Got both heads off, which was my goal for today. Had a couple of positive signs.

These are the plugs from the side that was pulling in oil through the valve stems. The dirty one was one that wasn't cleaned prior to installing new seals.

Pulled one lifter and it had no signs of real wear. Those aren't scratches, it's lint.

Measured the bore and it appears that it is the original and there is no ridge at the top. Good? No?

I have no idea what pistons are installed, nor the cam.


GT40 Heads I am going to install, hopefully tomorrow


I lapped the valves.

If anyone wants to jump in and guide me, by all means do so.
I won't be offended. This is the first time I have ever removed heads.

 

Clean the deck surface very, very, very very well. It needs to be flat and clean. No bits of gasket material, no oil, no nothing. Start with a good gasket scraper and move to a steel wire brush after all of the big stuff is gone. Some carb cleaner helps soften the leftover gasket material. After everything is clean, spray with brakleen, wipe down with a clean rag, then spray with brakleen again.

Use Permatex #2 on the lower head bolts to seal up the threads. Use the proper torque sequence and go in increments. Double and triple check every bolt to make sure they're torqued properly.

Get yourself an adjustable pushrod length checker. Comp Cams has a pretty slick micrometer-type unit that doesn't require measuring. Then you can make sure you get the proper length pushrods for your setup.

 

I will do that. The heads came off with no effort aside from grunting and groaning when I had to lift them out of the engine bay, so what is left is spooge and oil. The gaskets were intact and didn't stick at all.


I have the permatex sealer and from what I read in my "Rebuilding Small Block Ford Book" that I should use it on all bolts to get same torque readings on all. Is that correct?

I have a pushrod length checker. I ordered that over the summer as well as a gasket scraper.

Thanks for the help.

Should I leave the piston tops alone or should they be cleaned and if so how?

 

I usually clean them off with a wire wheel in the drill.

Just curious, what did you pull the GT40 heads off of?

 

Good question, as I don't know. I bought them for $200 used.

 

If you would, let me know how you like them because my Dad is thinking about putting a set on his coupe.

 

Did nobody notice this ? The piston is not good, maybe i see it wrong but a piece is broken of and i can see the pistonring !

 

don't forget to blow out the threads for the head bolts with compressed air. you probably know that already, but i thought i throw it in. your plugs look a bit on the rich side. and check on those speckles on the insulator, could be a sign of pinging
and that bit missing in the piston you picture, check if the other pistons are the same (on the far left edge of piston, just between the reliefs)

 

No, they are all notched this way. I believe it indicates the front of the piston, BUT I have read that some installed pistons backwards in order to gain some horsepower. That's another topic, not wanting to open a can of worms.

 

They aren't notched or broken out in this pic like the one posted.


The left side and top of this piston appear to have issues when you compare them to the pic I posted above, the others don't look like this.


Lynn