I just rebuilt my engine on my '73 sb. I used a Fel-pro engine rebuild kit, PN KS2600. The head gaskets are a blue composite material. It appears the right side head gasket is leaking coolant to the outside of the block. It's kind of "sweating" more than a steady stream or drip. I noticed this during the inital break-in in my driveway. There's no water in the oil.

I did not use any kind of sealer or Permatex on the head gasket per the instructions. Should I retorque the heads and hope that does the trick, or should I go ahead and replace the head gaskets now?

 

Re-torque...
Later,
Sly

 

Update -

I retorqued the head. I was running the car in the garage to check for the leak. After about 20 minutes, I saw a drip. 5 minutes later, the head gasket blew.

So now, I'll spend the next 2 evenings replacing the head gaskets. Interesting thing. The guy at the auto parts store said I needed to use a gasket sealer. I went to the Fel-pro web site and there's a Technical Bulletin that specifically says that sealers should only be used on metal gaskets.

I feel very confident that I installed the gasket correctly. This is not my first build. I've never put sealer on a head gasket (street application) and never had a problem. Anyone else have a brand new gasket blow?

 

Did you have the heads checked for warpage prior to your install? How about did you have the heads checked for cracks? I have never used sealant on any head gasket on the bolts yes.

 

The block and heads were straight from the best machine shop in town. These guys do most of the local race work, and have been in business for 35 years. I'll have the heads off tonight and will post about whatI find.

My rebuild isn't radical, either. I put in a pretty mild cam, and the new pistons only raised my compression to 9.1:1.

 

Those blue fel pro head gaskets are the best, never had a problem, never use sealer. However. when installing the heads, I always use the bolt torque sequence and torque in 10 ft-lb increments. It takes a little longer, but never had a head gasket leak or fail. Also make sure you put a dab of silicone on the end of the threads of each bolt.

 

Your correct, no sealer on that type of gasket.

The KS2600 set comes with standard O.E. style gaskets,#7733-PT-? depending on production date. But those sets are the "bare bones", typical engine rebuilder sets. I don't know your complete engine package, heads, year of block, machine work performed etc, but those gaskets should have been fine as you described it above. I would definately like to see pics of the teardown to see where the gasket "blew".

When you post the pics, list more info including torque spec and machine work done. If the heads and block were resurfaced I'm thinking to rough of a surface finish. As heads and block expand and contract, it spits the gasket out the side = "scrubbing" instead of sliding. This is one reason for the coatings, spray it with coppercoat and that feature is gone.

But let's wait till it's apart and go from there.

Later.

 

The engine is a '73. It has 75,000 miles on it, and didn't have any issues before the rebuild other than a little smoke when first cranked. Everything inside except the crank was replaced. The machine shop checked the heads and block, none of which needed milling. The block was bored 030. Heads have new stainless valves, springs, etc. I put roller rockers on top.

I was very careful during the torque sequence, going in 3 stages. I don't have my manual with me, but I believe it went at 35, 50, and 65. I'm using new head bolts (actually new bolts for everything). I did put sealant on the bolts.

I'm thinking the problem is detonation. I was 180* out of phase on the first crank and got one loud pop. After I corrected the timing, it fired right away and ran smooth at 10*. I adjusted to 12* and everything was good until it heated up and the drip started. There doesn't seem to be a problem on the driver's side; only between number 2 and 4.

I appreciate the comments. I've been lurking for quite a while and never felt the need to post until now. Everyone here is great. Thank you.

 

Seems like you followed the right steps.

Typically detonation kills/pushes the C.O. ring into the coolant port with coolant in the oil. In your case I thinks it's just a clamp load issue. Maybe torque wrench accuracy, type of sealer, or poor threads all leading to low torque/low load on the gasket. I am surprised the machineshop didn't try to "sell" you on the resurfacing of the head and block. Everytime I build up an engine it's almost automatic for them to "push" it on me, it's needed and ensures a good seal, but adds to the bottom line for those budget building.

I once assembled a test engine with the wrong test gasket type, it was on a late model '87 up block and heads. These heads are thinner at the deck surface compared to aftermarket heads. The hi-perf gasket used had a wire under the C.O. armor, great for aftermarket heads, not so good for O.E. parts. Anyway, I was busy, they were on the bench next to the engine so on they went. After assembly we would do a sealability test, pressurize the coolant and N2 gas in the cylinders to check for cyl-cyl leakage. Well the wire doesn't compress the same as a plain C.O.armor and the head would just "bend" over the wire armor. Which led to less load out at the body of the gasket. She dripped coolant after a short time, but had a great cylinder seal.

Bottom line, hi-perf gaskets are not for all stock applications and can lead to more problems if ones not carefull.

Take it a part and post what you find, go from there.

Later.

 

Cost wasn't really an issue with the machine shop; they just didn't think the heads or block needed anything other than "polishing". The engine probably would have been fine with just honing and putting in new rings, but since I was going that far, I figured I'd pep it up a little bit.

The car has an automatic transmisison and will rarely get pushed past 4000 rpm's. I just wanted it to not be an embarassment off the line.