Posted by Vaughn on Friday, January 04, 2002 at 11:34AM :
In Reply to: more head gasket trouble posted by Jerry Dunaway on Thursday, January 03, 2002 at 9:14PM :
Your problem is probably the head gasket and how it is made. Since manufacturers stopped using asbestos, head gaskets are made using different materials and unfortunately for us probably have not been tested thoroughly on these older engines. I replaced mine with a Fel-Pro # 7564C and it's been working fine.
I do a couple of things in addition to what you do during assembly:
- Blow the head with air to flush out loose rust;
- Torgue the head bolts to 30, 50 then final;
- Retorgue the head bolts at operating temperature.
Compare different Manufacturer products and how they look, then decide on which one to use. Also the head gasket for a 265 Spitfire may be the same. The difference between the 251 and 265 is a 1/4 longer stroke. Good luck