Hello all, I have a Buick 455 in a 1976 Electra that has developed a head gasket sealing problem. The gasket failure has happened between the front edge of the block and cylinder 1 as shown in the images. This has happened once before in 2009 and then again 30th December 2015. I drained and disassembled and cleaned everything back then but now a year later i really need to get her running again. The images show indentations caused by rust / a lack of coolant (straight water) where the water jacket in the head is blocked off by the gasket. The first 4 images show the drivers side, where the failure has occurred and the 4th through 8th images show the passenger side as a comparison but it is also indented. Do you think this is something that JB-weld will be able to take care of? I know the absolute correct way of rectifying this would be to deck the till its true or to replace it all together. * There are no specs on this rebuild and i do not know if the block was skimmed and if so how much material was shaved off and what the current deck height is. This worries me as the pistons don't seem to be too far down in the hole if skimming the block is the only option i have - To clarify piston 1 is at TDC in the images. I look to you guys for cheaper / faster fixes because a) she's in Pakistan and getting a replacement block means shipping one over from the States, b) there's a lot of money involved in what would be a full rebuild for what was a perfectly running motor. Some additional info: - In the 6 years between failures the car has done about 10,000 miles, 2 of which were on a cross country trip over 7 days. She has over heated only once due a split rad hose and was shut off fairly quickly. Till the day the gasket let go the car was running quite well. - When the head gasket failed in 2009 the heads were checked for straightness and were cleaned up. They've been rechecked since disassembly last year and show no signs of trouble as they sit. - stock 1976 block, heads and intake w/ FelPro 8494PT steel core laminate head gaskets, Sealed Power CS-586 OEM replacement camshaft and Sealed Power 392AP +0.030" cast dish pistons - Engine was rebuilt with these parts in about 1995 and hasn't had any problems since. * - When i took the heads off there was however a noticeable difference in how tight the head bolts were relative to one another and not in any particular sequence. TA Perf. has advised me that this may be an added culprit. The gasket repair was done by a local mechanic and no torque wrench was used and the head bolt sequence was likely less than optimal. Would really appreciate any and all opinions on this matter and would love to have her back on the road soon. Thanks Taimur
Looks like a chance to just clean the surfaces, by hand, and then put it back together. Make sure the heads, decks and bolts are prepped well and then bolt the heads on per the factory manual. I'd skip using any sealant or epoxy.
Piece of flat bar stock wrapped in 120 paper work it down best you can I would kiss the head .005 or hit with the sandpaper, then make sure headbolt holes are clean of water and debris in the threads, then clean surfaces with brake clean , alcohol, or lacquer thinner then assemble per TA or Assembly Manual instruction. I like to torque heads in there stages, breaking it loose each time b4 going to the next then let it sit overnight and break loose one more time and do retorque the final # . obviously this compresses the gasket and gives it time to settle, before final torque. If you want you can even spray some metallic spray paint lightly on both sides of the gasket before installing
Can you still read the numbers stamped into the block between #5&7 cylinders? That should give you an indication if the block has been milled in the past.
You need to get the deck of the head checked for being straight. You need to get hold of a 3M scotch brite type adhesive pad for drill use and fully clean the deck surface of the block and head. while doing this seal off the lifter valley area and pack wheel bearing grease in the gap between each piston and the cylinder bore. when you are done with the cleaning remove the grease with the edge of some cardboard. Next on the list is that you likely in need new head bolts as they have just been torqued up too many times, so get new ones, also overheating can change there temper and lessen there clamping ability. next on the list is to confirm that every head bolt will thread into its bolt hole easy so that torque gets applyed evenly, otherwise a bottom tap will be needed to clean out the threads. also needing to be confirmed is that the head bolts are not too long. l Any bolts that may pass into the water jacket will need sealer on them, and any bolts that beed such instead of oil will need to have there torque upped by 5 lb.
I suggest using the fell-pro head gaskets they are a lot more forgiving to imperfections compared to the steel ones... I would buy a torque wrench and do it yourself, we can talk you through the torquing.
I'd switch to a high-performance composite head gasket, like TA's Orange Crush, as well as getting a replacement set of head bolts. I don't know if I'd go too crazy trying to repair the deck surface, sanding things by hand tends to ruin flatness. Definitely knock down any loose rust if you can. Install the gaskets according to their instructions, torque to spec with a torque wrench, and hope for the best.
Hi all, Thank you for all your input. I just received a bunch of parts from TA Perf, pulling the motor this week and stripping it to a bare block. Going to do a rebuild and have the deck milled just enough to clean / flatten it off. Beyond this i'm going to get rid of the accumulated surface rust from the water jackets of the block, heads and intake and run the correct coolant mixture to prevent this from worsening / re-occuring. Have everything, including replacement head bolts, I need. Also ordered up adjustable pushrods on the safe side if we end up taking a substantial amount off the block deck. Don't want to have to pull this motor again anytime soon so doing it right once. Will keep you posted as things unfold.
