can someone explain to me the basics of changing a blown head gasket. i just want to know the process because im gonna take it to a the shop on base and have them help me do it. the guys there know what they are doing and there is one guy there that has 6 vettes so im pretty sure he can help me out.

 

pretty easy id say just take the heads of clean the block and the bottom of the head with some brake clean or mineral spirits.man that guy has me beat with 6 i only have 4.

 

Drain coolant, remove: distributor, exhaust manifolds, intake (w/carb attatched), valve covers, loosen rocker arms, remove pushrods, and loosen and remove heads. This is the simple disassembly version. But the real skill is knowing how to put it all back togther and make it last for thousands of miles. With six Vettes of his own, he should be able to get 'er done.

Also need to check the head gasket surfaces of both the heads and block (and intake) for flatness. Issues such as warping from heat, corrosion, etc. This is requred to determine the cause of the "failure" before putting it all back together.

Get out the checkbook!

Later.

 

I think GasketDude said it all except for removing the air conditioner,alternator, etc. which are bolted to the heads. But, the real trick is doing all of that without damaging the vette in the process. Those heads are heavy and dropping one on the fender will crush it...and it's really uncomfortable leaning way over a vette. If it needs a head job then pulling the engine and doing a thorough inspection of everything else might be best. At the minimum an engine hoist should be used to pull the heads out instead of trying to muscle them out by hand.

But, if they mechanic has 6 vettes then I'm sure he knows all about that. Why do you want to replace the head gaskets? What are the symptoms?

 

well, about 2 weeks ago it over heated and there is knocking under the hood, ive asked on the forum what people think it is and most people thought it was the head gasket...im gonna take it to him and see what he says...thanks alot guys

 

Knocking? Head gasket blow alone will not cause any knocking. Head gasket will cause loss of compression, water in the combustion chamber, oil in combustion chamber, air, fuel, and exhaust in the oil and water, and leakage to the outside...other symptoms will be loss of power, overheating, with cap off of the radiator you will actually be able to see and smell exhaust coming out if it's blown that direction.

Knocking after overheating is a spun bearing, rod or main, or one or more of the lifters has been cooked solid. Also could have bent valve stem and actually cause the overheating. Did you locate the reason it overheated?

I checked the threads you started and for one thing you posted a tech question in the general section...one the one titled "****ty night.... " you got over 440 reads, but only 5 replies...because it's the general section and that is where people go when they get tired of talking HP vs Torque and repairs...oh how I miss the old HP vs Torque threads (maybe I"ll start up another thermostat-free thread again to bring back old memories).

Anyway, you finally posted in the tech section with the post titled "hopefully i found out what is wrong... " and several members replied with questions that you haven't answered yet. Do us a favor and either repeat the whole story in this thread, or go back and respond to the members in your other thread...keep things in one thread as much as you can so we can see the history of progress on your repair.

SkunkApe said knocking is not just a blown head gasket. rihwoods offered advice on locating the knock. paul67 who will totally help you short of offering his vette so you can go on a date (yeah he has his limits) asked for you to point out where the leak is in his image of the intake manifold which includes the thermostat.

If you ask the guy at the base shop to do the head gaskets I'm sure he will. But, do yourself and the mechanic a favor and let him diagnose it...just tell him why you had to pull over and stop the car...tell him about the knocking you heard when you started it back up...let him start it up to hear it knocking. Then let him share with you his expertise...if he has 6 vettes then he will certainly want to get you back on the road in the least amount of time and money as possible, and do it right so you can stay on the road.

For posting images you need to find a host who has a web site. Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to see if they have space for you to store images. They will explain everything to you on how to display them. There's also services like Photobucket, Yahoo, etc. who offer web space for images. You can get other web sites that do hosting by right clicking on images posted by other members and selecting "Properties" and it will display the Universal Resource Location (URL) which includes the domain name and extension (like CorvetteForum.com) of where you can visit to check on space for yourself.

Keep us posted, and check your threads to see if any of us has asked you any questions and such.

 

 

ok so im gonna start over in here, i hope that alright

ok so one night i was driving, and all the sudden i heard a knocking and when i accelerated there was hardly any power. then i pulled over and sat there. i got it towed and before they guy left i started it and there was knocking and he said it might be the theromstat knocking. so i checked that out with the help of someone and they said it sounded like it was working. so then i got some opinions from some people and they pretty much said it is a blown head gasket. so with that story maybe people can help me out.

 

Thermostat knocking? I can hear the thermostat working? Cmon who is working on that car. A thermostat makes no noise. It either opens or closes slowly. Pull the thermostat out and check it out. That should take 5 minutes.

 

Did you do a compression check? Blown head gasket should show up as two adjacent cylinders with low compression.

Don't need no stinkin' engine hoist to pull heads, unless you are wimpier than I am, and I am pretty much of a wimp - an old one at that.

 

the thermostat is good and i dont know how to do a compression check...no one is working on it yet, im gonna take it to a guy after the 4th

 

Sigh...yeah, I think your best bet is to have a mechanic look at it. I don't think you are getting anywhere with thermostats and head gasket repairs to stop something from knocking.

Also, do a member search to see if any of us are in HI and can take a look with you. The knocking could be a simple as a loose rocker nut, or as bad as a main bearing. It does take some skill as well as talent to hear the differences, so don't be concerned that you aren't an ace diagnostic mechanic right away. Keep your ears open when the mechanic shows you why he suggests certain things though, so you can learn to estimate damages. Right now I think it's more likely that you have spun a bearing, but it could be something as simple as a clogged lifter. If it was me I would take a look around the engine, remove valve covers and inspect everything including the engine oil. If I don't see anything wrong and my nudging stuff around didn't fix the knock or lose of power, then I would not bother pulling the heads...I would go ahead and pull the engine and do a complete dis-assembly. If there's something knocking now, then everything will start to knock after several more years...it's best to do a rebuild when the first knock occurs.

Oh...please keep us posted on progress. We want to learn along with you.

 

[QUOTE=Gordonm]Thermostat knocking? I can hear the thermostat working? Cmon who is working on that car. QUOTE]

 

"ok so one night i was driving, and all the sudden i heard a knocking and when i accelerated there was hardly any power. then i pulled over and sat there."

Either you had overheated engine(and did not realize it)until it wiped bearings,or......you have a rod bearing gone,or...it is just a carbon knock....DO YOU HAVE COOLANT IN YOUR OIL PAN ???
Rich

 

well said but with a little more to it than that.