Stuck engine head no more

[boatminion68]

I posted earlier regarding a stuck head. Thanks to a lot of help, I finally got it removed. I only had to sacrifice one engine block stud and it only took me 4 days. Anyway, Now that I have the head off what are the things that I should do while I'm this point. What specific preventative maintenance should I do? BTW, the reason for taking the head off was to un-stick cylinder #2 exhaust valve. That is functioning fine at this point. Added MMO to all valves because I can. This is what I'm dealing with. Planning on getting it all back together in the next 2 weeks if possible and want to get the beastie running soon there after.

Thanks again,

Bill

[hanleyclifford]

I'm guessing but was it the stud thru the thermostat housing that you had to break? Your engine actually looks very good and it seems you have good access all around. I would be tempted to go the valve job route - at least to remove and clean them, since you're already down this far. Regards, Hanley

[Seabee Chief]

Flush

Bill,
Be sure to throughly flush the head and all the jackets in the block!
Also do yourself a favor now and change the thermostat. I just changed my head gasket two months ago, while I cleaned & tested the thermostat with everything working fine. Now I have to go back and change the thermostat, due to the fact it will not open. You know what it is like everytime you put a wrench to these bolts.

Chief

[boatminion68]

Valves cleaned and Lapped

Since I had the head off and a spare 4 hours to kill I pulled the valves and inspected. After figuring out the spring compression tool (borrowed from a local auto parts store) I pulled the keepers out and inspected every valve and cleaned. Got some lapping compound and did all the valves. They all make a nice popping sound when they re-seat. I'll gap the valves and start putting the beastie back together. Before I do, I wanted to clean out the water lines. Should I be able to use compressed air and blow out the water lines? I don't want to have to open the engine up after I put it together because i found out I have a blocked water line somewhere.

General thoughts??

Bill

[hanleyclifford]

No harm will be done by blowing out water passages with compresed air except that you might get blasted in the face when the water pops out from another hole unexpectedly. Try pulling the gunk out if you have a strong shop vac. I like to use both air and shop vac in concert to really clean house.