what is head deck clearnace spec?

[cls-chicago]

i got .006 with a straight edge across my head right smack in between the center two cylinders, old gasket showed no issues... i have head studs, reason for replacement = blow hg at the front and rear water jackets right at the cylinder.

[Green96Z]

Factory tolerance is .004. Anything more and it needs to be resurfaced. Are you using a machinist's straightedge?

[cls-chicago]

im a mercedes-benz tech and have access to a real "straight edge" dunno if thats the same as what they use in a machine shop but im gonna venture to say it is.

either way im probably just gonna bolt it on and go.

yea forgot to mention, the heads have been milled before, no idea to what, but the intake valve is literally on the verge of protruding past the deck.

[Green96Z]

yea forgot to mention, the heads have been milled before, no idea to what, but the intake valve is literally on the verge of protruding past the deck.

The pistons are dished for that, its normal. Unless you have some big valves on there, your piston to valve clearance should be good.

Your main issue should be figuring out why your head gasket blew in the first place. It's almost never the gasket's fault, it is an underlying issue. Could be the head studs, I've heard a lot of issues with those.

[cls-chicago]

well, when i bought the car, the temp guage didnt work, car over heated one night so i found the wire and made a new wire running up to the plug and got it working. anyways, i have no idea how hot it got that night, but it over heated again the follow saturday, at this point i had the gauge working and saw it overheating and made a run for the interstate, anyways, it kind of.. got hot then "clicked" the thermostat open and it ran cool the rest of the night till i got home and the next day i changed the thermostat. well.... i think it was too late because because i day by day started it up and let it get warm then shut it off and cool down till the next day to top it off to alleviate air bubles. well.. one day it hydrolocked, so i tried it again and it started and i have true duals and water was coming from the drivers side... well..

upon removal of the drivers head i found the #1 cyl was steam cleaned a bit... anyways... i got new fel pro 1074's, i found out the bore is 4.030, and i found low comp pistons, head studs, ported heads, etc.

so in short i pretty much know why the hg blew. the thermo stuck and overheated it twice.

also, upon removal i can see that some of the studs were leaking, plan to reseal them also.
oh and , the gasket that came off was a fel pro 9966pt.

and yes im doing both sides. just havent taken the other header out yet to undo the head studs.

pics:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1532.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1534.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1535.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1537.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1538.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1540.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1541.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1542.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1545.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1546.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1518.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1520.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1521.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1524.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e147/cls-chicago/PICT1526.jpg

i never got oil/water symptoms when checking the dipstick, which i did daily....

upon removal of the vcs and the intake i found evidence of it though...

[97lt1camaro]

Looking at pictures like that makes me remember how working on my engine is a love hate relationship. I hate working in the damn engine bay, but usually love the results.!

[cls-chicago]

everyone loves to talk shit. far as im concerned they are weak. its just a car. work on it like any other

[Green96Z]

If you already overheated the heads, I would be wary of putting them back on. They are already out of tolerance, and that's just across the middle. You could have high and low spots on the head that might leak later. I would get the head resurfaced, and have the block deck checked for flatness. JMHO, but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry, especially considering how much work it is pulling the heads in a 4th gen.

[cls-chicago]

like i said, i stragiht edged the head and we felt everywhere with a .002 gauge and we could only get through anywhere in the dead center of the block, we did it and in an X, and 3 coloumns and rows fashion, the ONLY spot that anything would fit through was in the dead center of the head. there was one other spot where only .002 would fit through and im not worried about that spot.