head gasket :(

[caspernicus]

Re: head gasket :(

If all of your fluids are fine, then why do you think you have
a blown headgasket?

[espey_16]

Re: head gasket :(

The day it happened, I passed my buddies driveway, so I stopped and the car died. When I started it back up it felt like it had no compression, and it was knocking. So that was my imediat thought. Then I told another friend and he said spun bearing. And when I towed it home, I saw the muddy lookin oil on the k member. I'm not going to know for sure till I get it ripped apart I guess.

[Rob Bell]

Re: head gasket :(

Maybe the knocking on startup was just a lifter ticking. As an aside, if ever you have cooling system issues, like leaks or coolant getting in the oil, in an emergency you can run the car with the radiator cap loose (not off). This will keep pressure from building, which will keep the coolant where it belongs. Then you can get home w/o damage. If you run it with the cap off, coolant will spill everywhere and make a huge mess.

[espey_16]

Re: head gasket :(

I started ripping the car apart the other day, its kinda intimidating at first (for me anyway), but its not all that bad. I got the intakes, and driver side head off, now I just have to get the other head off. But first I have a couple of quick questions, probably stupid ones though. Do you have to have the heads off the car to swap in a cam??? Also is it bad to use carb cleaner to clean off the pistons??? There's a lot of black stuff on the driver side pistons, and I don't want to try to scrape that stuff off.

[techsan23]

Re: head gasket :(

Do you have to have the heads off the car to swap in a cam??? Also is it bad to use carb cleaner to clean off the pistons???

No, you dont have to remove the heads to swap your cam. Due to the nature of this thread I would go ahead and pull both of them to replace the head gaskets though. Carb cleaner should be okay to clean off the carbon build up. I know starting fluid works real good. You will need to wipe down the bottom of the heads also.

[espey_16]

Re: head gasket :(

I'm not gonna mess with these heads unless I have to, I just bought a set of 99 heads to put on it. Yeah I was just curious, because I want to get as much put back together as I can before I throw the cam in there.

[ssms5411]

Re: head gasket :(

99' heads are a good upgrade from the pre 98' heads, you could also do a little porting polishing on them to get out the casting flaws to help them flow better. P/P the intakes would do you good too if your adding a cam or just using the stock cam.

[espey_16]

Re: head gasket :(

Yeah, I was looking at a set of PnP intakes from another member on here, but I wasn't able to get them at the time because I got laid off on new years eve. But hopefully when I get my income tax return ill be able to get them if he still has them, and get those heads ported too. I'm on paid vacation right now aka unemployment, and that's how I'm able to do the work, but I figured while the motor is that far ripped apart id upgrade my whole valvetrain, timing gears & chain, lifters, pushrods, springs, retainers, and a cam.

[ssms5411]

Re: head gasket :(

Yeah, I was looking at a set of PnP intakes from another member on here, but I wasn't able to get them at the time because I got laid off on new years eve. But hopefully when I get my income tax return ill be able to get them if he still has them, and get those heads ported too. I'm on paid vacation right now aka unemployment, and that's how I'm able to do the work, but I figured while the motor is that far ripped apart id upgrade my whole valvetrain, timing gears & chain, lifters, pushrods, springs, retainers, and a cam.

Thats the best way to do it. Good luck

[Den69RS96]

Re: head gasket :(

Since you have a head gasket failure, I would check both the new heads your using and the block surface to make sure their flat. Lay a straight edge across the block. You should not be able to slide a .003 feeler gauge in anywhere. If you can, your deck needs to be resurfaced or you risk potential leaks even with new head gaskets. Do the same thing with the heads.

[espey_16]

Re: head gasket :(

The feeler gauge is the thing that looks like a pocket knife only it has a bunch of little strips of metal in it right??

[espey_16]

Re: head gasket :(

Ok, I have a couple of quick questions about some products I'm lookin at. Is there any difference between the rollmaster timing sets and the jp timing sets? For the price of a rollmaster single roller chain from zzp, I could get a double roller jp from intense. And lifters, which would you guys get comp cams oe, or oe-r?

[Choppers]

Re: head gasket :(

OE is going to be the lifter you want. The OER's tend to be a little noisyl

[Shodown]

Re: head gasket :(

Ok, I have a couple of quick questions about some products I'm lookin at. Is there any difference between the rollmaster timing sets and the jp timing sets? For the price of a rollmaster single roller chain from zzp, I could get a double roller jp from intense. And lifters, which would you guys get comp cams oe, or oe-r?

If you get a double roller you will have to get a milled oil pump cover. Just FYI. Contact Forced_Firebird.

As stated above, just get OE lifters.

[espey_16]

Re: head gasket :(

Ok, thanks guys. I just ordered a set of comp cams oe lifters, valve locks, and viton valve seals. I think mabey next week ill buy the timing set, I'm just not sure which brand to get. I just don't know why there's a reason one brand is so much cheaper than the other.