Rebuilt 302 out of an 80 mustang converted to a roller. Twice in a row it's blowing the head gasket on the driver side. What would cause that? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Warped head, wrong torqueing of head bolts or studs, blocked water passages causing heat build up, excessive cylinder pressure through water or something else like this entering the combustion chamber. There are a number of reasons as you can see and I may of missed something too
Had this happen to a buddy,he had the wrong head gaskets and he had the heads reversed from how he took them off blew head gasket in less than 2-minutes.The heads look just alike but don"t match up with the water jackets.
I thought 302 heads could go on either side. It runs great for two min the it starts bouncing the engine and blowing white smoke out of the drivers side tail pipe. I lose compression on cylinder 8 Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
You have a right side head and a left side head,check the water jackets and you will see why. If they are installed wrong you have no water flow.Good thing you had the radiator cap on or it would have been like old faithful.
Heads can fit either side. It's the head gaskets that are side specific. Get a straightedge and check the block deck. Across and lengthwise. A .003" feeler should not slide between the surface and s-edge. Same with heads. Any more and it's machine shop time..
I just bought this thing rebuilt two weeks ago, I've already had it out twice. Doing all this shit by myself really sucks. The builder offered to give me a different head to try so I don't have to pull the engine all the way out again. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I feel your pain. An older guy told me one time that he never bought an engine that wasn't just rebuilt.
Run a straight edge on the head and block with a light on the opposite side of what you are looking at.Head gaskets are the same on Ford just one goes on upside down, it has front printed on it, but that will make it over heat not blow head gaskets that quick
Might also want to make sure the exhaust system or exhaust port for that cylinder is not blocked somehow. Gene
Unless they are known new, or known since new, then you have no idea how old they are, or how many times that they have been torqued, or overtorqued.
Some good suggestions. There are some other possibilities or outside chances. Head bolts bottoming out. Caused by dirt in the bolt holes. Or else block or head has been milled and you need to put washers under the head bolts to take up the slack.
Bingo Listen to these two pieces of advice - I've built a number of and helped many friends with small block fords. These two reasons are the number one killer of head gaskets on a small block ford. Sounds like you've put the drivers side head gasket on upside and backwards - look for "FRONT" stamped/embossed on the head gasket. If you're using Felpro blue strip gaskets one side of the gasket will be black while the other will have blue strips. When placed on the block one gasket will have the blue strips facing up while the other will have the black side up.
+1. Have you taken a straight edge and feeler gauge and checked the head and block to see if they are straight? Added to that are you torquing the heads correctly? Following the torque pattern and going up in increments?
Good suggestions all. Make sure you've got real-deal Felpro or Cometic head gaskets. There's a lot of Chicom junk out there. When you have the head off this time, run a thread chaser or a tap (yeah, I know, but I've used taps successfully for fifty years) down all the head bolt holes. Wire brush the bolt threads. jack vines
I'd look for that too. Take a close look at the head and block in that area. The spot should be obvious, get someone else to look at it perhaps. If you want to try the straightedge and feeler gauge, make sure you use a machinist's straightedge. A piece of stock isn't good enough. Check the block surfaces too, corner to corner both ways and right up the center (horizontally). If that comes up good, have both heads checked for cracks. The charge is pretty low. Bob
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