Any thoughts on this. I have a Ford Flathead 8ba V8 that I have fully rebuilt with a lot of dollars spent on it. Its ready to fire up. I have noticed since topping up the radiator I am getting minor leakage from the head gaskets in certain areas. There was a few drops from a few head bolts but soon took up. I have seen leakage like this before but usually takes up fairly quick. The Heads are new Offenhauser, block surfaces machined. I took the heads down to 35 and then to 37 after noticing the leakage. My torque wrench is a good quality Snap-on, the head gaskets are Fel-pro, a gasket I have not used before. I have invested to much to have this one screw up. No leakage internally. Am I over cautious or should I fire her and then reset the heads as normal? Are my head settings ok? I don't like to get heavy with alloy. Thanking you for any thoughts.
Is that 35 & 37 foot pounds? If so, keep turning them - I think most folks use 50-55lb/ft, but there's more to it - studs or bolts? But <40lb/ft is far too little. If using bolts, did you put sealer on the threads? Several of the bolts go right into the water jacket. I like the non-hardening Permatex #2 or Aviation Permatex, but others have had success with other products. Will require retorque after the first three heat & cool periods as well.
I have had this happen many times, I have since adjusted how I fire a motor after having the heads off. I use a GM head stud sealant and also copper gaskets. But when I was using composite gaskets, I found that I would fill the motor with water and fire it then it would leak water around some of the head bolts and out the top of the head gasket near the intake. I found out that if I dry fire the motor, let it get warm then shut it down, let it cool down, retorque the heads and repeat again later ( when the motor is back to being cold, so next day , or later that day) that I had real good results. So I run the motor, shut it down, retorque , let it cool down to cold, run again, retorque again, let it cool down again to cold, then fill with water. hope this makes sense.
The "old dude" flathead guy here showed me a trick back in the '60's that worked like a charm, and I still use it. Coat the gasket with aluminum paint, and dip the head bolt threads in it. Never had a leak doing that.
Yes it is foot pounds and I used a loctite anti sieze on the bolts. Looks like I need more torque on the bolts and re seal the threads. Thanking you for the advice. Whats my max torque for this type of head. Thanks. Phil
The aluminum paint is a standard for a lot of flathead guys. I still use it, coat both side of the gasket and install when wet, torque it as specified. Some use the chamfered washers and O rings on the bolts/studs also and I have used them on ocassion and they work fine, just look a bit out of the ordinary to some of the purists.
Most modern composition gaskets don't need any sealant or spray on them - not that it hurts or anything. Copper - now that's another story. Harley used silver paint on their K-models - no gasket, just silver paint - assemble while wet!
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