Hi all,

while cleaning my 1949 8BA engine I removed the oil pan and found not only epic amounts of sludge but as well a drop of green coolant lurking between piston and cylinderwall no. 6. Engine hasen't run in 4 months and seemingly no more water in the oil.
So, I pulled the driver side head and found a head gasket with only very minute holes except for the ear-shaped ones at the very end. It appears to be installed right from the factory as it reads Ford USA. Maybe I never saw a OEM head gasket, and they all came this way, but what is the reason behind? I can think of leading the coolant all the way to the last cylinder before entering the head for most even and efficient cooling of all cylinders. The gasket reads "Do not enlarge water holes" in case someone is tempted to do so. The modern replacement gaskets have larger passages, and the block and head even larger ones, of course.






The new gaskets I have are from Felpro. As I understand, they can be used dry, but I would really like to add some sealer of some kind, as I would like to do it only once and will not resurface the engine block which is still in te truck. I am undecided if I shound use the tacky copper spray or instead a non hardening sealer like Hylomar (Rolls Royce and BMW recommend it all the time). I think I tend to the Hylomar, as I used it before and the Copper gasket spray might stick so well that the head only ever will come off again with a large breaker bar? For the head bolts all of which came out bone dry, I would like to seal them with Permatex #2, which a lot of people recommend. Should I go ahead this route? Any suggestions?

Wil

 

Wil,
Do seal all head bolt threads with a generous amount of the Permatex non hardening, no other sealant needed.

 

I don't like using anything on composite gaskets; CopprKote makes them near impossible to get off. It is probably necessary on copper head gaskets. I can't imagine Hylomar being used on an all-cast iron engine. I assume you are used to aluminum Euro engines? I use FelPro and don't coat with anything, but I've always had the blue FelPro Permatorque type. I think what you have are actually made by Victor Reinz and furnished to FelPro.

There was a change in 8BA head gaskets during production, but it was on the passenger side gasket (see below). It is the same change you are describing on the driver's side.

I've always used a thread chaser (not a tap) on all the head bolt holes, and cleaned up the bolt threads, then used copper anti-seize on the threads. Never had a leak yet.

 

You know, I agree with Ross on everything. Except, respecfully, I would use the permatex copper coat on the head gasket, both sides. I do it on all my flathead and overhead valve engines. However, it's pert near impossible to get bad advice from Ross . On a side note, how bad of a sum buck was it to get the oil pan out.

 

As tempting as it is to 'coat' the gaskets, I agree with Ross and refrain. But also like Ross, I try to always use the FelPro Blue gaskets...the coating on them seems....softer?...to fill in the tiny gaps we all worry about.

Unlike Ross, I use the Permatex #2 or Aviation Permatex, non-hardening sealeant on the threads. I use a 'good' amount, but not overly "gloppy" or "drippy"...how's that for technical?

 

 

I just checked Best Gasket's and FelPro's websites. For their graphite-style head gaskets, Best says to coat them with CopprKote (and theirs are similar to the ones shown). FelPro insists that nothing be used on the Permatorque (Blue) head gaskets.


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I hear ya all and it seems the pendulum swings over to no additional sealer....with blue head gaskets at least. I learned about them just now, what a shame. Summit has them. But I have the head gaskets out of the complete Fel-Pro engine gasket set and these are definitely only the graphite sandwich type without the blue (=sealant?) coating. It is the same blue colour as Hylomar, by the way ....

Ross is right, the Hylomar is most useful on water wet aluminium engine parts as it prevents contact corrosoin really good. But I had it on copper head gaskets in cast iron engines as well.

I am well aware about not tapping the bolt holes for cleaning them. The tolerance of the rolled thread Ford head bolts in their holes is still near zero. Absolutely straight without any wiggle or play.

The oil pan was easy to remove, as I (thanks to a forum search and finding Ross' receipe for doing it right) knew to jack up the front frame (not the wheels) in order to to clear the engine from the drag bar. Hardest part was to find the two long pan bolts between pan and bellhousing cover,which also hold the cast sealing thingy in place. These were hidden in two inch of oil and sand. After that one tap with a rubber mallet, and the oil pan came right off.

 

I agree with Ross except I'm not sure about chasing threads that don't need it. You might get a bit more accurate torque but I just don't like removing metal from a block unless it is necessary. The copper anti-sieze in a judicious amount is a must and should lessen any variability.

 

I should have mentioned, if you use anti-seize you need to lower the torque on the head bolts down to 55 ft-lbs, as the Ford specs are for dry threads.

I chase the threads because I've always found a lot of dried Permatex and rust in them.

 

That sounds like a good reason