is your coolant boiling in your overflow tank? usually if your getting alot of bubbles through the rad, combustion could be pushing through the blown head gasket. air pockets are known to cause overheating, and driving with the coolant gauge at zero is not a good thing its not reading your block temp its only reading the "coolant" temp so if there is no coolant its not reading anything, so you could have overheated it and not know. i would fix that gauge first before any further testing... IMO

 

But would it cause the air from the piston rising to push air into the water jacket resulting in the coolant being pushed out?

 

YES!
Borrow a damn cooling system pressure test kit and see if it hold pressure like suggested numerous times, if it leaks down find leak, if it doesn't then you can move on to another idea. Do you have the steam pipe and overflow hose connected in the right places on the radiator??
A head gasket letting go is bAd news but very fixable ..

 

Yea all the hoses are connected and I plan on getting all the testing equipment today. Anyone know of a head gasket how to guide

 

I'm going to pull some plugs to see if there's coolant coming out of it, from there I'll try re bleeding the system and if none of that works I'll proceed to pulling the heads off. Would any parts store carry a head gasket for a 355 sbc motor?

 

Yeah their at the parts store , Haynes vehicle specific repair manual.
www.shbox.com also is the bible for our cars, don't forget to donate to the site for the help!

Is this your first car? A S/C lt1 isn't ideal for a new driver/car owner.

 

Yes if you need a head gasket a felpro performance but stock replacement size can be ordered at any parts house .. Idk the p/n but I'm sure some1 wil chime in with some, If there is a prob most people will say do them both.. This will be best since you dont know what gasket is installed and the head may need milled..But you can get away with just the one that's blown if no machining is needed and you use the same gasket. Make sure to have the head Or heads..checked for warpage or cracks at a machine shop while it's off . You don't want thinner gaskets... If anything thicker will be better for the boost by dropping compression.
Now,get those hushpuppys moving ...Lil'Felt

 

No I've had cars prior to this one it's just my first camaro lt1. I'm used to working on motorcycle engines and such and have the ability to make repairs to a vehicle just need some direction for this car

 

Yea I'd like to get a thicker head gasket but wasn't sure if a parts store would carry one for a 355 lt1 motor. What temp would the block begin to warp...

 

First you need to determine that you need a head gasket. If yes, it would make sense to do both. It would also make sense to have the heads freshened up at a local shop.

Some of these engines were built from the factory with TTY head bolts so new ones would also make sense.

 

whats tty?

 

Torque to yield.

 

Swap in an LS1. Problem solved

 

i actually want a gto, but id rather fix this small issue prior to getting rid of it or trading it. im not the type to trade a broken car for one that is fine...just dont see that being fair.

 

Very respectable. We'll help you fix this.

 

well guys id like to update you on this repair, but its looking like im not going to be going through on any diagnostics on the car....it will just stay the way it is. whether it be an air pocket or a bad head gasket i will never know.
but thanks for all your help fellas.

 

Uhhhh?

 

You'll know soon if you keep driving it not caring!!!

 

no i will not be driving it either. the cars just going to sit until either A somebody buys it or two i get 2k saved up extremely quickly and repair it. either or....

 

Good luck with your plans for this car.