Help Needed On Cape Cod for Head Gasket

marc hildebrant

marc hildebrant

Well-known member
Group,

I have a blown head gasket and I need to fix it. I tried some standard methods to remove the head but as I 'm on my own and do not have many tools, I'm stuck.

Is there a local Model A person around the Cape that can help ? I'm located in Dennis, Massachusetts.

Marc
 
I'm a left coaster so can't help that way. Just wondering if you tried the rope trick. Mine was on a barn find that had been working on becoming stuck for decades. I was amazed how well it worked for me. Others on here have not been so lucky with that method.
 
foxfire42,

No, I have been hesitant to do the "rope method". The head had been removed in the recent past, but I need some hands on guidance.

Marc
 
Greetings Marc I am a Model A Ford parts dealer on the Cape, selling parts 70 years. We had 2 mechanics in the Cape Cod Model A Club. one retired recently at age 93 to care for his ill wife. The other one had to put his wife in a nursing home and moved to live with his son in NH and the wife is in a home neaR him. That leaves the Club with an experienced man in his 70's who is retired except he works full time in summer for a boatyard as a marine mechanic. Our Cape Cod A Club has no meetings in July or August but we have club activities. President is Conrad Thamm and Treasurer is Paul April an accountant on Winter Street in Hyannis and residence No. Falmouth. I am not a mechanic but sell parts, semi-retired. Try Ross Gould, Chatham, 508-945-9283. He is very busy with marine work in summer, but might respond. Rich Bell, MARC since May 1954, MAFCA since 1958. barnstuf@comcast.net and good luck.
 
Marc - I am in centerville on weekends only. I have a head puller. I can help but not until the weekend.

Call my cell 508-726-2579
 
Marc..............you might try loosening the head nuts and cranking it over. If as you say it's been off in the "recent past" it might loosen it. Drain the radiator first ! !

When did you move to the Cape ??
Paul in CT
 
Good afternoon...I agree with 1931, but remove the top radiator hose first and put some pb blaster, or some such down around the stud holes the night before you are ready to remove the head. Ernie
 
This might be a silly question, with a four blade fan, do you have to remove the water pump before removing the head? Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ktkamm,

That was my question also.

For the head removal, I have an old upper radiator hose , with thermometer assembly (pipe with a T) and its not coming off. I was going to cut the hose with a hacksaw and replace the hose assembly with a new hose. Put the thermometer in the upper hose bracket instead of the pipe in the upper hose.

The fan belt is very difficult to remove as there is no clearance on the bottom pulley (between the frame and the pulley) to remove it. So, can I remove the water pump with the belt loose and radiator in place ?

The distributor came out easy....

Thanks for the comments so far.

Marc
 
You will probably need to tilt the radiator forward in order to take the water pump off with the head in place.

Have you gotten the head to move at all?

If you've gotten it to move upwards any distance at all don't be afraid to drive it back down with a dead blow hammer or such. Then work it back up again. Often times trying to pull a head straight off is problematic due to crud build up on the studs holding the head back.
By going up and down with a few sprays of PB Blaster or such will often break things up making removal easier.
Keep it level coming up.
 
Marc,
as was noted by a few soak the head nuts/studs with a penetrant. If you are going to tackle yourself use due caution as remember the valves are on the passenger side and you don't want to cause and harm to the block or valve train by prying up in the wrong spot. A stipe head puller is a help if available. folks talk about the head blowing loose while cranking but honestly I think that most of the time it's a phrase that is repeated instead of tested and actually done. I've never had that one happen and if it was that loose ( even if it was) it wouldn't be hard to pull off anyway.

There's more to doing a head gasket than just getting it off. Finding the problem if there's something that caused it, checking the head, surfacing if need be, cleaning and checking block and head for cracks, prepping for new gasket install and then installing it properly for a successful replacement.

You should be able to pull the head up with the fan on ( helps if radiator rods are removed and radiator pushed forward. It's a wiggle to get it out but totally doable.


Larry Shepard
 
Here's a question for the more knowledgeable. Would it hurt to drill each hole in the head a fractional size larger? not talking about a 1/16 of a inch,maybe a 1/32. I'm thinking about doing this on my 59a eng. Also putting a anti seize on the studs.
 
Last edited:
foxfire42 said:
I'm a left coaster so can't help that way. Just wondering if you tried the rope trick. Mine was on a barn find that had been working on becoming stuck for decades. I was amazed how well it worked for me. Others on here have not been so lucky with that method.
Click to expand...

You run the risk of bending your rod. The proper tool is a head puller.
 
Marc and I have discussed this by phone, and he has several issues that are countering some of the advise from above. The head gasket appears to be damaged between cylinders 3 & 4, therefore having enough compression to push it upward on an even plane is likely not there. Also, I suspect the head gasket issue goes further, in that I have generally found that recently replaced heads that are stuck are usually due to someone being very generous with Copper-coat or Indian Head sealer to mask another problem. That is not to say that someone failed to re-torque the gasket after replacing, but the use of the sealer is what makes me suspicious. As I see it right now, using the head puller is the best option in Marc's situation.

Barb, let me also add that the rope trick can be effective on an engine that is coming apart for nspection and rebuilding however, it can be easy to unknowingly bend a rod or even damage a piston skirt if the head is stubborn. If by chance someone is only changing the gasket, this can become a bad situation if a rod gets bent or if a damaged piston comes apart later.

**Edit: I was slowing in writing this and Ron was quicker in saying what I was thinking.
 
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