Head gasket replacement

[otis147]

Blew my head gasket today, lots of white smoke from exhaust, coolant reservoir empty. Going to pull the head in the coming month. When I'm in there, anything I should look for? What head gasket should I replace with? Should I go with the standard ARP head stud kit, or the undercut? Anything else I should do when I have the head off? Motor is a "fresh" rebuild from the guy I bought it from 3 years ago. Maybe 2000 miles on it, but who knows if he torqued everything right or used good parts. Want to do it right, not cheap.

Thanks,
Cody

[In XS 7]

I hear that the felpro 8993 is a great option, just make sure you get the head resurfaced (the right way is to get both the head AND block resurfaced, but if for any reason you can't get the block to the machine shop, at least get the head), the head bolts, if they are the original 12 point bolts, they are reusable and they hold on just fine, make sure you torque them in the correct order and at the correct torque and then after some miles( I can't remember how many) you will have to torque the head bolts again.

[merkurdriver]

Felpro 8993 is the gasket of choice for reasonable boost levels. If you plan to run really high boost go with the Felpro 1035.

[James Wieler]

standard ARP studs are fine (according to my machinist who builds NASCAR engines), undercut he claims are not necessary (although they are only about$10 extra). Use their assembly lube.
Good opportunity to port and polish but this is no minor undertaking (I'm still working on mine 10 months later).

Definitely get your head magnafluxed to check for cracks around the exhaust valve seat area.
good luck
James

[otis147]

Pulled head off tonight, have crack in #2 exhaust valve seat. Is this common? Any suggestions on what I should do from here?

[merkurdriver]

Pulled head off tonight, have crack in #2 exhaust valve seat. Is this common?

Very common unfortunately.
Some will say that you can pull the head off of a good running XR and its 95% likely to have a crack in the exh valve seat.

[sabre]

Back in 2004, i blew the head gasket on my '87 xr. I took the head to a highly reputable machine shop to check for cracks. They found one. I could not find a replacement head, and asked them if they had any other ideas. They suggested welding the crack. I didn't have much choice, so i gave the go-ahead and hoped for the best. It runs great to this day, and that is with all the charging up long winding grades in the arizona mountains in blazing summers. See if you can't find someone locally who does head welding for the racing community. Make sure they can do Iron heads as they are more complicated than Aluminum heads.

[Ghost]

I'd say get the seat replaced, but it sounds like the crack made it into the water jacket You can look for a different head, get someone that knows what they're doing to weld the head or use this as an excuse to get an Esslinger aluminum D-port or even the Rapido aluminum replacement if you're not planning on much porting.

BTW, you could not pay me to run a 1035 again. It did not hold up very long, even with undercut ARP studs. Either use an 8993 for moderate boost levels or a Cometic MLS if you can get the head and block cleaned up.

[merkurdriver]

I think the Rapido heads are NLA

[itking]

I think the Rapido heads are NLA

I thought Russ recently had a batch made. They were not cheap though.

[otis147]

Probably going to go the Esslinger aluminum d-port route. Hoping I can reuse my cam for now to save a bit of money and get it on the road, but I'll have to contact them and see.

[James Wieler]

I have a turbo head that was just checked by my machine shop for cracks (magnafluxed) and it is fine. I was thinking about keeping it as a spare but I also want to help out the XR community. Are you interested or are you definitely going the Esslinger route?
James

[otis147]

I have a turbo head that was just checked by my machine shop for cracks (magnafluxed) and it is fine. I was thinking about keeping it as a spare but I also want to help out the XR community. Are you interested or are you definitely going the Esslinger route?
James

Keep it for somebody else that has less of a budget to work with if you'd like to help out the community.

[James Wieler]

will do, good luck and let us know how the Esslinger treats you
James

[John V]

Ask your friend who allegedly rebuilt the engine if he surfaced the block..

These days they ALWAY need surfacing-----25+ years ago not as often...

Pretty pointless to talk about studs and aluminum heads if it is unknown if the deck is perfect or not..

16-17 of the last 16-17 Limas, YB Cosworths and Volvo Redblocks I have built or machined on all needed deck surfaced.

First thing first...a solid correct flat deck....then talk of other stuff..

Really disappointing that nobody else has even hinted at that...

(That means you have to be very careful whose advice you listen to...because boys are always distracted by shiny objects, and easily forget/ignore basic stuff)