I just put my heads and cam in and found out that I missed one step.

You know how it says torque the head bolts down to 22FT LBS, then another 90 degrees? Well I did the 22 FT LBS. part and not the 90 degrees . I know, ******* dumbass, but I'm human.

Well I started the car and it idles well and everything else seems great. Except for the coolant coming out everywhere because the heads are not bolted down properly.

Is there anything that I could have ruined by not doing this right?

Should this all be fixed when I turn the bolts 1-10 another 90 degrees?

Am I the only dumbass that has ever done this?

My wife is trying her hardest not to make fun of me right now

Please help. I need some tips from you guys that have done a heads and cam swap before.

 

im not an expert on this, but if i had to guess if you had coolant dumping out, that means its in your block, hope you didnt leave it running to long. At the least i'd torque them down, change my oil...depends on how long you let it run. Maybe some new headgaskets? dont know if you particular situation could wreck them

 

id tell your wife to get back in the kitchen and stop harassing you

 

actually its 22 ft lbs, then 90* all 10 bolts, then another 90* all eight long bolts, 45* the two short bolts and then 22 lbs the five 10mm bolts.
i would torque them down, pull the plugs and give it a few bumps of the starter to make sure there is no leftobver coolant in the cylinders. After that you should be fine.

 

Don't forget to do the second 90 degree pass. You do it twice. On the second 90 degree pass, the 4 shorter end bolts only get turned another 50 degrees though.

 

u were to excited just relax and remove heads, inspect everything. if all is well then replace head gasket and do it over again, only this time "stretch them bolts". I would suggest to remove heads and replace h-gaskets. clean everything before heads go back on. I'm sure you dont want to do this again. better safe then sorry. so do it again. get my drift. good luck dude. " he who laughs last laughs the loudest" .


fuerzaws6

 

thanks for the advice guys. So replacing the head gaskets is a must huh? I can't just pull the valve covers and "stretch the bolts" huh? I guess cowboysfan is right, better safe than sorry! I will hopefully get this done by this weekend and I will let you know how the PRC DARTS and MS3 work out!!!!!!! Thanks again for not ridiculing me

 

What will happen if I just turn the bolts and tighten them down properly?

I hate the thought of tearing the car down again so much, but if I must.

 

what head gaskets were they? MLS? composite?

 

Stock GM gaskets

 

Gm Part # 12498543

 

Im not an expert...So tell me if im wrong but if it were me I would pull it back apart and double check everything. Im not shure how long you ran it but i think it may be possible the bolts could have backed out some only being torqued to 22 ft lb. I would at least lossen all the bolts and then retorque them properlly from scratch I dont think you will need a new head gasket since you barely torqued the heads down. Once again I may be wrong but im just giving my $.02 Good luck man

 

the car ran for maybe 1 -2 minutes at the most

 

somebody?

 

Get new gaskets and bolts. The combustion process has already expanded the block and heads and it has probiably distorted the head gaskets already. You probiably would be fine reusing stock bolts if all you did was torque them down to 22 ft lbs but even those technically should be replaced but you'd probiably be ok reusing them, but is it worth the chance? The gaskets though definately replace them. Coolant in the oil is a bad bad thing that tears up bearings in a hurry, but the dexcool in the newer GM's is alittle more forgiving than the old green stuff. It's a simple question, spend $100 for new gaskets and bolts or take a 50/50 chance and be ok or possibly toast a $2500 shortblock? I know we all hate to spend money on something particularly when it takes you over budget on a project. Some of us are downright cheap to be honest but honestly think of it like my example and it makes sense what you should do. If you got your head bolt kit and gaskets from a sponsor here tell them what you did and see if they will work with you and maybe give you a break. Most people are decent and would like to help you. And if you already did business with them, and they do something like that that's good PR for them. If you ever needed something again I'm sure you would go back there vs going someplace else even if their costs are alittle higher, I know I do/would.

 

Hmm...I'm no expert either, but what has he got to lose by (as suggested above) correctly torquing everything, pulling the plugs spinning it a few revolutions to clear any fluid from the chambers and then reinstalling plugs and lighting it off? It's either fine or not. If the gaskets fail they will likely do so in short order so he's right back where he started.

 

Perhaps so, but I used to live in AZ about 5 years ago and I know that there is a bunch of nothing out there. On a trip 100 mile trip between Tucson and Phoenix would be a hellva time to have a head gasket let go. He probiably wouldn't even notice the head gasket gone until it probiably did some damage or he would have an outrageous towing bill or both. Choice is his though in the end. I know what I would do.

 

I agree. Change the oil and keep an eye on the coolant for a while.

 

There's only one choice. Re do it correctly from the beginning. No one is laughing @ you now, but, we will be if you choose the easy route & don't fix the problem correctly. It's a pain in the ***, but, a must.

 

I understand where you are coming from kossuth, and believe me, I don't want to mess up my block. I am still pondering though, if pulling everything apart again and going with new parts is truly a "MUST DO"?

ssheets - by pulling the plugs, do you mean the head coolant plug or the spark plugs? I assume you mean torque it all down right and turn the motor by hand a couple of times to flush it out? Do I have to drop the starter again if that is the case?