getting ready to put my heads back on.
is there anything special i need to do to the block before i lay the head gasket down.

old gasket is gone and surfaces are smooth and straight. all the head bolt hole threads have been chased with a tap.
i was thinking just make sure the cylinders are clean and wipe the surface down with carb cleaner but wanted to make sure.

 

Sounds good to me. Did you also blow out the holes. It just needs to be clean, you can feel imperfections by running your finger along the surface. Also, look in the book, you may also be able to see it visually but some of the bolts run into water jackets and need a small amount of sealer on them.

 

Have you made sure that the edges of all the bolt holes are not raised up above the deck? You might not pick these up with your finger because you already expect to feel the edges of any hole to be "unsmooth". Use a good straightedge instead either to see if any little ridges catch the straightedge as you slide it across the deck or by placing it over each bolt hole to see if there's any daylight above the deck right next to each hole.

Sometimes bolt torque will pull a little material up. Anyway clean any bad ones with a countersink bit (don't just use a large drill bit - those thingstend to grab and chatter and throw stuff every which way). You don't want any metal chips going where they shouldn't, so go easy and careful.


Norm