Ok well I finally got my heads off, the engine is all over my garage smile.gif well organised though. I took them to my machine shop I go to and they told me they had been rebuilt before, they look straight and they have no cracks or any major wear on them. The head gaskets werent as bad as I thought they would be I was hoping they would be shot all to hell so I know that would be my problem, they tell me the carb is running rich too, not sure what to do about that. But the head gaskets had bled through and were leaking almost positively. So my choices here are clean off the heads and put on new gaskets and bolt them back up, and put stuff back together, or spend 450 to get them completely redone, or 400-650 and just buy new heads? I just dont want to bolt things all back together and still have a problem! Also the pistons have some light char on them what are they supposed to look like? And do I have to pull my engine to get the pistons out? graemlins/hurray.gif

uuuhhhh, yeah you have to take the engine out to get to the crank to get the pistons out, well that is the easiest way graemlins/clonk.gif Just pull it out, put it on a engine stand, the turn it up-side-down.
Make sure there is no oil, antifreeze, etc. in your engine before turning to up-side-down or you will have a huge mess to clean up , learned that the hard way. The Unbolt your oil pan, graemlins/boring.gif and oil pump then unbolt your pistons and tap them very lightly to get em' out.
wes

Unless you are going to completely rebuild the engine I wouldn't pull the pistons.The char on top of them is carbon buildup.If the heads are ok I would check the engine block with a straight edge and feeler gauge if thats ok replace head gasket and save youself some money,rebuilds are expensive! graemlins/waving.gif

thanks guys, yeah i dont think i want new pistons for the time being smile.gif I passed up a nice engine stand for $50 last month I should have snagged it. Anyways the heads will probably just get a good cleaning then go back on, should the piston tops be cleaned off at all? carbon deposits...

Originally posted by JRS70LS5:
Unless you are going to completely rebuild the engine I wouldn't pull the pistons.The char on top of them is carbon buildup.If the heads are ok I would check the engine block with a straight edge and feeler gauge if thats ok replace head gasket and save youself some money,rebuilds are expensive! graemlins/waving.gif 5

Do I torke the head or rocker bolts in any specific order or torke!?

There is a certain patern to torque head bolts. Basically you start with the very center bolt an work in a circular clockwise motion, I think? I dont think it makes any difference if you do not do it exactly by the book but I always do it just to be safe! someone probably knows a site that has a diagram of the exact torque pattern or maybe you could do a search. If you are talking about rocker arm studs I dont know of any pattern but you should put some hi temp silicone or teflon paste to seal them up because some of them are exposed to water. Im not sure about cleaning the carbon on the pistons?

If you are talking about the nuts that hold the rocker arms on you can disregard what I said about the silicone or teflon. There is a pattern to tightening the rocker arms. If you have a solid lift cam you have to use a feeler guage to set the gap between the rocker tip and valve. I would guess that you have a hydraulic cam and in that case I believe that you tighten them until the rocker touches the valve and then give it another half turn. The tricky part about this I the lifter has to be down for the valve you are adjusting so you adjust one and then rotate the engine a 1/4 or 1/8 turn (depending on who you ask) and adjust another one. im sure someone else can explain it better though.

Start at the center on the head bolts and work to each side of the head,this is not exactly the way your supposed to do it but without a diagram it's the only way I can explain it.Torque the head bolts in 10 ft lb increments,keep repeating till all the head bolts are torqued to 60 ft lb,on your final torque long bolts are torqued to 75 ft lb & short to 65 ft lb.Also put sealer on each of these bolts on the threads because some go into water jackets.Read the instructions with the head gasket some use sealer on them and some don't.On the rocker arms use the EO/IC method.When exhuast opens adjust intake,rotate engine till intake opens and starts to close adjust exhaust.

Don't worry about the carbon on the piston,you don't want to scratch up your cylinder bores.

Phil,

Which heads do you have? I have a VERY good set of 049's that were totally redone and ran excellent on my 454. I have changed to closed chambers and I will part with the 049's for a mere 300.00 and I am only about 2.2 hours from you and I will actually drive through Sac on my way to Hot August Nights.

Im running stock rebuilt heads on a small block 350. I think for now Im putting them back on

I would pick up a book on SB engine assembly. This one is not expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/30KJ6UBFGDL50/ref%3Dcm%5Fbg%5Fdp%5Fl%5F2/103-6438449-3967844