White smoke *change-o presto* Toasted head!?

[cronus]

Thinking back, I remember radiator fluid burns white, correct? And to further solidify my suspitions, There was little dab of radiator fluid in a small puddle oil when I took the valve covers off.



Speaking of why I took the covers off... I noticed that the passenger side wasn\'t running... at all. It wasn\'t the ignition or the fuel, it was (get this) the rocker studs, the press in kind, pulled out. The rocker arms are all over the place, still attached to the studs. I\'ve really got to take a picture of this for you to fully appreciate what I\'m talking about. Yet another tesiment to the wonderful job that my engine builder did.



My first thought when I saw this mess was, \"great I\'ve got to tap the holes and put in the screw studs,\" then I saw the little blot of radiator fluid.



Thoughts? Besides ways to kill my builder? I have plenty of those...



cronus

[Scotty_S-15]

Yikes, you\'ve got absolutely no luck, do you. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_mad.gif

....... As for your engine builder, I think a ball peen hammer to the kneecaps would be sufficient. Isn\'t that the guy who f\'d up your timing cover & fixed it with Permatex?? Hmmm, maybe his fingers too.

....... The good news is that maybe the anti-frz. is coming from the stud holes. A quick fix is to drill \'em and put in rolled pins, but on second thought, that might be tough to do with the heads on....

........ I guess nice brandy new heads are out of the budget, right?

[cronus]

I would gladly have this put right and ake this to hte builder, but I live over an hour away. I can\'t get another mechanic to work on it and have the builder pay for the fix (it\'s under warranty) because he would never believe me. I don\'t want to have the heads tapped and redone if they\'re cracked because that\'s obviously pointless.



And you\'re right, I\'ve got no luck. My friend here at work tells me, \"Josh, if you didn\'t have bad luck, you\'d have no luck at all!\"



I can\'t tell you how tired and frustrated I am. I certainly didn\'t pay all this money and take all this time to give up on the project now. I just wish that things could be done right the first time... then again, I can\'t do everything!



cronus

[Scotty_S-15]

That\'s a good attitude. Let each little setback make you still more determined. Meanwhile, don\'t walk over any high bridges or anything that might tempt you... http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_eek.gif http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif But seriously, hang in there, it\'ll all come together.

........ What were those heads anyway?



BTW, ever get the mufflers on it?

[mango86]

I know it\'s a pain in the a--, but I had the same thing happen to mine (882s). So I pulled the heads had screw-in studs put in and had them pinned! No problems ever again, Best cast heads I \'ve owned. Vern..

[cronus]

Vern, you nailed it on the head, these are 882s and yes, I am a very determined person.... so much so that I\'ve gotten myself sick twice since it\'s gotten cold out and that\'s saying something. I just hate to spend money where it\'s already been spent with a waaranty from a guy who\'s more likely to cause more problems than fix them.



BTW, yes, the mufflers are on and looking pretty damn nice if I say so myself! Too bad there isn\'t anything flowing into them! HA!



Anyways, I think I\'m going to get my friends brother come over and check it out, tell me what my feesable options are.



cronus

[cronus]

Ok, I spoke to the builder and he\'s willing to exchange my heads if I bring them down to him. That\'s the good news. And also on the upshot, I\'ll probably get the chance to port the heads while I\'ve got them on the bench. I hope this guy magnafluxed these other heads he\'s going to trade me... I ought to have him do that if he hasn\'t already, as they\'re the dreaded 882s. Another setback, but not going to cost me anything.... yet.



Let\'s just hope this is the last of my problems for a while, shall we?



cronus