so coooooool

 

Wow! I spent a few hours this evening reading this thread after doing the same last night on another thread here. I do this type of work for a living but always enjoy seeing others do their own work at home. My wife has a 66 Charger that we've started on and I have a 74 F250 Camper Special that I'm just getting started on myself. No vaccines for this addiction! Congrats on a great job. When will you start on your own truck?

 

THANK YOU!! I'm overly giddy with excitement every time I see the truck and even more when I turn the key over!!

 

I'll bet you are young lady, and deservedly so. Watching your truck grow during this build, as well as watching you and your husband work together with one common goal, has done my heart good. You two make an awesome team!

Congrats on a beautiful truck and that 1st place trophy!

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words and support.

Well, we thought we were on the final stretch and thought we would be done very soon but we spoke too soon. Before we went to the car show the other day I parked the truck in the driveway running to let it warm up. When we came out there was a small puddle of coolant under the rear passenge side of the engine. I looked and looked and couldnt find anything leaking so I shruged it off. Well, it happened again and I found that it was leaking from the back of the head gasket on the passengers side. When the truck is cold and you start it up it doesnt leak until the thermostat opens. Then it seems to be seeping from the back top corner. Once the engine hot, the leaking stops completely. There is no coolant in the oil what so ever. So, I called the shop that rebuilt the engine for the previous owner right before we bought it (it now has 1700 miles) and they advised me to re torque the head while its warm, and thats what I did. I ran the truck after and didn't see a leak but the engine was still warm enough that it may not leak. Ill check again in the morning.

So my question : If I have to replace the head gasket do I have to pull the intake? If so, that would SUCK!


Also, Ive developed quite an oil leak around the front crankshaft seal. Seems Ill be pulling all that apart in the near future

 

That really sucks. As far as I know, yes you would have to remove the intake to replace the head gasket.

 

Yes, most definitely you should pull the intake to replace the head gasket.

I highly highly doubt you will get everything to seat properly back into place without pulling the intake off. Alternatively, you could unbolt everything from the heads and keep the intake just resting on the top of the motor while you do your work, but it will take several sets of hands to get the heads back on while the intake is lifted out of the way.

Sorry to hear the bad luck you had with the leaking coolant. Not a tough fix though!

 

Well guys, I called the engine re-builder and told him about my leak. He said its most likely the intake gasket not sealing the rear coolant ports that are blocked off by the intake ans said to re-torque them so that's what I did. Well...... that made it WAY worse! Now its a steady stream. Looks like I have to replace the gasket. Going to be a huge pain!.

 

Call the engine rebuilder again and tell him that his advice wasn't a suitable fix. I can't remember whether you had the engine rebuilt by a rebuilder or not, but I would be taking your truck back to them if you did.

 

That really sucks Heliguy. I feel your pain.

 

Well guys, I pulled the intake, valve covers, and rockers out and re torqued the heads. The head bolts seemed a little loose. I marked all of them before I torqued them and all but 1 went about 1/8 to 1/4 inch past the mark. Guess the engine builder forgot to go all the way! Ran it for an hour and no leaks. Ill run it in the morning after a cool night and see if its finally fixed.

Also, I found my exhaust leak finally. Winds up it was coming from a 1/2 inch freeze plug in the head that had a hole. Drilled it out and put in a new plug and no more dreaded ticking!

Also fixed my oil leak. I pulled the balancer thinking it was going to need a sleeve but found out the seal was torn. Installed new seal and leak seems to be fixed.

 

Awesome man! Fingers crossed it fixes the problem.

Nice to fix the other two issues as well.

 

A little touch up paint on the timing cover and your all set! Glad you found a couple easy fixes. Now next project?

 

Wow, remind me not to go to that engine builder. Good job tracking down the problem tho.

 

Well, soon ill be starting MY '77 long bed project. We bought this because it was nearly identical to the wifes (400ci, 4x4, auto, A/C) so I can use all the good parts we have left over from hers. The cab is 100% rust free but the bed was destroyed on the ranch. I had to cut the front of it of to use on hers. I have a parts truck I bought that has a nearly perfect bed and came with the complete racetrack trim.







No kidding! Im so ticked off about this. The previous owner payed $3200 to a reputable shop to have the engine rebuilt along with the heads and this is what he got. I never thought about checking the heads when it was on the stand because it had 1500 miles on it.