Looks like the %# 113 head gasket strikes again....
I now know why the overflow reservoir wasbone dry and spotless when I got it, thought nothing of clean fluids
Filled it with water, ck'd last night and its full of oily soup. Had a very slight random miss at idle I was alwasy suspicious of but ran so good I dismissed it
Used to feel like it hit on 7 when cold, that was just from garage rot. Driving it every day cleared it up.

Still runs strong and great oil pressure but know if I keep driving it eventually the bearings will crap out.
Not sure wether to dump it or look for a shortblock kit.. 3 cars none of them driveable.
Awesome

These 113 heads dont have enough metal in the right places, its not metallurgy or the orig gaskets
my 89 the original owner did his at 112k, sold me the car and blew again at 122k.

Sources for cost effective shorty kits? 350 or 383

Man when it rains it pours.

 

What coolant are you using? Were the heads machined surface cleaned up?
With iron block and aluminum heads, the dissimilar metals result in electrolysis and galvanic action.
the coolant corrosion inhibitors should control this, with a 50/50 mix there should be very minimal issues. Perhaps try the red GM coolant for later model vehicles, i have a daily driver with aluminum heads. Has done 240,000km in the 9 years of its life, engine runs like new never had an issue.
it uses the red coolant, even so the alloy/ iron of my corvette intake etc have no corrosion wear.
have always maintained the coolant 50/50 mix myself, I suppose you could use a sacrificial element in the block to protect the aluminum.

It all depends on how well the previous owner looked after your car? You should have a few hundred thousand miles of trouble free motoring with a sbc even with alloy heads and iron block.

Cheers
Gerard

 

Has prestone green, engine has never been apart. Last 2 owers took real good care if it hasnt been trashed on. Its been a problem with Tpi cars since the were new just bad timing.

gonna pull some plugs esp 7 and 8 to ck maybe Ill get lucky and find a bad intake gasket. And santa claus is real

 

Personally I would pull the heads and see what you got! Unless you do the repair yourself, you can't be sure it was done properly the last time. I know it's a rabbit hole, pull the heads have them dyed/pressure tested to check for cracks and resurfaced, shaving only the minimum amount needed to clean them up and make them straight. If you suspect they've been resurfaced before and need it again, you can use a scrap piece of plexiglass with a hole drilled in it, make sure it's big enough to cover the whole combustion chamber, use vaseline as a sealer and get a syringe marked for CC's and fill each combustion chamber with water through the drill hole and record the volume (CC's) it takes to fill each chamber. This way you'll know if you need a thicker head gasket to compensate for the raised compression. Was the proper thread sealer used on the head bolts, etc?
Sounds like you've had a bad run of luck, but take a deep breath, even with resurfacing the heads, touching up the valve job, positive lock valve seals and a gasket kit, you shouldn't be over $400-600! That's not even one monthly payment on some of these new vehicles. And after the fact, your heads will be fresh, along with the gaskets and your corvette will be all the better for it. My guess is, that if the repair failed in about 10k miles, something was missed or not done properly! Hang in there, save up for it, if you really like the car, don't give up on it, over fixing this issue, chances are you'll end up giving up that $400-600 price for the repair in the price you'd sell the car for, if not more! Good luck, if you fix it, it'll be done right and the problem will be solved 👍

 

Thanks....


This engine has never been cracked open, my 89 was. Are these pans tough to drop??
If the bearings have copper showing the engine has to come out and in no rush to do that. But no sense in fixing a top end if the bottom will scatter afterwards.
Coolant destroys them pretty fast. From past experience dont have a lot of confidence in the 113 heads they will probably get sold.

 

Next step is to pressurize system and dump oil that ought to confirm one way or the other
While idling hot w/cap off I see lots of little bubbles, like one youd see from a fishtank, not good.
No smoke though doesnt heat up. Dont wannt tear it apart unless I have to

 

Blue Devil head gasket repair.