Alright I got my new valve springs on and I just layed down the new head gasket to make sure the holes all lined up and were correct. Well....On the block there is a huge hole, about an inch, above the center of the cylinders. Im almost positive they are coolant lines but on the gasket the holes are like 1/4", is this correct? I was worried so I dug through the garbage and got my old gasket and it was the same way. Why would there be a huge hole with only a small hole in the gasket? Thanks

 

Well, if the old ones were the same, and the car ran fine, I wouldn't put too much concern into it. Good luck!

 

Yes, that's correct...
But say, if you were building a 400 smallblock, the block, gasket and heads all need holes that lined up for steam...some 400 gaskets and don't have holes and must be drilled, as due a lot of heads.

 

Sounds good....Thanks alot.....Im gonna be pulling an all nighter in the garage tonight....Hopefully being able to drive my car down to Ocean City, MD Friday for the car show.

 

Well, good luck and have fun in Ocean City.

 

The holes in the gasket are smaller to restrict the coolant flow. If the coolant flows too fast it doesn't pull out engouh heat and the engine will overheat. Also, if there's no resistance to the coolant flow at the front of the engine, it will all flow through there instead of circulating to the back of the block (since the inlet and outlet are both at the front of the block.)