All Input Welcome:
Problem: Water consumption 220 miles after engine “freshening”
New bearings, camshaft, rings. Block only cleaned and honed. New exhaust valves. Carb rebuild, New hoses. That’s about it. Project rebuild on a budget.
What I am proud of:
It ran pretty well for 220 miles. It had a very smooth idle and ran as strong as can be expected. I followed rebuild instructions and re-torqued head after 100 miles. It was a good fun car project with my daughters.
What I am not so proud of:
I did not have the block machined.
I did not have the head machined.
I did not replace Head Studs.
I coated the head gasket with Copper Spray-A-Gasket as recommended by somebody. During this process the gasket got dirt on it when the spray gasket was wet. I was not sure how to clean the dang thing so I decided to put it on anyway.
What it looks like now:
It was apparent after the head was removal that water is getting into the #2 and #3 pistons. The attached pictures show the story.
https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/1ff3D8fOuyK2yc
As a side note, the pistons look awfully sooty to me for only 200 miles. It did not seem to be running rich and the plugs looked good.
So who among those more experienced then I, can chirp in with a guess at the most likely source of my problem. Can the recommended path forward not include an engine removal? Should I just buy another gasket and try not to drop the @%$# thing on the floor when it is wet with the spray gasket stuff? Should I even use that stuff? I am thinking of taking the head to a machine shop to check for flatness. Any helpful advice is welcome.
Cheers!
Paul
Problem: Water consumption 220 miles after engine “freshening”
New bearings, camshaft, rings. Block only cleaned and honed. New exhaust valves. Carb rebuild, New hoses. That’s about it. Project rebuild on a budget.
What I am proud of:
It ran pretty well for 220 miles. It had a very smooth idle and ran as strong as can be expected. I followed rebuild instructions and re-torqued head after 100 miles. It was a good fun car project with my daughters.
What I am not so proud of:
I did not have the block machined.
I did not have the head machined.
I did not replace Head Studs.
I coated the head gasket with Copper Spray-A-Gasket as recommended by somebody. During this process the gasket got dirt on it when the spray gasket was wet. I was not sure how to clean the dang thing so I decided to put it on anyway.
What it looks like now:
It was apparent after the head was removal that water is getting into the #2 and #3 pistons. The attached pictures show the story.
https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/1ff3D8fOuyK2yc
As a side note, the pistons look awfully sooty to me for only 200 miles. It did not seem to be running rich and the plugs looked good.
So who among those more experienced then I, can chirp in with a guess at the most likely source of my problem. Can the recommended path forward not include an engine removal? Should I just buy another gasket and try not to drop the @%$# thing on the floor when it is wet with the spray gasket stuff? Should I even use that stuff? I am thinking of taking the head to a machine shop to check for flatness. Any helpful advice is welcome.
Cheers!
Paul