How bad is it doc? Follow up after disassembly

[Mr. Belvedere II]

Being that it was rebuilt and not ran much, you could probably get away with a light hone if the cylinders are in nice shape or maybe just clean them up with no hone at all. The bearings, those I would replace because antifreeze is very corrosive to them and for the few hundred bucks, it is cheap insurance. I'd have the block hot tanked and see what it looks like corrosion wise and go from there. Id check the flatness and surface finish on that deck surface and the heads and make sure it's flat and wasn't leaking there because of that. Also was the block magnufluxed for cracks? That's ALOT of coolant inside that engine for a small leak unless it was run for some time like you said. $750-$1000 in gaskets and small parts is cheap insurance for the long run if you want it to stay together and provide years or service.

Thanks for taking the time RT! Im thinking the same thing. About ten years ago I sent it all to the machine shop for magnafluxing and decking and bore/ hone. The heads were Edelbrock RPM and new at the time. Same with pistons, cam, lifters, timing chain, rockers, pushrods, and lifters. Pretty much a brand new build so I’m hoping a lot of it can be reused. The machine shop built the short block then me and my mechanic did the rest. I bought most of the gaskets already soooo.

 

[91r/t]

Thanks for taking the time RT! Im thinking the same thing. About ten years ago I sent it all to the machine shop for magnafluxing and decking and bore/ hone. The heads were Edelbrock RPM and new at the time. Same with pistons, cam, lifters, timing chain, rockers, pushrods, and lifters. Pretty much a brand new build so I’m hoping a lot of it can be reused. The machine shop built the short block then me and my mechanic did the rest. I bought most of the gaskets already soooo.

Cool....yea just triple check everything and make sure its all good before moving on to the next step. If I've learned anything building these things, it's check it one more time just to be sure. If you found the leak in the timing cover and you're sure that it was leaking, then its probably your culprit. I feel 100% better for ya knowing it was magnafluxed and that passed. I think you do a quality and thorough checking and take your time, and you'll be fine. One way to verify the flatness is to take something that you know is a true straight edge and try and stick feeler gauges under it between the straight edge and the heads or block surface itself. That;ll show ya if you have anything to worry about. As long as it didn't get hot, it shouldn't have done anything. Just make sure its TRUELY STRAIGHT, as some squares and **** from the depot etc. aren't flat to begin with. Was the timing cover cracked? One trick I learned, with the small blocks expecially, is leaving the bolts loose and installing the dampner right after the cover to center the cover on the lower crank oil seal. This makes sure that when you tighten the cover it is truly centered on the dampner and seal. Not that is caused it to leak, but anything to not move the cover especially if using silicone once it sets up will aid in a good seal.

 

[PRHeads]

Not to come across like a dick..... but.......Imo, you guys scratching your head about where the coolant came from are blind.

Where do you think that little hole on the left goes?
There’s even a clear path along the gasket.
Absolutely no question in my mind where the coolant came from.

 

[Mr. Belvedere II]

Not to come across like a dick..... but.......Imo, you guys scratching your head about where the coolant came from are blind.

Where do you think that little hole on the left goes?
There’s even a clear path along the gasket.
Absolutely no question in my mind where the coolant came from.

View attachment 739340 View attachment 739341

Yeah I know that’s why that pic was posted it’s just I wouldn’t have thought coolant would pass there since the gasket appeared intact to the hole but it’s true there appears to be a path there

 

[PRHeads]

You think that delaminating area around the coolant hole would seal up 15-17psi cooling system pressure?

Trust me....... It won’t....... and it didn’t....... as evidenced by the engine full of goo.
That’s not going to be a “leak”........ it’s going to be coolant injection into the crankcase.

 

[Mr. Belvedere II]

You think that delaminating area around the coolant hole would seal up 15-17psi cooling system pressure?

Trust me....... It won’t....... and it didn’t....... as evidenced by the engine full of goo.
That’s not going to be a “leak”........ it’s going to be coolant injection into the crankcase.

Awwww lol it’s trueeee

 

[Cranky]

I know higher PSI raises the boiling point and so many have told what a dumb *** I am for running 7psi caps on my cars.....but after doing it like that for 30+ years, I'm going to keep on doing it! Can't say if running low psi caps helped keep from getting coolant in my oil but so far I'm batting .500. Also not saying that high pressure is the root cause in this case as I know an engine can suck in coolant with no problem no matter what the psi in the cooling system is. Never really followed the herd either and yes, I do a LOT of things differently than most but it works for me.

 

[91r/t]

Not to come across like a dick..... but.......Imo, you guys scratching your head about where the coolant came from are blind.

Where do you think that little hole on the left goes?
There’s even a clear path along the gasket.
Absolutely no question in my mind where the coolant came from.

View attachment 739340 View attachment 739341

Yea I wasn't looking at the pics really. I was more giving him ideas what to do when putting it back together. I agree looking at it that the gasket looks spanked. I figured he could find the leak looking in person. Usually pics are hard to see all the details.

 

[dvw]

Not to come across like a dick..... but.......Imo, you guys scratching your head about where the coolant came from are blind.

Where do you think that little hole on the left goes?
There’s even a clear path along the gasket.
Absolutely no question in my mind where the coolant came from.

View attachment 739340 View attachment 739341

I agree 100%. I just mentioned the timing chain cover as a check during disassembly. Many times it gets over looked.
Doug

 

[Mr. Belvedere II]

I agree 100%. I just mentioned the timing chain cover as a check during disassembly. Many times it gets over looked.
Doug

Also it was definitely leaking for sure before the engine pull!

 

[coloradodave]

I know higher PSI raises the boiling point and so many have told what a dumb *** I am for running 7psi caps on my cars.....but after doing it like that for 30+ years, I'm going to keep on doing it! Can't say if running low psi caps helped keep from getting coolant in my oil but so far I'm batting .500. Also not saying that high pressure is the root cause in this case as I know an engine can suck in coolant with no problem no matter what the psi in the cooling system is. Never really followed the herd either and yes, I do a LOT of things differently than most but it works for me.

So Cranky, only HALF your engines leaked coolant?......lol.