New twins... Blown head gasket.

[willyslover]

better buy a cherry picker for that "old Man" work LOL

 

[RonA]

The shop that is putting the old head back on my motor lost some parts and I still don't have it back. Got the head sent back to PDR for fixin. Guy at Cummins West knows my voice now. Been ordering extra stuff each time. Have to set up a parts section in the shop. When I had my Corvette I had to keep alot of stuff around so I had it when I needed it. I'm going to order a new head next and send it out for porting and o-ring. Next time it screws up I won't be down 2 weeks. My new cherry picker will be here end of next week. Maybe this thing will be running by then.



RonA

 

[1dslram]

All those about to do head work check with your stud manufacturer about the recommended torque not you buddy. I am talking about torquing with ARP lube if you use oil that is the same as 125 ft. lbs. More is not always better.

Bruce

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Ron, Mine are at 125... ... . no issues as of yet!



Jim

 

[RonA]

Jim.

You better watch out. With any luck and another $5K worth of parts I'm going to be at 1/2 of your horsepower. Yes sir I can already smell the fear. Nope, my mistake it was dinner burning.

RonA

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Sweet... ... LMAO!



It's just a wheel and it's up to us to make it round or flat..... it's been flat more than once.



I got on the dyno again a few weeks ago and taught myself something again... ... ... third time same out come..... hello Jim... wake up!



It won't happen again.



Jim

 

[BPonci]

Still have stock head bolts, torqued old school. Two turns past strip and back off one. The true meaning of torque to yield. Still holding!!

 

[RonA]

It is running again, finally. Went a little overboard when I backed off the camplate. I probably have the weakest twin turbo cummins on earth right now . But it runs and I'll deal with the power later.

RonA

 

[RonA]

Well my lousy luck is still here. Decided to run some errands in the truck today. Guy who put my truck together forgot to torque the head down. I checked it it was at 60 lbs and is leaking. Tightened it to 125 and will try to keep it under 15lbs of boost untill head gets here. I will from this point do all work myself even if I don't have time and all items will be torn down and inspected before being installed. Trust no one.

RonA

 

[willyslover]

WOW what a crock O Shi* . . you gotta be ****** !!

 

[RonA]

No not really. I guess it serves me right. I started a thread called new twins,blown head gasket so I figured if there wasn't a blown head gasket in here some where I'd get called a liar. Guys a real good mechanic. Just made a mistake. I will make it work the next time.

RonA

 

[HoleshotHolset]

If that happened to me...

Not only would that guy 'eat' the cost of the job... he'd also be in danger of bodily harm.



Matt

 

[Snow man]

Ron, dont feel bad, if i told you what ive been thru with blown head gaskets and poor workmanship from so called "machinists" you wouldnt beleive it. I have storys you wouldnt believe,since Dec ive had the head off my truck 5 times, and i dont run nitrous,and never go over 65psi, in fact i rarely even pass 55psi. I just finished installing head #3 today,and am hoping for the best. I have the ARP studds and toqued to 96 the first time, this time im a bit higher.

 

[RonA]

Funny how having my truck running changes my perspective on this project. I've decided that a 400 hp truck in the hand is worth alot more than a 500 hp truck in the bush. I am going to dyno down in Sacramento to get a graph of my bottom end horsepower and torque. I will do the same when I get the ported head back on. Which ever one works the best on the bottom and up to 2000 rpm is the one I am going to use. The stock head seems to pull better up to around 20 to 25 lbs of boost. But untill I dyno I won't know for sure. I'm going to let the souped up Ford guys win this round. I'll try to outlast them in round two.

RonA

 

[RonA]

Piers explained to me that it isn't the ported head that caused my loss of bottom end, it's the . 020 over head gasket. On my truck it is a big difference.

I am going to see if I can run the stock gasket with the ported head. It has been shaved down about . 010 now so I will have to check valve clearance. If I can't use the stock gasket I may consider buying a new head and having it ported. I do not want to lose the snap it has right now from 5 to 20 lbs of boost. With the other gasket it is a total dog untill 20 lbs of boost. Almost like a real bad turbo lag. Since at least 99 percent of my driving is done under 20lbs of boost, I'm going to consider this a must have.

RonA

 

[Forrest Nearing]

if it's been milled . 010", just run an . 010" gasket to yield stock clearances.



Forrest

 

[Snow man]

Ron, i didnt notice that big a difference,but be carefukl running twins and a stock gasket. I had my head milled . 004 and with a stock gasket i had piston to valve contact. In Muncie this yr i ran a . 010 over,and ran it hard to 3600,and 65psi, i popped the gasket a few days after Muncie,i put a stock gasket and stock injectors in to get me by til my new head came,when i did i could see there was no contact between the valves and pistons,then i ran it one month and never went over 35psi or boost. When i pulled it apart you could see the marks on the pistons. So i wouldnt go back to stock head gasket unless you have the valves raised in the head by a machine shop.

 

[RonA]

Nice pictures. That's my concern right now, valve to piston clearance. I'm going to check it with a stock head gasket when the head comes back. My engine doesn't rev as high as yours and will be at 55lbs max boost. I was told the . 020 over gasket dropped compression ratio by almost 1 full point so I figure the . 010 should be 1/2 a point. I never thought of grinding the valve seat to lower the valve into the head a little. I ask about that on monday. Hopefully the combination of lower boost(for the gasket) and lower max rpm(valve clearance) will let me get away with this. If not I have a . 010 over gasket being made at this time. If anyone ever needs a couple of . 020 over 24 valve head gaskets in a hurry, I have em.

RonA

 

[Snow man]

Ron,when i made contact, i was babying the truck for that month, i dont think it went over 3000,seriously. boost was kept below 35-40 psi,since i didnt want to blow it again,til the new head arrived. I had considered putting my mach 6's in ,once the new head was here,and cranking it out til it blew,if i had i think i would have grenaded the new engine. Also if the valve springs have over 50K miles on them,replacing them is a good idea. Ive had 2 new heads on my engine in the last few months. No fun at all. I think i got it this time,so far its held for 2weeks running it hard,over 800 miles,and 2 sled pulls,and a night of racing. Its still not blown yet. This head is from Don M,and is o ringed and milled to . 001 or less,and the deck is smooth as can be. So far so good. Ive heard that a good machine shop will raise the valves by the corresponding amount they cut off the deck. My first head was a Cummins recon, the newest one from Don M is a brand new head.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

What's with that one dark colored valve?



Matt