well i did a motor swap yester day and i was all excited to crank it over and started to crank it and i had collant shooting coolant out of the radiator ..... my buddy said that it was a head gasket and id need to replace them .... i was wondering how hard it is to swap headgaskets on a motor without dropping the cradle again .... because ive seen it done but i want some info on it beacuse i want my car up and running again ... please help me out thanks

Sampson

 

Coolant shooting out of the radiator means there is a leak in the radiator.

 

i mean i had the funnel on the top of the cap so i could fill as the thromostat kicked open

 

Oh well in that case yeah it could be the headgasket. It isnt difficult to pull the heads while they are in the car, especially if you used head bolts instead of studs. It can be done in a day.

 

alright .... it just sucks because i kicked it over and i just puked ... i wanted to head the cam taht i put in in action

 

Good luck with it man.

 

thanks bro .... open for discussion still

 

I know a lot people are against using cometic gaskets, but I for one have never had a problem using them. Just hang them spray 2 coats of copper on them let dry and install. As long as you tighten the head bolts down to the correct torque and in the correct pattern you should be O.K. If I were you since the heads are off I would order the ARP head studs. If you goto www.ls1howto.com there is a very detailed step bystep process on how to do a head swap. you can use this process to change gaskets also. Good luck

 

what do you mean spray 2 coats of copper ...??

 

if you are using a set of MLS gaskets there is a copper spray that you can buy, its a copper coating and it helps to seal the gaskets down perfectly, especially if the deck surfaces of the block or heads arent 100% perfect. I sprayed my Cometics with 2 coats of Permatex brand copper spray and I havent had a problem at all with leaks. I would say to spray your gaskets with copper coating twice at least to ensure that you get a good seal.

 

What gaskets did you use?

And its still not hard if studs were used.

 

they were stock gaskets .... i guess i just have to start it over again

 

Damn those are usually easy to seal down. No copper spray needed with those, just make sure the deck surfaces are clean and flat and torque the heads down the proper way.

 

x2. I was thinking the same thing. I'm surprised they leaked on you.