Fu@ked?

[Logical1]

I will save you the long story, Here is the synopsis: 1984 720 2.4 blown head gasket, pulled it apart, nasty damage between 3&4. Is there a way to limp this girl along for a while. Funds are gone, time is short. Currently head is still off. New felpro head gasket standing by. Thoughts?

[datzenmike]

Fu@ked? not at all.

 

Oh man that's been running like that for a long long time. To the point that the aluminum head and piston top has eroded away. The piston top doesn't look like it's deep enough to impact the compression ring. The head can be TIG welded and have it milled flat. Milling it will remove any possible slight warp. It you check flatness and it's good and if careful you could hand file it down.

 

This is a Z24 and they have problems with blowing HGs every 100K. The preventative is to do the following after you get it going: Once a year after sitting overnight and cold, loosen each bolt and immediately tighten to 60 ft. lbs. ONE AT A TIME. Do in any order you like but not more than one loose at a time. This assures that the clamping force is maintained as the gasket continues to compress over the years and hundreds of heat cycles. Some say it's the block metal used in the Z24, some say the head bolts, maybe the thread depth? I just don't know.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

At the very minimum you are going to need to surface the head. If the damage is too much, the head will need to be welded.

 

The piston is obviously junk, but if the rings are ok, then it will probably run ok.

[Logical1]

Thank you for the responses, you are both 0n the short list of folks I respect the most! (here)😆 I will do my best to build an analogy for my situation: If it was WW3 and you needed to get yourself out of town ASAP with no access to a mill or machine shop, how would you proceed? Slap the new gasket on, torque & hope for the best? try some high temp epoxy like jb weld to help the head gasket press into place? Other Ideas? I am having hard time believing 3&4 will have ANY compression if I finish the job with the bare head gasket right now. The trucks needs to move within 48 hours.

[bottomwatcher]

No money and not too deep Mikes sandpaper trick. You could try jb weld but only expect a few hours of run time and you will have to fix it properly to last. That would be my boonies fix then look for a new used head. 

[datzenmike]

 

My sandpaper on glass was for 0.015" pucker. This looks deeper. Never thought of JB weld. Rough it up with a dremel and it will work, however I think there would be an expiry date to this. It would get you out of town and if out of town is where your bunker is fine, probably to the next town, maybe to the next or the next but sure as shitting as soon as the zombies come out it will quit.

 

JB is just epoxy with fine powdered metal in it.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

@Logical1 - thank you.

 

I have seen guys sand them down on a large belt sander before. I might try that if WW3 were pending, but not under any other circumstances. There are obvious pitfalls with doing this. A - you have little control over the flatness of the surface, and B - it looks like it might be more than .050" deep. That's a lot to remove from a cylinder head. It would essentially render the head useless to any rebuilder.

 

You could always weld it up and sand it flat with a block sander. I would definitely try that here in my shop, even with no world war.

[Stinky]

Imho....jb weld works wonders, BUT you need you head welded, then milled.

 

$100-200 total

[iceman510]

I have a Z22 head for you if you want it.  PM if interested and I can get pictures.

[Logical1]

Here is what ended happening: I picked up some of the ultra high temp JB weld that is good up to 1100f total price $6 which was in my budget barely. I then got to deep cleaning and roughing up the section for the JB weld to adhere to. Once I got into this process I noticed there was some residual left from a previous fix of this nature! 

 

Exhibit A:

 

 

I got all the old stuff off and roughed it up some, waited for it cure fully and then carefully shaped and flattened it out as best possible with very limited tools. 

 

Exhibit B:

 

Then followed the normal procedure for putting- the head back on and everything was easy as I have done heads on more of these trucks than I care to think of!

I had a little lunch and fired her up, purred like a kitten. Way better than before! While it hurts my mechanics soul to have to do this fix it was a necessary evil for my life circumstances currently. I drove her from south Whidbey island to downtown Seattle, went to work all day, packed up everything in my apt down there and drove back to Whidbey. I of course checked for contamination after work in the oil and coolant, with no sign in either and no white or black smoke on either trip. I know I am driving on barrowed time but I have another three days of work which will give me the funds to do a proper fix or buy another head. I hope she lasts me till this wed-sat. I will only be driving from Shoreline to Seattle each day for work which is a much shorter drive than from Whidbey Island. Thank you all for your wisdom and advice!

 

[datzenmike]

Little late now but did you check if the head was flat?

[Icehouse]

If you bring it by I can weld if for you.  

[iceman510]

On 5/1/2024 at 12:07 PM, iceman510 said:

I have a Z22 head for you if you want it.  PM if interested and I can get pictures.

 

When you are ready and able I will make you a killer deal on the head I have.