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Head gasket advice!

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Old Jul 5, 2013 | 02:15 PM
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Default Head gasket advice!
Ok I'm in the process of changing a blown head gasket. I have the heads off already so my question is. How do I get the rest of the coolant out of the block? What should I use to remove the residue from the old gaskets? And should I get the heads resurfaced or just cleaned and checked for cracks? Thanks in advance!
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Old Jul 5, 2013 | 04:12 PM
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I can't help on the surface treatments, however for the coolant you need to drain the coolant from the block plugs. See below excerpt from my build journal. There is one on each side, drivers side is 17mm allen, passenger side is 8mm allen.

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Old Jul 5, 2013 | 06:02 PM
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you could use a scotch brite pad and some solvent .use a shop vac to suck any coolant in the head bolt holes.tape up the lifter galley .
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Old Jul 5, 2013 | 06:17 PM
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Is there a way to clean the lifter valley because I got sum debris in there when I was removing the heads? And thanks for the other answers.
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Old Jul 5, 2013 | 09:04 PM
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Default Shop vac?
Originally Posted by garygnu
you could use a scotch brite pad and some solvent .use a shop vac to suck any coolant in the head bolt holes.tape up the lifter galley .
Does the shop vac have to be a certain hp to be strong enough to get the coolant out? Because I don't think I can get to the drain plugs in my car port.
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Old Jul 6, 2013 | 04:54 AM
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Originally Posted by ThrelkeldsZ
Does the shop vac have to be a certain hp to be strong enough to get the coolant out? Because I don't think I can get to the drain plugs in my car port.
I suppose you could try a siphon tube through one of the holes in the deck surface, if you can't remove the drain plugs.
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Old Jul 6, 2013 | 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by RezinTexas
I suppose you could try a siphon tube through one of the holes in the deck surface, if you can't remove the drain plugs.
Thanks I used a siphon pump earlier today and I think it worked pretty well. I can't get anymore coolant out.
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Old Jul 8, 2013 | 01:32 PM
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Why do you have to get the coolant out of the block if you already have the heads off? Did I miss something?
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Old Jul 8, 2013 | 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted by u118224
Why do you have to get the coolant out of the block if you already have the heads off? Did I miss something?
as long as you don't get any junk in the coolant jacket its probably not absolutely required, however it was something that the OP asked about.

I would not do a head swap without flushing and changing the coolant.
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Old Jul 8, 2013 | 06:35 PM
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screw it just slap it together and burn it through the exhaust!! haha
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