bbc 540, dart pro 1 345 heads, dart big M block, alcohol
Motor has roughly 175 passes since new build. After TD race in Aug spraying 100 shot, pulled plugs day after to find #7 soaked. Did leak down...fine. Pulled head and examined gasket. (Felpro 10171) Gasket was stuck to block in between each cylinder down near exhaust side. Also blue silicone beads were a mess too. Replaced gasket...did 2 warm ups, took to track, made 3 passes, saw small amount of water in 7 upon rotating motor over no plug after a pass. Did a warm up again with die in water, and got temp to 210 with higher pressure cap 20 lbs. Couldnt find anything. Only thing i cojld hear was water sizzleing in left side header. Rotated motor over once and stopped. Pulled both heads, right side looked brand new, left side looked same as before...and was stuck to block in same places. Took block and head to engine machinist...they pressure tested ok. I am suspect of a crack in the head at the valve seat because of sizzling noise and because to where water accumulated in plug. But figure maybe issue is only showing with heat. Anyone see anything like this before? I dont want re assemble engine without a smoking gun...any advice would be great. Txs in advance! -Mark

my last cracked head was in the exhaust between the valve and the edge of the port.it leaked into port and header

was easy to have welded up

Txs...Yeah...my problem right now is I cant find "the crack" to weld.

Have you checked the deck surface on the block and the surface of the head?

Have you had the head pressure tested?

Yes the deck surface of block checked out ok and the head pressure was good. Deck surface of head is still in question.

Whats the Ra on the head and decks

I built an engine for a friend and used Dart Pro-1 335 CNC heads...

The #8 exhaust port was so thin it broke thru the aluminum at the end head stud.

The stud was getting heated as it was exposed to he exhaust flame and rusted bad so it must have had bad condensation there.

Never saw water in the cylinder though....It was a Dart block with blind head bolt holes....

Fel-Pro gaskets do leak water sometimes....Seen it.....

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-7lgXGani4

That guy has a lot of videos on head work.

He's old school for sure.

He ain't lyin about the out of the box VJ quality.....

It's hit or miss and I've seen them way off out of the box as well as pretty much perfect..

I bought a set of Dart 325's for myself and the exhaust seats were off a mile

The last set of Brodix heads I bought for myself were perfect

Both sets were assembled heads and finished by the manufacturer.....

I would never install a set without disassembling them if they were complete...

I bought a complete set of Brodix Race Rite ovals last year and had to spend about $800 at the machine shop before they went on the car.

The engine probably would have run fine just bolting them on, but you could see light past the closed valves.

quote:

Originally posted by Boucher Jr:
Whats the Ra on the head and decks

Not sure...have to borrow profilometer from work. Deck was fresh from engine shop...heads were right from Dart. Wasnt using MLS gaskets which are fussier on surface finish than the felpro composite with silicone beads

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-7lgXGani4

Yes...txs...actually have seen that video before......after i bought heads and installed ofcourse

What i cant get out of my head was the sizzle of water heard in the header after motor was shut off. Then rotating motor over and having sizzle go away...like the exh valve getting dripped on then closing.

that noise can be the moisture burning out of the alcohol

Only heard it on left side tho...twice

Exhaust guides run through the water jacket?

Bars Leak