Scratch that, I'm just going to pull the engine. I will drop the oil pan and see if I can see where the water is coming from. That will also allow me to inspect the bearings. That way I will know if there is any damage. Sorry guys, but like "they" say anyone can pull an engine apart and put them back together, I guess I haven't quite made it to builder status yetou:
I pulled the engine and pulled the oil pan and hooked the radiator up and put 5psi pressure to it and the water is definitely coming from the top end. The water is coming through the lifter valley. FYI the right stuff gasket sealer/maker is potent stuff. In order to get the intake off after using that stuff, I had to lift the engine on the engine stand and had to hook the legs of the engine stand under the engine hoist because the weight of the engine was not enough. I will put it this way, the gasket material had to separate because the sealer did not let go. that brings me to my next point. I don't see how that crap could have been leaking. I'm hoping that it is a head gasket leaking into the lifter valley other wise it is going to get ugly from here. My next step is to build some block of plates for the water jackets on the heads and re-pressurize the system to see if it still leaks if it does then it will be in the block/heads if it doesn't then it is in the intake or the gaskets are too thin. Not to fear though I have 2 virgin engines(you know "they ran when I pulled it" story) and 2 more that are builder cores. Hope to have more updates tomorrow.
Hey james; My buddy and i went through a similar thing (as i mentioned earlier). Luckily we found our leak and fixed it. However, we knew that the block had been decked a little, and our next step would have been to assume the heads werent sealing to the intake even though we could torque them. If you have some plexiglass laying around, you could cut small sections, drill two holes per section, and seal with RTV around each coolant port on the heads, then try the pressure test again. It will help you determine whether its the head gasket or the intake gasket. I am almost certain its the intake gasket also though, because you would see white smoke, or wet plugs if it was the head gasket. Next step would be to determine WHY the intake gasket didnt seal.
I hate to say it James, but could your head porter have cut too close to water, and the port popped when the engine warmed up?
Azeen, That is exactly what I am going to do today. And my block has also been decked so I wounder if the gasket thickness needs to be thicker. I am thinking of switching back to the old style tin gasket. Mark I thought of that, but wouldn't that make the water come out down around the piston and not down through the lifter valley. Well I can guess all day long, but the upcoming test will tell the truth. Don't get me wrong keep the suggestions coming.
Mystery solved. It is the head gasket. Is there a left and right head? If there is I think I got my left and right swapped. Look at the video, when you see me pull down on the gasket it leaks even faster as if the water whole is right above that void. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SwHtyomFMuw&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SwHtyomFMuw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Are the heads the same year as the block? Later model heads wont work on an earlier block due to an elongated coolant passage on the later heads. Not sure of which year they changed it...maybe 72? The later blocks have an elongated hole to match up to the later heads.
Awsome that is not more serious :TU: . I was really worried it was going to be a crack in the block. Hope you have it all worked out soon. Keep pluggin James:grin:
I will post more pix later, right now I have to take the 69 to a cruzin. But, the block is 1970 and the heads are 1973 the 70 block only has one boss block off because the 70 head only has one to be blocked but the 73 heads have 2 that need to be locked. I am going to tap the head and put a pipe plug in each head, problem solved. But like I said I will post some pix to show what the problem was. Thanks for all the support along the way.
Yup, classic case of a double scallop head, on a single scallop block. Pull it apart, tap and install pipe plugs- make sure they are flush, and put it back together. With little run time on the engine, you should be able to use the same head gaskets. You need to do both sides, by the way.. JW
Thanks Jim. That is exactly what I had planed to do. It's nice to know that I'm not the first idiot to do it. I went ahead and pulled the mains cap's, they looked great. So then I pulled one rod cap, it looked fine, a little scuffed but acceptable. Note: I have 73 heads on a 70 block
James, Going to have to rename this to the Nightmaro thread! I think the Camaro part is giving the whole project a bad karma. Can you get an exorcism on this thing? Good luck
Ha no kidding! That's what James gets for trying to make the Chebby guys look bad, with a Buick 455 in a CHEBBY!
I beg to differ. Adding a Buick 455 to a chebby is like turning Clark Kent into Superman.:bla::bla::bla::beer
So is this now "Nightmaro and the Boy Blunder" thread? Holy smokes Nightmaro! Back to the cave Boy Blunder!
