Muscletang engine shows a smooshed spark plug!

[tony-muscle]

Wow, that's a real mystery.

Just for the heck of, here's a pic of what I did to block off the crossover on the manifold. You've seen it before I'm sure. I used some 1/16" SS, hand cut a ledge for it to sit on, the staked it in place along with some exhaust cement. I've had no issue since with excessive heat under the carb and that was the reason I did it.

Thanks for sharing. I did similar but mine was a failure obviously. I did not have a SS cover the whole thing. I hand cut a ledge, place two washers and then filled up with high temp epoxy. The washers are not there and only pieces of the epoxy are left. I hope the washers are not what made it into the cylinder but rather the epoxy. I think the key is to cover the whole hole with the SS sheet which I didn't. Part of my ignorance was not knowing that pieces could make it back into the exhaust. In hindsight, the washers were probably a bad idea!

EDIT PS: btw, I didn't find the washers in the intake so there are either inside the cylinder or somewhere in the exhaust pipe or muffler :classic_angry:

 

[Bentworker]

The best stories are the expensive ones.

Hopefully this turns out to be an uneventful one.  If it makes you feel any better my winter beater has ingested parts of two diesel fuel injectors and it still runs fine. 

 

[Stanglover]

Thanks for sharing. I did similar but mine was a failure obviously. I did not have a SS cover the whole thing. I hand cut a ledge, place two washers and then filled up with high temp epoxy. The washers are not there and only pieces of the epoxy are left. I hope the washers are not what made it into the cylinder but rather the epoxy. I think the key is to cover the whole hole with the SS sheet which I didn't. Part of my ignorance was not knowing that pieces could make it back into the exhaust. In hindsight, the washers were probably a bad idea!

EDIT PS: btw, I didn't find the washers in the intake so there are either inside the cylinder or somewhere in the exhaust pipe or muffler :classic_angry:

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Tony, well at least you tried. You had the right idea, just the wrong application. One thing I forgot to mention here is I also added a piece of SS .020" thick that was inserted in the cut-out in the paper gasket. I enlarged the hole so that the thin piece of SS would adequately cover the port in the head. This was like an extra bit of insurance. Since I did this, I have not removed the intake, so no idea if it is all still there, but I have to think so. (I avoided saying "Assume it is still there" lol)

Good luck and let's just hope no major damage was done.

 

[tony-muscle]

Today the heads should go off. They are being a little stubborn and are stuck.

 

[Bentworker]

Drumroll…. Hopefully nothing too knarly will be revealed. 

 

[mach71351c]

I will admit I'm a little nervous reading this.

 

[tony-muscle]

Last night I got the passenger side out, but run out of time. It was too late so it is ready to be pulled first thing tonight. I was delayed by the unexpected coolant mess. I emptied the radiator through the drain plug but I don't understand why was there still so much coolant in the heads. Needless to say it was a mess but with the help of five buckets I was able to contain some of it. Keep the drums going for one more day until tomorrow's report :biggrin: .

 

[boilermaster]

Tony,

There is nothing worse than coolant on the garage floor, when my engine was installed, I put a petcock in each of the block drains and simply attach a hose to the petcock to drain. with the Cleveland blocks, you will never get every last drop out unless you remove the thermostat and remove coolant from the block and passages to the heads with a suction device.

 

[Bentworker]

For coolant removal I use a wet-dry vac, or the old upholstery cleaner I have sitting around.  You would be amazed how much coolant you can pull out of the engine itself.

 

[tony-muscle]

At least I know the cylinders were sealing well because the coolant stayed on top of the pistons. Once it is all assembled back together I will change the oil. I am curious how much coolant made its ways to the oil pan.

 

[Hemikiller]

Last night I got the passenger side out, but run out of time. It was too late so it is ready to be pulled first thing tonight. I was delayed by the unexpected coolant mess. I emptied the radiator through the drain plug but I don't understand why was there still so much coolant in the heads. Needless to say it was a mess but with the help of five buckets I was able to contain some of it. Keep the drums going for one more day until tomorrow's report :biggrin: .

The lower edge of the block outlets to the water pump are about even with the middle of the cylinders. You can drain the block through the plugs, vacuum it out like Bentworker, or use air pressure to force it through from the thermostat area. 

 

[tony-muscle]

The lower edge of the block outlets to the water pump are about even with the middle of the cylinders. You can drain the block through the plugs, vacuum it out like Bentworker, or use air pressure to force it through from the thermostat area. 

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Thanks. I guess I have never see the drain plugs.

 

[tony-muscle]

Good news! I pulled the heads and there is no damage. This gives validity to the theory that epoxy made it into the chamber. I will doubt the washers made it in the chamber. Those washers are probably somewhere in the exhaust pipe. It would have been difficult for them to make them through the valve.

Notice #7 has carbon build up on the exhaust valve while the others don't, which corresponds to the plug not firing or poorly firing.



Piston top looking good. The marks on the carbon are from the snake camera.



Some carbon build up on the pistons, but interestingly #7 is the cleanest:


 

Overall I am very happy. There are a few scuff marks on the cylinder walls of all the cylinders, more pronounced on the East-West sides of the cylinder. A few of them I can feel them with my nail. I wonder if those are from not properly filing the rings. I know I did file them, but maybe not well enough. Regardless, the engine was running well so I cam not going to worry about them.

 

[Don C]

The clean #7 piston is from the fuel washing it off. 

That is good news about no piston or cylinder wall damage.

 

[Kilgon]

Glad to see that all seems to be ok.  Looks like just a little clean up and reassembly and will be back on the road.  I would double check to be on the safe side that those washers aren't wedge in the intake or heads.

 

[boilermaster]

Great news Tony,

Just out of curiosity

what head gaskets are shown in the pictures you posted ?  In previous messages you had talked about possibly bumping the compression a very little bit, can you possibly go with a thinner head gasket, say.010 '' less  ?   

 

[tony-muscle]

Great news Tony,

Just out of curiosity

what head gaskets are shown in the pictures you posted ?  In previous messages you had talked about possibly bumping the compression a very little bit, can you possibly go with a thinner head gasket, say.010 '' less  ?   

Those are Mr. Gasket 5808G. Since I will take the heads for porting I will also have them mill the heads a little to increase the compression to the 10:1 range. My heads were showing some black sooth residue in the front so the gaskets were probably leaking slightly. I would like to try another type so I was looking into the Felpro 1013. These are a hair thicker but since I am milling the heads I can take that into consideration.

 

[boilermaster]

Great plan Tony,

I tried to keep my Dynamic compression ratio to a maximum of 8.2 to1.

I am sure you are already all over this, as you are usually one step ahead of me.

Also take into account your current axle ratio and tire size, no pingy is a good thingy.

Boilermaster

 

[c9zx]

Have the porter/machinist check the valves and seats for damage and sealing. Those washers left the engine through at least one valve and seat. BTW you are incredibly fortunate that none of the washers were imbedded in the tops of the pistons. I hope your good luck holds. Chuck

 

[tony-muscle]

Have the porter/machinist check the valves and seats for damage and sealing. Those washers left the engine through at least one valve and seat. BTW you are incredibly fortunate that none of the washers were imbedded in the tops of the pistons. I hope your good luck holds. Chuck

Will do. The washers not necessarily have to make it through the chamber. From the heat riser they can go directly to the exhaust port.