Help!! HeaD gasket

L

LucasF

Junior Member
Hey all, I am new to this forum and the Model A world. Long story short, I inherited a 1929 Ford model A. I know very little about them besides they are a kick *** car! I took it out recently and it smelled hot so I pulled over and saw that coolent was coming out of the over flow hose and was steaming real bad. I added a bunch of water and limped it back home the two miles I made it. When I got home it blew a bunch of white smoke out of the tail pipe and the oil looked like a milk shake. I am assuming I blew the head gasket. Any suggestions on replacing the gasket?

Thanks in advance!
 
Pull the head, check block and head for cracks, with any luck it was just the gasket.
Sounds like you have alot of water in the oil, I would drop the pan, there is a tray in there that hold quite a bit of oil, so it would also hold water, would also give you a good look at the inner moter, plus you can clean any sludge at the bottom of the pan.
It's not all that hard, just follow the tech data on torquing the head back down
 
do a search on here for pulling heads, some can be booger's, never use a pry bar or screwdriver
 
Welcome to the world of the Model A Ford, Lucas!

These cars are a blast to drive and actually quite easy to work on.

Get a shop manual and ask lots of questions as you go. Avoid making the same mistakes we did by asking us.

As MAFCA's 2018 Technical Director, I help new (and veteran) Model A owners out with their repair and restoration questions every day. I'd be happy to help you. Shoot me an email at tech@mafca.com and I can help you with lots of stuff you need to know.

A head gasket is a pretty straightforward job if you've work on cars or bikes before. It's not what I would suggest as your first lesson on the Model A, but it's not that bad.

I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Thanks so much for the advise! It will be this weekends project! I'm not a rookie with a wrench but I am always willing to learn!
 
First off, welcome to the forum! Second, I would do a search here for other head gasket posts, there are lots of them. But in a nutshell, if the head comes off easily the rest is a piece of cake. Torque to 55ft-lb.

Definitely sounds like a blown head gasket. Do you know if the car is all stock? If so you may have been driving with the spark lever too far up making it run hot since they don't have automatic advance. It's easy to forget about moving the spark lever if you're not used to it.
 
Don't forget to change the oil a couple of times if it's "milk shaked". As others have suggested do a search, lots of good info. Also, after replacing the gasket and torqueing make sure you do a couple of re-torques til they hold at 55 lbs. Do a search on the "proper" way to re-torque also. Good luck.
Let us know how you make out. Welcome ! !
Paul in CT
 
@ryanheacox, The car is stock and I am sure the spark advancer was to far forward seeing to as how I would only mess with it if the car started running poorly. This is all great stuff to know! Thanks a ton guys!
 
ryanheacox said:
First off, welcome to the forum! Second, I would do a search here for other head gasket posts, there are lots of them. But in a nutshell, if the head comes off easily the rest is a piece of cake. Torque to 55ft-lb.

Definitely sounds like a blown head gasket. Do you know if the car is all stock? If so you may have been driving with the spark lever too far up making it run hot since they don't have automatic advance. It's easy to forget about moving the spark lever if you're not used to it.
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The car is stock and I am sure the spark advancer was to far forward seeing to as how I would only mess with it if the car started running poorly. This is all great stuff to know! Thanks a ton guys!
 
Welcome Lucas,

In addition to the spark lever here are a few more things to look at.

1) Check the timing. If you are new to A's retime the whole the engine. Then you will know it is done correctly.

2) Pull the radiator and back flush it/ have it rodded out. That may have contributed a little to the over heating. These engines develop rust which will plug a rad up nothing flat.


Mike
 
LucasF said:
Hey all, I am new to this forum and the Model A world. Long story short, I inherited a 1929 Ford model A. I know very little about them besides they are a kick *** car! I took it out recently and it smelled hot so I pulled over and saw that coolent was coming out of the over flow hose and was steaming real bad. I added a bunch of water and limped it back home the two miles I made it. When I got home it blew a bunch of white smoke out of the tail pipe and the oil looked like a milk shake. I am assuming I blew the head gasket. Any suggestions on replacing the gasket?

Thanks in advance!
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When you added a BUNCH of water, was the engine running or not running?
Welcome to the Barn.
 
Just a short note on spark advance. The lever on the left side of the steering wheel is to be up to start and down 3/4 for driving. The position can very depending on how the car was last timed, but this is a good rule of thumb. Enjoy...Ernie
 
LucasF,
You might want to consider joining the Twin Cities Model A Ford Club. We have a clinic at the Brooklyn Center high school once a month during the school year. There are a lot of helpful people in the club. In fact, there is a "tuneup" event this Saturday in Cambridge, MN. The tuneup event is for club members to get help from a lot of knowledgeable members.
Rusty Nelson
 
LucasF said:
The car was not running and I let it cool down for about a half hour before adding water.
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The reason I asked is that I have seen blocks and heads cracked by adding water to hot engine. Depending on how hot is was, I have to wonder if 1/2 hour was enough time. Refer back to Bill's post about seeking help from someone who has real knowledge/experience.
 
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