Posted this in LT1 tech, no answers so I thought I would ask here.


New Combination Motorsport 383 shortblock for a blower LT1

Used ARP head studs with ARP thread sealant. Hand tightened the studs into the block and properly torqued the heads using three torque sequences to 65 ft/lbs final.

Tons of water in the oil. Milk shake in the valve covers and coolant in the oil. Only drove it a few miles to get exhaust welded on. I am in the process of removing heads (fun fun). The sealant is missing from the few studs we pulled out so far

Some have told me to use aviation gasket maker or red/green thread locker instead of the white thread sealant

Some have told me to torque in the head studs, not just hand tighten them into the block. Maybe the heads "walked" a little.

Any help would be appreciated.

Also, any advise for getting all the water out of the engine oil (diesel for example)?

Thanks

Lance

 

Welll good news is it's not the head studs..

The reason being that it's probably not leaking around the threads to get into the oil to cause that much of a mess.

I doubt the heads walked if you just went out and drove it around.

Don't TQ the head studs into the block, they just need to be tight and give the sealant enough time to dry. Other than that it should work perfect with the correct sealer on them and the ARP stuff should work.

Might be a block clearancing boo boo.

Is there a lot of water coolant mixed?

Bret

 

Not to intrude, but let me know if you can get your heads off in the car no problem...never did hear a definite answer to this question in tech about removing heads in car with studs.

 

Because the studs are not torqued into the head you simply remove the studs before pulling the heads off. If not then there's very little room to pull the head right off the studs.

Even on my car I don't use head studs. They're too much trouble unless you have a very open engine area like in a dragster.

As for the coolent in the oil, if the head is torqued down properly, the gasket didn't move the only other choices are;

1: Incorrect head gasket and a coolent passage wasn't sealed properly.
2: Intake manifold gasket didn't seal properly around the coolent passage at the ends of the heads. I always put a small bead of silicone around these ports.

Getting water out of the oil is hard. For those of us with alcohol engines we always get condensation in the oil because the engines run so cold. The best way is with a vacuum pump system to pull moisture from the crankcase but even then it won't make the oil black. I personnally still use a header evac system. I still get that mayonaise under my valve covers and change my oil about 3 times during the race season. Some racers have to do it after every weekend.

In your case the only thing you can do is drain the oil and fill the engine back up with new oil and filter. Coolent and engine bearings don't get along too well. Running the engine hot, 190+, helps burn off some of the moisture in the crankcase.

 

I've read a lot of posts on this subject and could never comment before because I never tried to remove the heads in the car.

I have a 1996 TA stroked and blown with AFR heads the same leaky studs as yours and crappy coolant leaking copper headgaskets.

You can lift the heads over the studs, did it yesterday just make sure the wiring harness is out of the way (disconnect from trans).

Clean all the holes with a thread chaser and then use a small round bristle brush with brake clean, they have to be super clean.

I then use the same brush with permatex OEM approved high heat thread sealer and scrub it into each hole just like a primer so the threads are completely coated.

Then coat each individual stud threads and screw them in I snug them up with a short allen key, clean excess with brake clean.

Hope this helps I had to learn the hard way (paid to have it done wrong).

John Carpico

 

Thanks

 

Copper gasket always leak.

Rich Krause

 

yeh copper sucks

John Carpico

 

Copper head gaskets rule...Just use hylomar on them...If you do frequent teardowns copper spray gasket works..Ive seen guys use cheapie spray paint as well but ive never tried that..Keep in mind that its best to use a regular gasket until you get the engine tuned correctly since a copper gasket will hold longer that a standard gasket..By the time the copper lets go its taking some head surface along with it..

In order for copper gaskets to work the block and the ehads must absolutely be perfectly flat..Dont try to skip this step or you will be asking for problems..

BTW who makes a copper LT1 head gasket?

 

The first copper gasket I used was a pos supplied by engine builder (they should have stuck to making shingles) engine leaked oil at intake manifold because of poor design, now using an SCE and now used hylomar so i'm not sure if i've solved problem of coolant ( have to put some miles on) but at least it's not leaking oil.

John Carpico

 

I just pulled my heads and I run studs aswell. The studs came right out and then I pulled the heads. Pretty easy.

 

I don't understand why anyone would want to run copper head gaskets on a street car. As far as I am concerned, they are a race car only item. But to each his own. Are we talking about a race car or a street car?

Rich Krause

 

Copper gaskets from what i understand and have experenced hold more presure than normal..Thus helping hold more boost...I ran one on my talon for a while (HKS).I run them on my street engines because the frequent teardowns i do swapping parts and playing around..Most of my engines have upwards of 11-1 compression so i like the extra piece of mind..Copper gaskets are reuseable with a quick wipedown and a shot or two of brake cleaner..

 

A good composite head gasket can easily hold 14:1 compression. The nice thing about copper head gaskets is that in case of a problem, they won't blow out as easily. Both need perfectly flat deck and heads. If you blow a head gasket, chances are something is warped and needs machine work.

Copper head gaskets only need to be used if you're running huge amounts of boost (400+ NOS, overdriven 6-71 blower, 30 psi turbo etc) Those kinds of extreme pressures could use the added safety feature of the copper head gasket.

Copper head gaskets should also have the block and head machined for o-rings.

 

Id rather blow a head gasket than a piston though!