SKOGDOG
One of the old ones.
Well..another corrective experience!! I had a minor oil seep in the front cylinder, seemed attributable to the head gasket, although there was no loss of compression I could find with a bleed down, the seep would show up under sustained high speed in heat. I think that oil gallery in the center of the front cylinder was seeping thru the gasket. Sure made a mess of both cylinders.
Since I've sent off the tins for paint, it seemed timely to replace that head gasket. Really kinda fun..went over to Blacktopper's shop (gotta get him to post some pics of it), so it got to be a social event too.
Got my manual and lots of great how-to from you guys here on this Forum...No doubt overlooked an historical post that would have saved time and trouble...
First off I wind up buying the incorrect gasket kit :bang: (I'll make you a half price deal if someone needs it). Reassembly went well until the last item: the dreaded rocker box lid....I was obsessively careful to torque correctly and in stages, and wouldn't you know the very last Allen stripped at 110 in lbs (specs call for 100-120).:angry::angry: In retrospect, any idiot could look at them and tell you the damn Allens are too short for any kind of torque. Turns out the rocker box holes are all tapped to easily accept a 1/4 longer Allen, no problem.....I went to a local hardware store and got 6 replacements, 1/4" longer (they even had chrome), and it worked out OK with the longer bolts catching the deeper threads....torqued to 70 in lbs w/blue and we'll see if that is enough...
I also bought the correct Helicoil tap and inserts, so in case it decides to misbehave I'm ready for it's ass.
I did get a chance to polish the hell out of everything and add some chrome goodies sitting for a while. The pic shows the back cylinder.
To borrow a line from an old Bluesman for the moral to this tale:
"Take a lesson from a fool"...you gonna wrench on that rocker box lid, get 6 Allens that are 1/4" longer than the ones you took out.
Since I've sent off the tins for paint, it seemed timely to replace that head gasket. Really kinda fun..went over to Blacktopper's shop (gotta get him to post some pics of it), so it got to be a social event too.
Got my manual and lots of great how-to from you guys here on this Forum...No doubt overlooked an historical post that would have saved time and trouble...First off I wind up buying the incorrect gasket kit :bang: (I'll make you a half price deal if someone needs it). Reassembly went well until the last item: the dreaded rocker box lid....I was obsessively careful to torque correctly and in stages, and wouldn't you know the very last Allen stripped at 110 in lbs (specs call for 100-120).:angry::angry: In retrospect, any idiot could look at them and tell you the damn Allens are too short for any kind of torque. Turns out the rocker box holes are all tapped to easily accept a 1/4 longer Allen, no problem.....I went to a local hardware store and got 6 replacements, 1/4" longer (they even had chrome), and it worked out OK with the longer bolts catching the deeper threads....torqued to 70 in lbs w/blue and we'll see if that is enough...
I also bought the correct Helicoil tap and inserts, so in case it decides to misbehave I'm ready for it's ass.
I did get a chance to polish the hell out of everything and add some chrome goodies sitting for a while. The pic shows the back cylinder.
To borrow a line from an old Bluesman for the moral to this tale:
"Take a lesson from a fool"...you gonna wrench on that rocker box lid, get 6 Allens that are 1/4" longer than the ones you took out.
