I guess I'll get the Felpro 1074 then. Do those go in dry? No extra sealant or anything?

Do you think I would be ok reusing my Felpro intake and exhaust gaskets? They have about 15 minutes run time on them.

 

I got my car back from the tuner and pulled a head off. The coolant passages don't line up right with my gasket. Which is what I figured because the gaskets on it are for a Gen I block. I guess that's what happens when you have a machine shop work on an LT1 who only know regular SBC's.

I can't upload pictures but this is how my gasket is layed out: http://image.superchevy.com/f/246982...ead_gasket.jpg
And here is an LT1 gasket: http://www.ellweinengines.com/ERE12/headinstall.jpg
The large ports on each end is what is different.

Now I have to clean up all the milky oil that is on EVERYTHING

 

Thinking I would call the machine shop and bitch until they gave me a new set of gaskets.

 

I would be freaking out on the machine shop for not only a completely new gasket kit for the engine, but some compensation for having to do it because they used the incorrect parts.

 

Well I can't quite pass all the blame to the machine shop. Yes, they were the professionals who I was paying to spec out my parts and do the machining. Yes, they ordered those head gaskets. But I'm the one who installed it. So all they have to say is "we would of noticed the gaskets were wrong if we installed them." The most I can get out of it is some free gaskets. I'd rather just deal with it myself considering it's been over 3 years since I talked to them.

The gaskets will be here tomorrow. I still haven't pulled the passenger side head yet. It was kind of a pain pulling the driver's side. I just layed the header off to the side because I would have to remove too many things to get the header out. Hopefully the passenger side header comes out since nothing is really over there.

 

I might as well call it quits. At this point I have pretty much wasted $17K that has been dumped into this car.

So I get the new head gaskets on. The water stopped dumping into the crank case. I drive it around the block and everything is good. No more water is steaming out of my vented catch can. The oil level isn't rising from water filling it up. I have changed the oil about 3-4 times so far trying to clean out all the milky oil. The oil is finally starting to get back to normal.
Well I check it again today and it's a little milky. WTF. I pressurize the cooling system with my pressure pump and see water leaking out a head stud under the header. Pull the valve cover off and pressurize it again only to find out some of those studs are also leaking water into the engine. How much more do I have to suffer to get this piece of **** working right? I used brand new Permatex Thread Sealant with PTFE (#80632) on the head studs. Filled all the threads nice and good. Just enough so the sealant was a little wider than the stud. Cleaned all the threaded holes on the block with brake clean. The threads have already been chased when I build the motor. I mean, what else do I have to do to this thing!?

 

Just a couple of crazy thoughts...Is it possible that there was enough brake clean left in the holes to contaminate the sealant and cause it to not seal properly? Maybe the studs are not a proper fit...pitch wise? Are you absolutely sure that the proper torque values were properly applied?

 

Not likely about the brake clean theory. I waited quite some time before putting the studs in. It would of evaporated by then. Besides, I blew it with compressed air.
The studs fit fine. They don't wiggle around or anything like that.
I torqued the heads in the proper order. First pass 25ft/lbs, Second 40ft/lbs, third 65ft/lbs.

What I should have done was put sealer on the female threads in the block in addition to the head studs. Eventhough people have been doing it the way I did forever without problems.

I thought about it and I think I'm going to try some GM sealing tabs. There is really nothing more I can do besides re-coat the studs. But who's to say it won't leak again?

 

How are you coating the threads exactly? I just choose one side of the stud and lay a fat vertical bead of sealant. It will disperse on its own. I put ~3/4" of bead on.

 

By brushing the sealer on the stud threads where they go into the block. All the way around the stud. Just enough so the sealer is completely filling in the threads

 

Do you notice any sealer bulging out of the hole where the stud sticks out? That is a good indicator that you put enough. If you don't see that, I would put more.

 

I couldn't see that because I had to put the heads on first, then thread the studs in.

I pressurized the radiator again today and see that ALL the studs are seeping water. This is absolutely crazy. I'm so vigilant and thorough with all the work I do but this is kicking my ***. What sealer out there ACTUALLY works??

 

good point about not being able to see them. When i assembled my previous 383 I did it on an engine stand, so the studs went on first.

 

GM uses the sealing pills on every engine they build .So do I ............never had a problem.

 

I think the gm sealing tabs stopped the studs from leaking. But now it's just leaking by the headgasket. I see drips rolling out between the head every 10 seconds in a few spots. It's had about 3 heat cycles so far. Not sure if I should re-torque the heads or see if it just seals up. The oil isn't getting milky anymore, so at least that's good.