1970FuryConv
Old Man with a Hat
Are the heads going to a shop for clean out and rebuild?
A Lovely Old Spinster, Virgin No More!
- Thread starter Gerald Morris
- Start date
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
GUESS WHAT? I just popped the middle expansion plug, and, like yours, mine too is CHOCK FULL UP TO THE RIM OF THE PLUG WITH CRAP!!! Special Thanks to Brer 413 for his Sage Advice. I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT, but, after shining my trusty green "Eyeball Burner" laser into the upper ports, I noticed that the FRONT was DRY and EMPTY, while the BACK was yet FULL OF COOLANT! So, I then removed a perfectly sound steel factory expansion plug, and found, "paydirt" ALL THE WAY UP TO THE RIM.
Pick and Shovel Time!
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
No. They're quite sound, and I CAN'T AFFORD TO DEPRIVE MY WIFE AND 2 SMALL DAUGHTERS OF MOTOR TRANSPORT MUCH LONGER!!! We're a ONE CAR FAMILY still. Mathilda hasn't yet magically reassembled like "Christine."so we're stuck with Gertrude as she now is.
I'll wipe down the mating surfaces using non-polar solvents like BrakeKleen with paper towels, then gasket and fire her up. I WILL MINE OUT the calcium oxalate which is doubtless what most of this hard water scale from Cochise County is.....
Maybe I should run cranberry juice for coolant for a while.....
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
And THAT is EXACTLY WHAT I PLAN TO DO Bre'r Toolman! Great Minds and all that stuff....
The crud will come out with core plugs out. If it ran good on all 8 before then the heads are fine. it was just plugged up and no coolant flow so HOT blooded.
It will be a different car now. Very successful day!
It will be a different car now. Very successful day!
The only way to get the block drained is via the block drain plug in the sides of the block, other than removing the side core plugs. Otherwise, all of the coolant that is drained is only above the level of the water pump, I suspect.
After clear water flushes, I have managed to squeeze 9 qts of antifreeze into the 26" radiators on the Newports we have. Which equates to -34degrees F protection . . . back then. Plenty for TX, even last winter.
Thanks for the running updates!
CBODY67
After clear water flushes, I have managed to squeeze 9 qts of antifreeze into the 26" radiators on the Newports we have. Which equates to -34degrees F protection . . . back then. Plenty for TX, even last winter.
Thanks for the running updates!
CBODY67
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Yes, Tamara, my Balkan Babushka agrees. I even had a rubber bung to pop into the expansion hole on the passenger side, as I suspect I'll want to open it a few more times before finally closing it for good. I need to order up a pair of fresh boat/bathtub plugs, so I can have one for the driver side, and a good spare.
BTW, by using a lavatory/kitchen sink snake, I dug out enough of the calciumferro-oxalate precipitate to enable FLOW again in the passenger cooling jacket. The compressor helped mightily there too., dig-dig, BLAST, dig-dig, then WHOOSH, the trapped coolant ran out!
I'll dig out the driver side tomorrow. Am now cleaning off the mating surfaces on the head and block. No metal-metal contact here. Just cotton rags, paper towels, and a toothbrush with the carbon tetra-chloride brake cleaner, all to get those surfaces clean CLEAN without losing an atom of iron.
Will provide pics later tonight.
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Ah, the Old Texas Empire.... As an Ex-patriot Texan, or Tex-X, I recall the wonderful old interstates LBJ built, and how we cruised them!
Anyway, the passenger side didn't drain at ALL o Gertrude, because of that abominable coolant heater. (GRRRRR!) So MUCH of this weeks agony came directly from somebody leaving that thing attached, and open, for possible DECADES to shunt flow from the back two cylinders, and up into the HEATER HOSE RETURN. Consequently, 25% of that engine didn't get coolant circulation, with the lamentable results I'm now addressing. I just thank the Big Boss that His Kosmos didn't cook that head or block good and proper FOR such stupidity.
Well, with St. Joe's help, I'll correct this Blasphemy Against the Law of Entropy, and All Will Be Well!
Have a Good One!
Carbon Tet. That'll put a big hole in the ozone above your house! LOL
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
What ozone? The USAF erased THAT commie gas here DECADES ago! Off we go! Into the Wild Blue Yonder....
Apparently Gerald still has some. LOL
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Have a look NOW Elder Moparians:
First, the inner side, mating surface of the cylinder head BEFORE I cleaned it, according to FelPro's own John Gurney's instructions as given here:
Pretty GNARLY ain't it? So, I bicycled to Ace Hardware this lovely mornin' got all manner of brass and fine steel brushes, some razor scrapers, including plastic blades, to DO THE JOB!
And did it.
This MIGHT even mate with the FelPro gaskets from the head set kit. I might want to go back to Ace tomorrow for a BETTER STRAIGHT EDGE though, to make SURE. I have a half decent aluminum ruler, good enough for cutting plywood, but its rather beat up and such, and I don't entirely trust it. Also, I have a feeler gauge set that goes to 2/1000" but not the .001" specified by FelPro. I DO think that by burnishing with the fine steel wire brushes after using the brass to get the CRUD OFF, that the finish will fall inside FelPro's RA spec. Looks nice, doesn't it?
But, doubts linger....
For the nonce, I'll clean off the gasket surface of the block now. It helps that I worked in a machine maintenance shop decades ago, with plenty pneumatic and electrical tools to keep running LONG beyond their projected lifespans. Stuff like patiently working over surfaces, polishing shafts, mending the aforementioned, gasketing and such all were learned then and there. If the religious fanatics and perverts who ran that plant hadn't made life such hell there, I would have liked to stay, but it really wasn't a VIABLE option.
But I thank the Lord and St. Joe I recall what I learned way back then!
First, the inner side, mating surface of the cylinder head BEFORE I cleaned it, according to FelPro's own John Gurney's instructions as given here:
Pretty GNARLY ain't it? So, I bicycled to Ace Hardware this lovely mornin' got all manner of brass and fine steel brushes, some razor scrapers, including plastic blades, to DO THE JOB!
And did it.
But, doubts linger....
For the nonce, I'll clean off the gasket surface of the block now. It helps that I worked in a machine maintenance shop decades ago, with plenty pneumatic and electrical tools to keep running LONG beyond their projected lifespans. Stuff like patiently working over surfaces, polishing shafts, mending the aforementioned, gasketing and such all were learned then and there. If the religious fanatics and perverts who ran that plant hadn't made life such hell there, I would have liked to stay, but it really wasn't a VIABLE option.
But I thank the Lord and St. Joe I recall what I learned way back then!
Have a look NOW Elder Moparians:
First, the inner side, mating surface of the cylinder head BEFORE I cleaned it, according to FelPro's own John Gurney's instructions as given here:
View attachment 493334
Pretty GNARLY ain't it? So, I bicycled to Ace Hardware this lovely mornin' got all manner of brass and fine steel brushes, some razor scrapers, including plastic blades, to DO THE JOB!
And did it.
View attachment 493335 This MIGHT even mate with the FelPro gaskets from the head set kit. I might want to go back to Ace tomorrow for a BETTER STRAIGHT EDGE though, to make SURE. I have a half decent aluminum ruler, good enough for cutting plywood, but its rather beat up and such, and I don't entirely trust it. Also, I have a feeler gauge set that goes to 2/1000" but not the .001" specified by FelPro. I DO think that by burnishing with the fine steel wire brushes after using the brass to get the CRUD OFF, that the finish will fall inside FelPro's RA spec. Looks nice, doesn't it?
But, doubts linger....
View attachment 493336
For the nonce, I'll clean off the gasket surface of the block now. It helps that I worked in a machine maintenance shop decades ago, with plenty pneumatic and electrical tools to keep running LONG beyond their projected lifespans. Stuff like patiently working over surfaces, polishing shafts, mending the aforementioned, gasketing and such all were learned then and there. If the religious fanatics and perverts who ran that plant hadn't made life such hell there, I would have liked to stay, but it really wasn't a VIABLE option.
But I thank the Lord and St. Joe I recall what I learned way back then!
Yes, that is not a straight edge but a metal 3' ruler. Machinists straight edges are forged or cast and have a machined edge and are usually accurate to within a .001 per inch. Here's a link and this one isn't even a top quality one. Check out Starrett for some of the best. Hard to justify the price for a one time deal. That's another reason to send them off to the machine shop. https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-25355-Inch-Straight-Edge/dp/B076ZYJPGR
Clean them and bolt them down, remember the 17 head bolts and composition gaskets, no worries.
you are not working with an aluminum head European engine.
good video. So glad he said don’t use the scuff pads. Those things do more damage than good, esp on aluminum.
you are not working with an aluminum head European engine.
good video. So glad he said don’t use the scuff pads. Those things do more damage than good, esp on aluminum.
Last edited:
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
That's The Plan Bro! I still want to get a better straight edge than my damned old aluminum ruler, but Mama wants to see that head bolted back on. I still have the driver side to do. I HATE pulling the head, BUT, as you know so well, the compression ratio will go down a notch from the FelPro gasket on the passenger side, so, for that reason AND, to better expedite clearing the crap out, I'm going to open the driver side ASAP.
When Gertrude gets done with this Surgical Enema, she ought not suffer fever for a GOOD LONG TIME.
Ordering 2 quarts of Thermocure fr Wally World tomorrow too. Didn't realize that was an EvapoRust product! I remember them from some years back.
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Thanks big BIG! There's a venerable used tools store in town I go to as often as possible, as they sell PLENTY NOS, U.S.A. made tools, not to mention plenty perfectly good old used ones. I also attend the Knights of Columbus auctions, go to the Swap Meet, and look for yard sales by octogenarian cowboys. Got a 20 ton press that way this past summer, which I used to press the axle bearing on Mathilda. I'll have PLENTY use for that when its time to rebuild the suspension here. Every Moparian home should have one.
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
And here's the block, now all prettied up and ready for the head with new gasket. Swabbed the bores w a dab of Marvel Mystery Oil, as I had some on hand. Good moisture dis-placer that stuff.
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Clean those piston tops, reduce you carbon glow plug pre-ignition chances.
Probably overkill and will certainly get you wet but I've used these pressure washer clog hoses to free up heavy clogs in pipes big and small. The thing that makes it better than a hose are the jets that that face backwards and pull the snake in farther. I never used it on an engine but never had that much hard clogs. Plus , as designed, will knock out a drainage clog in no time. It will also bore a hole for a new drain.
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Will do. Be sure of that. I don't want any debris or dirt fouling my bores after taking all this pain to clean out the coolant jacket surrounding them.
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