Another thing to look for on new composition head gaskets is to torque
the head cold and after setting the valves and running the engine until
it is at normal operating temperatures, retorque the head while hot.
Most of the time, you will find that once heated, the head bolts will be
far below the torque specifications because the gasket seats in when it
comes up to temp.
Once torqued to spec hot, allow the engine to cool down and reset the
valves and you should have much better luck.
Joe
-----Original Message-----
From: spitfires-owner@autox.team.net
[mailto:spitfires-owner@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Zahid Ahsanullah
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 8:13 AM
To: Spitfires; Triumphs
Subject: I Could Use Some Help
GlacierI'm having head gasket failures after a recent overhaul of my
1980
Spitfire 1500. The gasket at cylinders 1 and 2 blew up after 200 miles
of
the rebuild. The gasket used was the cheap ($10) aftermarket version
with
dimpled metal coating. This gasket was hard to put in as the holes for
the
studs seemed a little off and some holes had to be slightly deformed to
fit.
So the failure seemed to be likely due to that, but the new gasket is
the
$20 original equipment and this has also blown in just 20 miles!! I has
not
pulled the head yet as the car seems to drive okay cold but it is
missing a
full bottle of coolant from the overflow bottle. The same thing had
happened
previously.
I did not check to see if the head was warped when I put it in and this
does
not seem likely either as the car had never overheated before. The
engine
had seized after oil pump failure but the gauge never showed any more
than
regular temperature. There was also no apparant cylinder damage due to
that.
Here's the list work done:
1. cylinder oversized to .020 and new pistons
2. The block is recessed (top of the bore has a recess that allows
better
sealing with gasket, this was a problem with earlier spits)
3. full head rebuilt
4. runs on weber DGEV
5. new Crane ignition
6. Haynes torque sequence followed for tightening head
7. new water pump
8. engine runs luke warm on cool days and about the same on cold ones.
New
winter thermostat installed.
I hope someone can help, its spring and it won't be long before the
texas
hot weather moves in.
Best Wishes
Zahid
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