Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines getting realy fed up with this

well i got the new timeing gear,three weeks later got the gasket set and very carefuly put the engine back together.plenty of oil every where,primed the oil system on the starter etc turned the key and it started before one revolution was through,wahoo.shut down,check all was well,started again,let it get hot,no leaks,stop check again,took it for a drive checking for leaks, temperatures etc all was fine and good.went to the local meet,a round trip of about 50 miles,runs a treat,nice an gental,puttig away noticed rather a lot of white smoke from the back,yep head gassket gone,its only done about 80 miles if that..
so head off,simply remove,useing special tools provided etc etc.another threeweek wait(wont stock inline stuff no call for it)an its back together, started as before.but now the carbs leaking like a sieve and summers gone please tell me things will get better...by the way its the composite type of head gasket

Dear Blue;

After a vehicle has been stored for a long time, these things can happen.

Place a sediment bowel in front of the fuel pump & see if you collect rust/dirt etc.

Keep smiling & good luck.

I've had good luck with Fel-Pro head gasket # 1025 as recommended in Leo Santucci's book. Also remember to torque all head bolts to 95 ft lbs except the front 2 bolts which are 85 ft lbs.
Al

Al is correct. Re-torque the bolts after a few runs etc.

His reference to the front ones, may be for the 250/292" engines & not a 235.

The sediment bowel will trap what ever got into the tank before it gets into the pump/carb.

Good luck.

Head gasket troubles.
First , if the cylinder head or the block a has ben seriously planed it is wise to run washers under the head bolts. This pevents the possibility of a bolt bottoming out which can happen without out you realizing it.
Secondly alway torque the head in steps. We start at 50 and work in three steps to the final value. it is amazing how much they will creep. As a rofessional i cannot trust the customer to recheck so we do it this way every single time to eliminate problems. Also another problem I often see is runnig lower octane gas that the engine requires. That will kill a hed sket in no time under full power. Just a few tips from an old guy that may help.

I went through a "number" of carbs that would run for a week then start leaking like crazy at idle.. I was gonna drive the thing off a cliff it was so maddening... Then I installed a plastic see through fuel filter with another new carb and within a week a nice little pile of rust had piled up in it.

Gathering knowledge from the group here, rust would gather in the carb and not let the needle seat fully when it went down to idle so gas was pouring in and dumping out the side.

I immediately added another filter to the line just before it gets to the fuel pump and installing my new gas tank is high on my list! DANG RUST, but that was it for that.... Sorry I can't help on the other issue...

err. must put my hand and blush till i glow on the fuel/carb problem i'd replaced the filter housing onthe carb as the thread finaly gave up,not having access to a propper one i had to make do with a standard pipe fitting,no restriction!!!!after fitting a suitably sized washer and resealing the carb it works a treat,as for the other problem well its still there,engine starts and works beautifuly,idles fine and pulls a treat,no smoke,stutters nothing,BUT turn it off and let it stand for a few minutes start it up and it smokes like an old two stroke with too much oil,i'm thinking damaged valve guides,,the stem seals are new and the valves stay in the guides when released no side play,they were checked by the machineist on rebuild @900 miles ago and he said they were ok,could it be a guide to head problem given that the crank locked up on the cam when the gear wheel fell appart? any way i'm on holliday next week and we're going over the yorkshire moors to whitby i'll let you know how it goes

Those filters in the carbs are pretty much worthless.
They plug up & no way to clean them.
Common thing to do is get rid of the filter in the carb,& install an inline filter.

MBHD

Guys this is what I did on my 46 Chev for a fuel filter and it has worked quite well. Just before the fuel/vac pump i have installed a fuel filter/water seperator from a Bobcat skidsteer. It is a screw on canister type with a drain on the bottom for water. The bracket is made of Aluminum.It takes alot to plug these as with the inline clear filters it doesn't take much if ya have a rust problem in the tank. Easy to replace with no mess. I also ran a stainless fuel line from my pump to the carbs. And ran it between the therm. housing and water pump. I put the coil spring like you would find on steel brake line to act as cooling fins as the fuel line is super close to the head. This has also worked great and makes for a neater installation. If you are not sure what I am talking about as far as the filter goes you can pm me and i will email you a pic of it as I have no clue how to post pics on this site.

Mr. Morgan is correct.

Your problem is contamination from ?? getting into your carburetor, holding the needle slightly open.

You can't place in front of the Carb. (in line) because that puts it right over the hot exhaust and is to dangeous etc.

The (in carb) filter doesn't get the fine sediment as Hank pointed out.

Good luck.

I use a standard remote (Ford 3/4"-16) oil filter base and a NAPA 3281 spin-on fuel filter on my truck. It is a large enough filter to allow placement prior to the fuel pump. It is also stocked at my local NAPA.

well the trip went fine,but its still kicking out white smoke on start and idle,so at some point in the future its head off again,maybee replace valve guides,but i'm gona try to check the oil rings,thin oil around the piston and see if it dissapears,boy do i wish i'd done this when the engine was out,not too sure if the sump can come off in situ....
its not using a noticable amount of oil or water any ideas will be greatfuly recieved,oh and when i say smokey on start i meen smokey

Check & see if the oil 'return' from the rocker arm assembly is directing the oil back to the pan.

A note for future; use the 'umbrella' type seals on the older guies.

Good luck.

Oil burns BLUE
Gas burns BLACK
Water burns White
Recently rebuilt a 250 chevy block was warped .013, head took .023 to clean up. That is the main reason for continueing to blow head gaskets if you are torqueing to proper spec in proper order. If your engine mating surfaces are flat, on a stock engine any head gasket should work. Some gaskets compress to different thicknesses, but all should hold. also a small crack in the head or the block can cause white smoke, so if you examine head gasket and see no signs of a leak check for cracks. As mentioned above excessive timing advance or the wrong fuel can cause preignition which can blow a gasket but most stock chevy 250s should run on regular fuel if properly tuned.

Thanks Bill,I'm begining to think there's a crack somewhere,its not smoking till the engine is good and hot,normal temp for about an hour,having the crank lock up suddenly,all that force has to go somewhere..smoke smells wrong for one problem,smells oily,watery,mixturey,like a very tired engine.but this isn't. ho hum..any clues on crack finding,dont meen sniffer dogs an big hairy coppers either

If you have anti-freeze in it you should notice a sort of sweet smell. Once you smell anti-freeze burning you will always know the smell.

sorry fellas,missled you somewhere,the original fault was the fifty year old fibre camwheel falling appart,cam stopped,crank didn't,well not untill it jammed on the cam lobes,its been downhill from there,like i say it now runs a treat,just smokey,latest thought is a valve guide leaking when hot,cracked or loose,allowing oil into the exhaust manifold or system,as the spark plugs are spotless,and the piston tops are still clean. are they a press fit or will the head require heating?