ok doke i finally got the dain valvetrain swapped out and am in the rpocess of cleaning everything up . i cannot for the life of me after scraping the old head gaskets off , get this dain " reidue " off and get the surfaces perfectly clean . i have even tried gas and kerosene on clean rags . is there a really fine scotchbright pad or something that can be used too clean this all up real good before slapping the heads on and ending up with another freakin' leak ??? should i , with the composite head gaskets , use copper coat or sealer ???? if this was a late model i'd have it covered , but with my finicky ol' beloved flatty .... WELL .......................

 

I always use a dull pocket knife that won't dig into the cast iron and spend a lot of time scraping. I don't like composite head gaskets, I prefer the copper ones. I put copper coat on both sides of the head gaskets.

 

I have those scotchbrite 3" roloc pads for an air sander set on low speed. Works pretty good.

 

Try a rotary brass wire brush on your angle grinder or drill. Have you tried spraying some diesel on it and let it sit overnight?

 

done everything but contact an elder for some sort of ritual dance to get the residue off . welp we shall try soaking it again , go find me a soft brass rotary brush , and some real fine scotchbrites then . i was going to pick some up , scotchbrites super fine , at the parts house during a trip for 52 parts today { they are what i used on all the late model stuff } but figured i better ask . maybe it's just me 38 , and my lack of playing with anything as diff as my now present flatties , but i cant bring myself to seeing a copper gasket sealing worth a fiddle fart , even though my gramps , unk , and pops ran 'em on some of their race stuff . who knows i might just give it a try ............................ but that's all for another day now ............ the work week begin's anew ..................

 

The copper gaskets have a steel fire ring around the combustion chambers and crush rings around the water passages. I have never blown one out or heard of anyone else blowing one out.

 

Nothing wrong with the copper, but FelPro's "blue" with the slick coating are excellent gaskets, too. Detroit Gasket makes some good ones, as does Best. The beauty of flatheads is they've been around long enough for everyone to know what works. The copper gaskets need a definite "tooth" on the head and block surfaces to seal effectively. In 55 F350's case, he's going to have a pretty smooth surface, I think a composition gasket like the FelPro might seal better.

 

got the best brand gaskets from egge too use . came pretty recomended so ............. been sitting here gathering dust as it is now . just a lil' concerned as too what needs to be done as i really dont want too be changing out head gaskets every couple of years ........... even on a flatty it can be a pain !!!!!!!!!!! thanx for the info fella's and julie ...........

 

A second to this!!

 

Scotchbrite pads on an air grinder & acetone for the solvent.
Be careful not to get too close to an open flame.

 

Permatex sells Gasket Remover, has Methyl-ethyl Ketone, serious stuff...

 

again thanx for the info ! knowing how different things can be with these ol' girls just wanted to make sure , and didn't want any more leaks .