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Major Problems-Blown gaskets

Obviously blew the head gasket. But what is going on with that piston? WHy does the piston look so much different from the top picture? Is that a groove or a crack?
 


i guess have the heads checked over at a shop. then clean up the old gaskets off, mop up the coolant, oil the cylinders up to help free any rust.

then run a straight edge over the cylinders and the rest of the deck to look for warped spots, you use a light behind the metal straight edge and look for light under the metal edge, or use feeler gauges.

you need new head bolts, and gaskets of course.


if you haven't, keep the rockers and push rods in order so when it goes back together the rockers and its push rod are back in the same spot as before. these parts all wear together and like to be put back where they lived in the past.
 
It almost looks like a different piston than the rest. At least to me it does. I looked at it for a while and came to the assumption that it looks almost as if it would cause a slightly lower compression because it has less bumped up surface area. But again, not a pro =P
 
My mind is blown, Why do the last 2 pictures look so different with the left piston? One looks fine then in the next pic that same piston looks different
 
Yea, that piston in the bottom pic looks different because it is reflecting on the cylinder wall making it look larger in diameter. Talk about optical illusion!
 


Sorry guys...the last picture I used a flash and focused on the left piston because that's where the messed up spark plug was. they look a little slugged up because I just gave it a quick wipe down. Yes, I plan on taking the head to a shop. I figure since I have it tore down I might as well take the other head off and send it to the shop as well.
 
After my brother did his top swap the front head gasket blew. Took both heads to get looked at and it turns out the front head was bad and caused the issue. Now I know why the grand prix we pulled these off of was in the junkyard.
 
I'll be taking both heads to the shop some time soon and was wondering about the valve springs...should I replace them? They have about 20k miles on them or so. Keep in mind I have the xp cam and 105 springs...how about the ls6 lifters???
 
I've seen intercooler installs that end up pushing up the dipstick. It's possible to have a boost leak pressurize the crankcase. The way to rule out boost pressure is to take supercharger belt off and go for a test ride. If it doesn't push up the dipstick with belt off you have a leak somewhere.
 


I've been doing some reading on the metal intake gaskets and it seems the delcos use a cheeper looking aluminum and the beads of the seals aren't as thick as the Felpros, now if that actually makes any difference is still up in the air. On Rockauto the Felpros are only like 5 or 6 bucks more than the delcos and they come with new Owings for the fuel injectors.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away........
 
Finally sent my heads to the shop and everything is good. there was something bent in the valves, which ended up being the one that had the jacked up spark plug. So now it will soon be time to put it all back together. Can anyone point me towards a good write up, mostly for all the torque specs. Ive done plenty of searching and can't seem to find a detailed write up.
 
Only thing you really need to worry about torquing down are the head bolts. If you are using head bolts and not head studs the specs are 37 ft/lbs + 130 degrees + 30 degrees up-to-10/98. 37 ft/lbs + 120 degrees 10/98 and later. I would torque down the rocker bolts if you removed them.
 
Last edited:
slick2500 said:
Only thing you really need to worry about torquing down are the head bolts. If you are using head bolts and not head studs the specs are 37 ft/lbs + 130 degrees + 30 degrees up-to-10/98. 37 ft/lbs + 120 degrees 10/98 and later. I would torque down the rocker bolts if you removed them.
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What do you mean by +30 up to 10/98? What are the specs for the rocker bolts?
 
If you're car is made before 10/98 those are the torque specs 37 ft/lbs plus 130 degrees plus another 30 degrees. After that date the specs are 37ft/lbs plus 120 degrees. You will need a torque angle gauge. If I ever built another 3800 top end I would use head studs instead.

Depends on what rocker bolts you get, stock rocker and head bolts are not reusable btw, at least I wouldn't reuse old rocker bolts, stocks are torque to yield iirc, and the comp cams are reusable zzp has the torque specs listed for the rockers on their site. The reusable rocker bolts are only like $20.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away........
 


They are reusable and you just torque them down No need to worry about stupid angles.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away........
 
ZZP, intense, prj etc etc I prefer prj's since I stripped the hex style comp cam ones on / separate occasions. Yes they were torqued properly.
 
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