That does suck as far as getting all of that in there and then the heads are leaking. I was trying to find the april issue of 4wheeland offroad that had the first of the magnum engine buildup using the R/T heads to see exactly which gaskets they used in there buildup. if you have that issue check there and see just which ones they may have used just an idea since they pretty much did the same thing. and as far as running lean and it overheating like you said that should not be an issue in there buildup they used the 2.02's instead of the 1.92 like yours. the more i read the articles in the mag about doing this and reading what you are putting i am thinking more and more about doing the same to mine since my warranty will be up and i am starting to hear some noise coming from inside of my tappet covers.

 

Sorry to hear of the set-back Steve. I always hate doing a job twice. [:@]

 

Pulled it back apart last night with the help of my little woman (dakota owner... oh yeah!) and managed to get it apart in under 2 hours. boy having someone to hand you the tools and take the parts from you when you remove them makes it go sooo much quicker... havent found the problem yet. the gasket looked fine and the head looked flat as measured with the best straight edge I could find... a stainless steel ruler and a .002" guage. I have some other things to check and if I find anything I'll let you know.

 

Hmmm ....read the smog post you wrote. Such a shame all the fun of having a car/truck leads to such unhealthy results. I am not a tree hugger but I really would like to see some cars/trucks running cleaner. Nothing pisses me off more than a truck burning oil spewing it in to my familys face as we are forced to drive behind him. People that do that deserve a beatdown. If you cant afford to keep your truck maintained you shouldnt own one. Take the bus! Im not sure how the Calf people stand on this but this thats how I feel.

Hope your engine turns out good. Too bad you dont have dyno results before and after. That would be cool.


Good luck.....

 

Are you sure the of the gaskets were on the right side of the block?
I think one of the will be upside down when installed correctly. Not 100% sure as I havent put one together in a while. Good luck and hope you find the problem.

 

smog post? who wrote it? can you add a link? I'm all for smog laws but here in CA they've gone a little too far. My truck has 3 cats on it. way overkill if you ask me two of them (1 on each side) should be plenty.

 

It Lives!!!!


I was un-able to find any reason for the gasket failure I had. checked all the dimensions involved and everything checked out ok. But to be on the safe side, I went and bought the ARP head bolt kit new gaskets and re-did both heads. Rollers are adjusted good enough for now, I still have to bolt down the valve covers and put on the intake kit and the fan shroud + bottles and then it'll be done. I took it for a spin around the neighborhood and one of the local streets so that I can get it up to speed and it feels pretty good. I was hoping to be able to have it done in time for the races at Infineon Raceway (superbikes) but I'm not ready to drive it a couple of hundered miles without letting it temp cycle a few times.

anyway, that's where it's at... [sm=icon_rock.gif]

 

Good to hear you are up and running now!

 

He's refering to my envornmentally unfriendly post I think someone is just jealous because they cant get away with running straight pipes, either that or they dont like the smell of tire smoke.

Also if you dont like the burning spewing oil, why dont you just pass the person and forget it. Not everyone can afford to fix an engine that burns oil. You make it sound like you can just dump in a 10 dollar can of engine restore and it fix's bad rings, leaky seals, worn valve guides, and bad gaskets.

Whatever I said my piece, carry on


Steve, hows the truck feeling? pretty snappy?

 

I havent finished putting it back together. too busy at the races today at infineon raceway. saw the AMA superbike series... aweseome races.

I should have it back on the road tomorrow night. I still have to bolt down the valve covers (after adjusting a rocker or two) and put in the fan shroud, water bottles and the CAI. then I still have to do an oil change. but that will probably be Wednesday or so... (no water in the oil)...