Head Gasket & Head

[dom14]

Hey Guys,

I have to do the head gasket & head of my RB30.
Last time I did it I drained the oil 'cos I thought oil can get sucked into the vacuum cleaner 'cos I used a vacuum cleaner to suck out the crud from the top of the block. But, funny thing happened when I poured the oil in after fitting the head back. There was no oil showing at the bottom of the oil pan(looking at the dipstick).
So, I wasn't sure what was going on, but I started the engine anyway and it circulated oil somehow and oil was showing after that. So, I figured it must be due to taking bit of time & perhaps the air trapped inside the oil galleries and preventing oil get into the pan quickly enough.

My questions are,

1)Is it ok to drain the oil as I did last time during the cylinder head replacement? I find it makes the cleaning part bit easier, and less messy.

2)Do I have to use new head bolts? Last time I didn't use new head bolts 'cos I didn't think it was necessary.
AFAIK, RB30 head bolts are not TTY(torque to yield), but I can be wrong about that.

3)I'm wondering whether I should just get a fully reconditioned head as well as well as have the bottom end rebuilt.
I wonder whether the old bottom end might go kaput soon after installing a reconditioned head.

[GQtdauto]

If your keeping it go the whole hog if not just do the gasket .

[dom14]

If your keeping it go the whole hog if not just do the gasket .

I don't think I can just getaway with the gasket mate.
From last time, during the head reconditioning job(head was badly corroded and there were cracks), the rebuilder
guy missed a crack in one of the head bolt holes. I opted to not to have it welded and have the head machined again 'cos

1)Machining it twice didn't sound good for me 'cos it would've increased the compression bit too much
2)The crack didn't look like it was extending to the oil galleries(it wasn't extending to the head surface either)

So, I fit it in and put "STEELSEAL"(Sodium Silicate) in the coolant to seal the crack, in case it would leak.
It went ok up until now.

So, I would have to get the head properly fixed this time, I think.

[mudnut]

If money is real tight try some of this stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6cxIzGxtTY

[dom14]

If money is real tight try some of this stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6cxIzGxtTY

Thanx mate. I have a bottle of STEEL SEAL from the last time(around five years ago).

https://www.steelseal.com/

I can use it but prefer not to do so, and just bite the bullet and do it the hard way 'cos I can't afford engine failure in the middle of nowhere, particularly for next couple of years or so.

It's basically Sodium Silicate(Liquid Glass). You can buy that stuff cheaply off a chemist and add it to the coolant.

[mudnut]

The mechanic that did the Pre-buy check on the Falcon used this stuff to stop it using water. It has done the job. He reckons it has fixed some pretty bad cases. It will be interesting to see how long it will last. Because it is a road vehicle, it should be ok. Ask around to find the best engine recoers and get a long motor, (if that is still the correct terminology). It seems as if the head on yours is stuffed (gone soft with heat).

[dom14]

The mechanic that did the Pre-buy check on the Falcon used this stuff to stop it using water. It has done the job. He reckons it has fixed some pretty bad cases. It will be interesting to see how long it will last. Because it is a road vehicle, it should be ok. Ask around to find the best engine recoers and get a long motor, (if that is still the correct terminology). It seems as if the head on yours is stuffed (gone soft with heat).

This happened after I replaced the thermostat, 'cos before that with the old thermostat the engine was running cool(no hotter than 68 celsius degrees). Now it's hitting 84 within couple of minutes, so I reckon the weakness in the head/head gasket couldn't handle the extra(but proper) coolant heat.
The head wasn't good. The previous head rebuilder did a crap job and failed to notice a crack, which I opted to not get fixed 'cos he had to machine it again. Now, I have to take my time and do it properly.
And avoid dodgy head rebuilders at any cost.
I'm going to locate a good low km RB30 long motor & leave it in the garage or alternatively get a crap one and rebuild it from bottom up, slowly. It's about time i do that.