Yesterday was a good day. I went to the machine shop and picked up the head. Just to recap, I had the bottom, and manifold side of the head re-surfaced. I also went ahead and got a valve job done. I got it home, masked it off and painted it and the manifolds red. Stripped and painted the valve cover, and air cleaner blue. I cleaned the top surface of the engine block where the head will sit. Then I took the time to take all the nuts and bolts, and cleaned them with gasket remover spray. And then coated all threads in lock-tight(red high temp). Then took my new head-gasket, and sprayed with a copper based high temp gasket adhesive, placed it on the engine block and let it set for about 15 mins. That kind of lets it get a little more tacky, and less likely to slide when you lay the head on top of it.
When the paint dries remove all tape. And now it’s ready to go on to the engine. Try your best to get as close to perfect as possible when you lay it down. Thus requiring less moving around, if your gasket starts sliding it’s a pain in the ass to re-align it all. The head is really heavy. So at this point you need to have available the correct information for pattern and torque for tightening the head bolts. Then properly tighten all head bolts. Once completed, remove the set of bolts and holders to remove the rocker assembly. Make sure you keep them organized and put them back on in the same order, with holders facing the same direction. You’ll need torque specs on these as well. You’ll be able to replace all the push rods now, making sure they go in exactly in the order and direction(top/bottom) they came out. Now you can replace the rocker assembly. At this point your head should be completely installed.
You can now start putting on all the little things you may have removed, such as the coil, cable holders, and thermostat, etc… Next will be the manifolds. Once again using the copper based gasket adhesive to help hold the gasket(s). You can then put the manifold in place. I found it helpful to start the 2 outside(end) bolts just to hold it in place. Then I made sure it was coupling to the the tail-pipe correctly. You can start your specified bolt pattern using correct torque.
So, now we’re almost there. Next you can replace the valve cover, and mount the carburetor to the manifold. Following that you can re-connect all hoses, vacuum lines, etc….. Also replace spark plugs if they were removed. Replace all spark plug wires. Next you will need to add antifreeze back to the radiator. And check your oil as well. Do a final idiot check, and re-install your battery. Now it’s GO TIME!!!! When starting the car just let it turn over a couple of quick times, and listen for any pinging or knocking. If thats all normal sounding, go ahead and start the engine. Do not rev the engine. Just let it idle. Get out and listen to the engine up close. Listen for any unusal sounds, and look for leaks around the head gasket area. If you hear anyhting odd turn the car off. lets it sit for abit and try it again. If it continues you will have to start back tracking, and isolate the problem, not fun!
Let the car idle and get up to normal operating temp. Now it’s time to test drive. Initially you need to take it easy. Slowly accelerate and listen closely. If all sounds good, you can drive normally. Drive for about 20 minutes, staying near home just in case. Now you’re done. All thats left is to drive it for a few days, and then pull the valve cover off and just check the bolts to make sure nothing has backed out. Also check the manifold bolts. Remember to also check the bolts that hold the tail-pipe to the manifold. You might even double check the spark plugs. Also check the fluids again. If it’s all good, then you’re all good. Cruise on!
Tags: 232cid, Car Repair, Exhaust, Intake, Manifiold, Torque Command
