Need some help. Water jacket in head leaking through pushrod hole?

[badsnakeii]

Been along time since ive been on here. Im in need of some serious help. Its a long story but ill do my best to keep it simple. My 289 i built with world roush 200 heads, it had a performer 289 intake that did not have the flow the heads required. I purchased a RPM airgap intake and set out last weekend to make the swap.
I found a few years ago the pushrod holes in these heads contact the pushrods themselves and bend some of them. So i clearanced them by at most .100 just at the top inch or so to give the pushrods room. All went well, checked the holes and didnt see that i had gone into any ports of any kind. I installed the intake...etc. Fired it up and all the water went into the crank case. I cleaned it up and flushed it out several times. Replaced the gaskets and pressure tested it this time, it leaks bad. I can hear the air leaking into the valley area but when i pulled the intake back off it appears the intake is sealing as it should. Now im asking the question if one of the holes i clearanced has gone into the water jacket. I wouldnt think .100 taken off (spring side, bottom circumference) of the holes would get anywhere close to those jackets.
I havent found anyway to pressure test the block with the intake off either. I tryed a half ass trick of both my brother an i covering the water ports and trying to listen for a leak, but all it does is push our hands away. I know dumb idea but it was worth a shot.
I really need to know if the little amount i took off them could have gone into the water passage.
Any suggestions on how to test for this? ...i could machine some plates to mimic the intake but that wont happen for a few days, id like to get something figured out this weekend.

Thanks

 

[TeamEntity]

well i would pull the heads off and test them or better yet take em to a machine shop to check for cracks or leaks.

 

[badsnakeii]

Thanks for the reply.
Im hoping to avoid that if at all possible. I have SS "shim" gaskets in there now and really dont want to have to replace them right away. I wish i could and just have it over with, but thats why its taken a few years to get this project accomplished, i dont have allot of money to work with.
Thanks again

 

[GNGREN]

Did you preasure test the sytem with the valve covers off? If you went through to a coolent passage you should get some form of report at the push rod hole you went through. I would think if you are hearing the air in the valley it ain't the push rod clearencing that is the problem.

 

[D.Hearne]

Ditto, pressure it up with the valve covers off. My money is on the intake gaskets not sealing, no matter what they looked like. When you torqued the intake down, did you repeat the sequence several times til the gaskets settled ?

 

[rbohm]

+2 on the intake gaskets leaking. what i do is put a thin coat of black RTV sealer on both sides of the intake gasket around the coolant ports. i toss the end gaskets and use a bead of the black RTV there as well. then i torque the intake as edelbrock once suggested by starting with the corner bolts torquing them in a crisscross pattern, then use the standard ford pattern. i then torque the bolts, using the edelbrock suggested pattern, to 30ft/lbs(i know ford says 25, but they also say that you can go to 30 if you have a vacuum leak you cant otherwise eliminate). i have yet to have a leak doing this.

 

[badsnakeii]

Thanks guys. Guess i was so frustrated by it i didnt think of testing it with the valve covers off... duh.. I called world and they told me that .100 shouldnt come anywhere close to going through the casting unless there was some sort of fluke in the casting.
Ill test it and report ASAP. Im praying its not the pushrod holes, all i want to do is take the heads off and kiss those $300 gaskets good bye.
Thanks again

 

[badsnakeii]

Well.. i dont know anymore. Intake was sealed like you guys said. Still leaked, but its down inside, i dont think its the intake. Unless it seriously doesnt match, but it looks like it does I have not cooled off enough to pull the rockers and pushrods but i couldnt feel any air with them in there. I wont get to that till the weekend anyway. How would you suggest fixing the head if it has a hole in it?

 

[D.Hearne]

If an intake leaks at the head, it usually does it at the bottom of the port. Pull the intake, clean all the gasket mess off it and the heads. Then without any gaskets, set the intake back down and see how it lines up with the heads. Both sides should be parrallel with the head surfaces. Also measure with a feeler gauge the distance under the intake ends to the block and the distance between the heads and the intake sides. The gaskets you use need to be thicker (but not too thick) than these distances to get a good crush on the gaskets. If the surfaces aren't parrallel, then you will need to mill the intake to get em back parrallel