly need machining.



If you did a compression test and its getting anything like 20psi on any of the cylinders, the engine needs to be rebuilt, ground up.
To rebiuld it, it needs to be pulled.

(Info for next time, not picking on anyone at all, we all learn)
You would have been better off pulling the whole engine complete, and torn it apart on a stand. Could've had the engine out in about 2 to 3 hours, and torn down to a bare block in an hour or so.

Even at this point, pull the engine. What you need to do to be able to fix it, is going to be done outside of the truck, engine on a stand.

Also, only thing id say you have to worry about keeping in order are lifters, pushrods, and rockers, and later, rod and main cap bolts. Bolts i wouldn't worry about. Personally, if i were you, when i put the engine back together, id just throw away the old head bolts and intake bolts. Head bolts will stretch, and untemper, and your intake bolts will get rusty. Just buy a new set of head bolts at the parts store, maybe.$50, well worth it. And get 12 new intake bolts at the hardware store, just match the thread and lenght. Id suggest getting grade 8 or stainless steel bolts, but thats up to you.

For future reference, proper procedure for either pulling the heads or pulling the engine, is: coolant, oil, wiring harness, fuel and vac lines, accessories and bracketry related, carb or throttle body, distributor and wires, plugs, exhaust pipe or donut, exhaust manifolds, intake manifold.
After that if your pulling just heads, pull heads. Or if your pulling the engine, leave the heads, and pull starter, engine mount bolts, bell housing bolts, and out it comes.

If done right, will go quite smoothly.

My friend and i recently pulled the engine in his C20. It went from running, drive into his garage, to engine out and stripped to a shortblock in about 2 and a half hours. Block was still warm, haha.

Good luck with everything. And don't feel bad, we all learn.
Man I do appreciate this!
 

Grit dog

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Given the entire context of this thread, I’ll suggest chalk up the work so far to gaining experience wrenching on that boat anchor and find a reasonably priced good running used engine. Good small block Chevy motors are just too numerous and reasonably priced to go through the difficulty and expense of rebuilding an engine that isn’t special in some way (numbers matching classic or a particular build in mind).
For a running driving A to B vehicle/engine it’s a better value to find one complete (complete long block at a minimum) than it is to fix that one right.
IMO.
 
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