Can you walk me through the steps to make this my first successful top end rebuild. There is no gasket left after 7 years blowing head gaskets and that Bars copper stuff didn't work tonight the car worked well with the 3-4 times but only lasted like a year or two each.

Need to know the best and latest gaskets, rtv sealant, tricks of the trade for a durable rebuild.

Might put new rods, lifters and springs on. What are the best bang for the buck.

Will try to post pics.

I have never been into motors but owning the LT1 has made me learn and I love a challenge. I will be using my friends shop.

Just need tips and life savers. Thanks guys it means a lot.If my spelling is bad it because I was trying to revive my LT1 all night and no luck still blowing white smoke.

 

What exactly are you planning on doing?

 

It reads as though you've done something about blown head gaskets 3 to 4 times? Have I got that right? If so, you should have been asking questions after the 2nd time.

Iron heads on an iron block is hard enough. When you put alum. heads on an iron block, it's down right difficult. I assume since you have access to this forum, you also have access to google as well. A simple search would have put you in touch with information such as checking flatness of both the block and the heads. Which it seems you DIDN'T do.

You talk about a top end rebuild and then say you want to put new rods in. Did you mean push rods?

May I suggest you practice on getting the equipment you have working first before you go modding things. If you have too many variables working at one time, you may have a difficult time figuring out which one didn't work.

 

Cut him some slack. He posted the problem earlier, in more confrontational format, and the thread detriorated into some name calling and got closed. He's trying to start over, as I suggested. Please work with him.

 

I think I'd start with cleanliness. When you pull the heads off make certain the block surface is clean of all gasket material as well as scale around the water jacket openings. Use a thread chaser to clean each and every bolt hole to remove any traces of thread sealant. After you've done this clean the block surface off using scetone or non-chlorinated brake cleaner and wipe with a lint free cloth. Any traces of oil can interfere with the head gasket forming a seal to the block.

Take the heads to a machine shop and have them checked for flatness. Since the heads are aluminum you want them as close to absolutely flat as possible. The time to install upgraded valve springs is when the heads are in the shop...might as well let them do it. After you get the heads back, wash them with soapy water to remove any machiing residue and oils, rinsing with the hotest water you can use. Spray all the surfaces, except where the head mounts to the block, with WD-40 to keep any corrosion at bay. Make certain that the head mounting surface is clean as well. If it's been machined flat that surface will be very clean, just wipe off with acetone to remove any traces of oil. Use a good quality head gasket set (I used the GM gaskets for the Impala with iron heads) and new bolts (use a good thread sealant...preferably permatex teflon). Yep, new bolts. If you've changed those heads a number of times they're really stretched. I recommend ARP bolts but there may be other suitable suppliers as well. Buy a new torque wrench and follow the factory tightening order in three steps. Let the car sit overnight and check them again....you'd be surprised how much they can change.

There are lots of threads on how to install the intake manifold. I can only tell you that waiting 24-hours for the silicone sealant to cure is the best way to keep the dreaded manifold oil leak at bay. I use, and recommend, the RTV grey made by Permatex...others will suggest other things. GM offers the grey material so whatever you use make sure the temperature rating is equal to or higher than the grey version..

Take your time and follow the diections found in the factory service or a haynes manual. If you have any questions at all ask on here and don't just guess..that almost always causes issues.

Good Luck!

 

We never checked the flatness of the block because I assumed since its cast iron it wouldn't warp. He did most of the work at the dealership and I did about 50 - 80 percent o the work since he was well known for doing 350 head gaskets.

I know I made a mistake and only repaired one headgasket but back then I ws broke and like I said the owner of the dealership didn't like the idea of my car sitting on a bay for $200 since the mechanic felt bad that it happend 3 days before my B-day.


The part that you said about the intake manifold. GM has this new stuff that they used on my intake and it dries within min. He said the secret was to over lap the valley or something or to the gasket.

Should I go all out with pushrods, springs etc since the car has a lot of miles? I just want it to at least last another 2-4 years before I totally rebuild the motor to a 383 and have lloyd do the heads etc.

Last night I heard lifter tick but my friends thought it was the air bubbles from the mixture of the oil and coolant and the noise did go away from the lifters. We changed the oil again. This happen 5 years ago with coolant with the oil.

 

Well, OIK, on the secret stuff for the manifold but that isn't where your problems were, right?

The block mating surface isn't likely to be warped. It needs to be very clean and have the dowels installed. The threads need to be clean so you get a good torque reading. If the heads are flat you'll get what you need with good gaskets and the proper procedure.

Since you're ploanning a rebuild in a couple of years. I wouldn't bother replacing the pushrods unless they are bent. I wouldn't change the rockers unless the pivot ***** are gouged. I would probably replace the springs with stock replacement springs and reassemble like that.

I have no idea wha\t you mean about lifter tick because of the oil and coolant combination.....

 

Well it was ticking that night but it went away, I thought I bent the push rods.

I am going to spend a couple hours every night and will update you guys soon.

We will try and do it without dropping the motor.

 

Sealing the seams where the head gaskets meet the china walls and putting sealer under and over the edge of the head gasket in that area is standard procedure and not a secret. The Right Stuff gasket maker is great for the intake/china wall gasket and also you can spray the intake gaskets with Copper Coat if you don't have the type gaskets with the imprinted rubber sealing lines on them. I've also seen one builder who seals the valley side (bottom) of the intake gaskets with rtv to keep oil out of the intake ports, but I've never personally done it that way. Last thing is that GM uses vegie-based sealing tabs in their engines' cooling systems and I use them too, and they do not clog the cooling system but they prevent seepage after a major rebuild. And if you follow the other guy's recommendations that have been posted here, you will have a successful repair. It's not any mystery how to do it, it is just attention to detail and proper technique.

 

Yeah these guys are right. As much as I hated to pull my heads back off I did because I didn't clean the oil off the first time before applying the gaskets. (the oil was to preserve block surface but will prevent sealing)