Suspected head gasket leaking.

[So Cal Mark]

the fire ring on 4 was failing, just hadn't blown out completely. Could be from detonation

[garion]

There are several passages that where clogged up.. I've worked out some of the material out of them, but could use a good cleaning.. I'm trying to find a machine shop in Phoenix to bring the head to... (I have an email to IMM).. I've stripped of everything except for a single stud on the intake, and the heater hose pipe. COuldn't get those out for some reason.. I'm planning on getting it check for flatness and cracks.. There's a lot of buildup on the intake valves.. I did the "poor man's leaky valve test" by pouring water onto the head upside down. The water held in all cylinders. I can post pics if folks would like..

The cams look good to me, no real sign of wear. (and no sign of coolant mixing with oil).

As you guys say, I don't think the head gasket was blown. I think it wasn't burped very well, and that was caused by the blocked passages.

As for the stuff turning green, I have no idea.. I bought it fresh from NAPA.

[majicwrench]

OK I gotta say something.....is real easy to get antifreeze into those testers and turn everything yellow/green esp if you reved it up and ran it for a while. WHIle testing you need to make sure the antifreeze level stays well below the tip of the tester.
If you send out that head they will say it needs surfacing, guides, the works. They always do. Try it and see. Very hard to find a good machine shop, good luck.
Still lurking,
Keith

[garion]

My procedure was this:

1. Make sure the antifreeze was 'low'. I think I have an original radiator, and it was only to the top of the stuff I could see inside. I think it may be an inch of clearance.
2. Wash the tester with clean water. Fill to the line with fluid.
3. Place the tester into the radiator and slowly draw air in.

I did this 3 or so times with a negative result. I then reved the engine to about 3k rpms, and the radiator started overflowing. I let the radiator settle back down and repeated the procedure above twice, both came up positive, near instantly. I tried very hard to make sure I didnt get antifreeze into the tester.

I did the test in a 3 car garage with all bay doors open. I suppose its possible that I filled up the garage with exhaust when revving it..

[majicwrench]

Also possible that you got an accurate reading and you do indeed have combustion gasses in cooling system. If you have faith in your testing, tary on.
Keith

[So Cal Mark]

there was enough reason to change the gasket from the pics, but I always like to determine the failure point to make sure the cause is dealt with so it doesn't have to opened up again

[Danno]

Not that it means much coming from me, but i think Mark's onto something here. You have way too much buildup and that damage on #4 could be due to detonation. You need to make sure that you get your fuel mixture and timing all set before getting too worried about anything.

Now, that being said, I'd clean the eff out of everything and then put a new gasket on there and tune it as well as I could before I start talking machining heads and the like. But then you have seen pictures of my heap, so you might wanna go a different direction!

[garion]

Well.. Considering the 'history' of the car, I would not be surprised at detonation.

WHen i bought the car, the carb was horribly out of tune. The mixture screw was completely turned in (thats lean right?), and the idle speed screw wasn't touching.. You had to be on the gas to get the car started. I reset it using the guides people reference here, and it started to run and start much better..

I did notice that i would get denotation when accelerating in 5th, at higher rpms (3500?)... it was probably happening at other times, just didnt notice it.. The timing is set at 0 TDC.. So i kinda of expected that.. (Its a 78, so that was original setting.).. The car has electronic ign (Crane fireball thingy).. Inside the distributor, the plate stuff is mounted on is only held down by a single screw, so that's another item on my list.. I need check the springs in there too.. Once I get that straightened out, I'll start advancing the timing.

There;s also no emissions on the car (head has plugs in it where the air was injected), and no cat. Luckily, I don't need emissions where I am.

I'm planning on getting the head cleaned up and such in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

[btexpress]

I am answering an old post and I don't know if you got the heating problem solved already. On older cars before they made ribbed radiator hoses and did not put springs inside them the radiator hose could collapse on the suction side of the water pump after the hose got old. After the motor cooled a little they would pop back out . I am over 70 and I have seen this happen only twice. It is easy to check. When the car starts to overheat just leave it running and check all your hoses to make sure they have not collapsed. It happened to a friends 1971 fiat 850 and an old international. This sounds so simplistic but not easy to notice. This may not help you but may help some one that pulls this up out of archives later.