I'm needing some sound judgement and help here. I just rebuilt my 1964 292 using a BEST (RS572G) gasket set. It was bored 60 over, and I had the cam and lifters reworked, as opposed to installing new ones, in a place in Oregon. I added ARP rod and head bolts. It's got a "B" intake with a 390 CFM Holley, Pertronix ignition and high lift rocker arms. I had the block and heads checked for trueness and neither were said to be bad. I had the heads rebuilt and the exhaust ports port matched to my ram horn exhaust manifolds. I assembled the engine and it ran like a top. I was quite happy until after about 50 miles I went to change out the break in oil and to my horror there was a milkshake on the dip stick. When I looked in the radiator it was empty!
I immediately drained the oil but am currently unable to run the engine due to removing the fuel tank for repairs.
I decided to pull the heads and see if I could find a leak. I really couldn't see any evidence of an antifreeze leak but did note something odd. The Block has the "steam" holes drilled in it between the two middle cylinders and so do the ECZ-G Heads, but the heads have some sort of rod/screw/ bolt filling their holes. Would this possibly be the potential leak?
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


You can see the steam holes between the middle cylinders.

 

I think I read in a post recently, that is how Ted closes the steam holes. Can you get a head gasket without the steam holes?

 

Dennis, It looks like all the gaskets have the holes.

I'm not sure how many times these heads have been worked on except the last machinist said they didn't have hardened seats and installed them.

Am I correct in understanding that the steam holes, that once were a must, are now no longer needed? I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

 

Did you get the 4 longer head bolts in the right places, a long head bolt in a short hole won't torque right and might let coolent into a push rod hole.

 

Yes, that was my original thought too but when I pulled the heads both sides the long bolts ,were on the outsides of the heads. I'm still stumped. I'm going to have the heads rechecked for trueness as soon as the machinist will take them. I wish I had a good flat bar so I could check both them and the block myself.

f5fordgirl I see your from the "Show Me" state, whereabouts? I'm in Wentzville

 

From what I’ve read, they were only necessary on the early 60’s cars where the radiator was lower than the top of the engine.

 

I'm just wondering if the heads being blocked and the Block being open if that's the reason I have a antifreeze to oil leak. For what it's worth there's no oil in the radiator.

 

In the process of cleaning up the block and heads. Do you think this small stain could be the culprit??? Can I seal the bolts or should I pull the front cover?

Passenger head

Drivers head

Small stain on the passenger side.

 

It's a good possibility the leak on the timing cover may be leaking internally around the water ports also.

 

On the head, do you mean the discoloration around the valves? That might be cracks.

For the timing cover, there are a few possibilities. A leak at the coolant port, a bolt or bolts needing thread sealer. At least one of those bolts goes through to the water jacket and needs thread sealer. There is also a hole on the back of the timing cover and the gasket seals that to the block. There is a channel in the block casting that will route any leak there toward the coolant port and you could see that just as pictured. That hole serves no purpose on the engine, which is why it gets sealed by the gasket. It's probably for cleaning out casting sand during manufacture.

 

Sooo Should I pull the timing cover and replace the gasket or will just putting sealer on the bolts suffice.

Charlie, have you got a picture of the hole your talking about. I've got a Y Block with the timing cover off if you want me to post a picture for you to show me where the hole is.

Also regarding the rust by the valves. If the antifreeze was getting into the combustion chamber would you see white smoke outta the tail pipes? Engine didn't smoke at all.

 

You can try sealer on the bolt. And make sure all of the bolts are tight. If that doesn't fix it then you will need to replace the gasket. You have to drain most of the coolant to replace the timing cover gasket so you might just want to go ahead and do that.

I don't have a picture handy but you can see what I'm talking about in a picture in this eBay listing, FORD Y BLOCK TIMING COVER 272 292 312.
Can take a picture later.

If a lot of coolant gets into the combustion chamber, it will "smoke" If it is only a little, maybe not.

 

Thanks Charlie. I assume you are talking about the hole at the bottom center (would be the top when installed). I hate to screw with removing the A/C and vibration damper but I REALLY don't wanna have to take this engine apart again.

 

Really haven’t found where the leak is occurring. I’m really reluctant to reassemble this but I’m running outta things to check.

 

Maybe a little more info on what you checked? Did you pull the timing chain cover? Were the heads checked for cracks?