Blown Head gasket, I think

[Dan Provost]

Got my 57 home last Saturday, spent all week on the ignition system got it running and found a small vapor trail coming from the right side, was not too concerned, thought it was an exhaust leak, but now I have the engine overheating, steam coming from the oil filler cap and the oil looks funky, looked great before I started. Now I have a dilemma, I could pull the whole engine apart, go right for the heads and just replace the gaskets, or I could do a complete engine rebuild, ( I dont have the funds ) . Now the car has a 56 motor in it , not original to the car, will I be able to get away with this until I find a 57 motor to drop in and how big of a job am I in for? I hate , you might as well stories, the car needs so much work, the body is great, would like to drive her once this season.

http://www.geocities.com/overtired26/somepics.htm

[Wayne P.]

Re: Blown Head gasket, I think

Don't keep running it. You'll ruin the bearings. Pull the head on that side and have a good automotive machine shop inspect it. It could be a gasket or it could be a crack or the gasket might be leaking due to wrapage of the head or block or both. Be sure to change the oil before running again after you put it back together.

[Joe L.]

Re: Blown Head gasket, I think

Dan-----

I agree with Wayne; you definitely DON'T want to keep running the engine.

I think that you can easily get by with simply replacing the head gaskets, assuming, of course, that the head gasket is the problem. Most likely it is. However, it could be a cracked head or block. If it's a cracked head, your best bet is just obtaining a replacement used cylinder head. This won't be very expensive unless you insist on "matching numbers" and, since the engine is not original anyway, that shouldn't be a priority. If it's a cracked block, then the engine is, for all practical purposes, DOA.

Removing the sylinder heads is not really a big deal, especially on a simple engine like those installed in C1s. Inspect the gaskets carefully when you remove them. You want to be able to CONFIRM that a blown head gasket is the problem. If you can CONFIRM this, then it's very unlikely that you'll also have any problem with cracks.

You'll definitely want to have the heads and block surface checked for straightness. Use a precision straight edge to do this. If there's a problem, usually it will be with the head(s) and not the block, but you need to check the block. If the heads are out-of-spec, then you can just have them surfaced and you're as good as new. You may or may not want to have a valve job done at this time. Chances are the machine shop is going to want to disassemble the heads to surface them and, if so, it might be wise to do a valve job.

Replace BOTH head gaskets with a composition type gasket. I recommend Fel-Pro 1003 for most small blocks. These are expensive, but they're the best. Otherwise, you can use a lesser Fel-Pro or Victor-Reinz composition gasket. The 1003 don't require re-torque but most of the others do. So, factor this into the equation of whether or not the expensive gaskets are worth it to you.