Tiny Bubbles,,,, for real

[jd52cranbrook]

Hey all,

I've had the new, (rebuilt) engine in for about two weeks now. Last weekend was really the first time I took it out on the road.

Had a few problems from the start, well one in particular.

I am running a recovery system on the radiator, with 7 lbs cap and 50/50 Antifreeze. I noticed right from the get go I would see bubbles in the system coming through to the recovery tank. At first I didn't think much of it, thinking the system was just burping itself. But it got worse, so bad it would increase with higher RPMS. It would look like a small pot of boiling water to me. I had advice to put a smog sniffer in the recovery tank just to be sure it was compression air, which I was suspecting. Thing is, the night before I did that I went to diner and at the parking lot it was just to obvious something was wrong.

I talked to my engine machinist, the one who suggested I try the smog sniffer. He reminded me he never had the head in his position to check for level.

Ah HaI thought. I pulled the head, the gasket just didn't look right to me with some not really clean breaks, but just maybe some smears between cylinders and water jackets. So I had the head check and surfaced by him, seems it was level between cylinders 2-4 but the two outside ends curled up a bit. This is a Earl Eggerton head I ran last year before rebuild, and I just didn't think to give the head to the machinist as he said when I showed it to him in the beginning "this thing is too pretty to keep on the bench, someone could walk off with it" I took him to heart and brought it home with me.

Anyway, long story longer, I had it surfaced and I put it back in the car. I know I am also paranoid now, but no or very little bubbles came initially. We took the car for some longer runs at about 70 degrees at night, 80 during the day. I get some bubbles at times, nothing like before, but like I said now I see them with my eyes closed.

Tomorrow first thing I am going to check the hose connections, as my ace mechanic girl friend, (I'm not kidding, she helped me rewire the car to 12 volts last year, installed AC, and has been a 50-50 contributor the performance and looks of the engine and car), showed me the manual that stated the hose fittings could be tight enough not to leak, but still loose enough to let a small amount of air in.

Question is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, is there acceptable amount of bubbles????????????

Any help, advise, insults would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks in advance, JD

[Lou Earle]

I would re torque the head. Also did you put thick washers on the Aluminum head? On my 48 ford with fenton heads I needed the thick washers to keep it in line- otherwise I got seepage and bubbles

Lou

[jd52cranbrook]

No I did not use washers. Guess that would be a option also. I do plan on re torquing the head tomorrow when cold.

[jd52cranbrook]

Now that I think more about the washers it makes a lot of sense. Will take care of it tomorrow also. I really dont like pulling the head again as the stress to the block bolt holes. But I think it's what I should do.

[Normspeed]

JMHO, I think you could do one head bolt at a time in the torqueing order the book recommends. Remove one, add the washer, torque to 50 or 60. Remove next bolt in order, etc. Then when all are washered and at 50 or 60, complete the torque procedure for all the bolts. You would avoid having to mess with the head gasket to add washers.

[jd52cranbrook]

I thought of that too Norm, but what if the head is already off line? I am considering the options

Tomorrow being Sunday I think I am going to wait on pulling the head and do when I'm suppose to be actually working,, lol,, (don't tell my customers that, ) I will re torque, check the hose fittings, then take it for a drive. This car has sat long enough during this fine summer here in Calif.

[knuckleharley]

I'm assuming the machinist squared the top of the block when he had it in his shop,right?

[jd52cranbrook]

Yes he did do the block. My mistake on not leaving the head with him.

[blueskies]

You might want to consider head studs... I used ARP studs, nuts, and parallel ground washers on my EDGY head.

I have about 11,000 miles on the engine, with no head issues. I had to remove the head to fix a bad wrist pin bushing, and I don't think my block is perfectly flat. No head gasket issues thus far.

Pete

[jd52cranbrook]

That might not be a bad idea Pete, but do the studs completely fill the void in the head so it cannot slip around?

In any case I re torqued the head, and put another 1/2 turn on the hose clamps of the lower radiator hose, and WA LA, no bubbles. I admit only about 50 miles of driving yesterday. But not even a hint of a bubble in the recovery tank so far.

If I do pull the head once again, I am going to make a sleeve for one rear center bolt opening, and one in front of the thermostat housing to eliminate any chance of movement of the head. If I remember right there was a pretty significant slop in the bolt hole openings.

If the bubble issue does not resurface I am going to leave it as is. I don't think its a great idea to keep taking the head off and putting stress on the block by pulling on it so frequently.

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

[blueskies]

  jd52cranbrook said:

That might not be a bad idea Pete, but do the studs completely fill the void in the head so it cannot slip around?

I don't remember much slop, I think it's a fairly snug fit...

Pete