Thanks dodgestang for the idea of checking the torque on the heads of my Cleveland.
For background for the rest of you, my 72 351C was starting to emit clouds of white smoke on the back from Knotts Berry Farm show. On the drive home it would only happen when the 4v opened up or at any speed about 80 MPH. So I was able to limp it a couple hours home.
A couple weeks later I had some time to drive the car (forgetting about the smoke). After the engine warmed up a noticeable cloud of white smoke emitted from the exhausts leaving behind waterish residue on the bumper. So i checked the radiator and yes it was bubbling. So I put the car back to 'bed' for a couple more weeks until I get some time to do a compression test.
A month actually goes by (due to me working on 2 businesses) and i finally get time to do a compression test. On the DS bank ranged from 135-150 PSI (which still was ok). The PS bank ranged from 115-130PSI (noticeably lower than the DS) indicating that the head gasket was leaking, but not gone.
I had to stop there for a couple weeks due to time, intense heat, and lack of garage/shop space.
So I emailed Dodgestang about recommendations for head gaskets since... well we all know about that. He recommended that before swapping gaskets, try to check the torque on the head bolts. So I followed his advice before pulling the top end off the Cleveland.
I found that 4 of the 10 head bolts were torqued only to 70 ft/lb, 3 to 85 ft/lbs, and the rest were at the correct 105 ft/lb. So I retorqued all the head bolts (according to spec), reassembled the PS rocker arms/push rods, and tested it.
To much success there was no more smoke at any RPM, MPH, or after being warmed up. Also the bubbling in the radiator stopped. I know this is probably only a temporary fix for a couple months before having to totally replace the head gasket. But thanks Dodgestang for the help and idea!
For background for the rest of you, my 72 351C was starting to emit clouds of white smoke on the back from Knotts Berry Farm show. On the drive home it would only happen when the 4v opened up or at any speed about 80 MPH. So I was able to limp it a couple hours home.
A couple weeks later I had some time to drive the car (forgetting about the smoke). After the engine warmed up a noticeable cloud of white smoke emitted from the exhausts leaving behind waterish residue on the bumper. So i checked the radiator and yes it was bubbling. So I put the car back to 'bed' for a couple more weeks until I get some time to do a compression test.
A month actually goes by (due to me working on 2 businesses) and i finally get time to do a compression test. On the DS bank ranged from 135-150 PSI (which still was ok). The PS bank ranged from 115-130PSI (noticeably lower than the DS) indicating that the head gasket was leaking, but not gone.
I had to stop there for a couple weeks due to time, intense heat, and lack of garage/shop space.
So I emailed Dodgestang about recommendations for head gaskets since... well we all know about that. He recommended that before swapping gaskets, try to check the torque on the head bolts. So I followed his advice before pulling the top end off the Cleveland.
I found that 4 of the 10 head bolts were torqued only to 70 ft/lb, 3 to 85 ft/lbs, and the rest were at the correct 105 ft/lb. So I retorqued all the head bolts (according to spec), reassembled the PS rocker arms/push rods, and tested it.
To much success there was no more smoke at any RPM, MPH, or after being warmed up. Also the bubbling in the radiator stopped. I know this is probably only a temporary fix for a couple months before having to totally replace the head gasket. But thanks Dodgestang for the help and idea!
