Wish me luck

[Hissing Cobra]

Well, the Cobra is wounded and I've been bummed for awhile now. Two months ago, I blew a head gasket. Why it blew is beyond me. Luckily, it didn't blow too badly and the oil isn't even contaminated. It's still a nice oily color with no signs of milky substance from antifreeze contamination. It's a good thing I work only 6 miles from my house as I was able to baby it home, getting it up to 40-50 mph and then shutting it off and coasting.

We've decided to try those newer style cometic head gaskets and they came in last week. My brother went through the heads again for me and put a smoother surface on them for these gaskets. The block had already been resurfaced two years ago with fine grit on the machine so he assured me that these gaskets should be fine.

Last week, I installed the heads by myself based on written instructions by my brother and it all seemed to go smoothly. It was my first time doing this by myself and I was double checking everything as I went.

After that was all done, my brother told me to pull the lifters and check them. BAD NEWS! All of them looked brand new except the one that was very difficult to get out. That one was worn on the bottom and had a burr on it that made it's removal difficult. Yup, the cam is going down.

Luckily, my brother has the same exact cam that's brand new in the box. I bought it from him and ordered another set of lifters.

Tomorrow is the day that it goes back together. I've spent a total of 8 hours between yesterday and today, cleaning and repainting all of the accessories, brackets, bolts, etc...etc..

Wish me luck that it goes back together and nothing else goes wrong. I want to drive it sooooooooo badly.

[blackgt85]

Hope all goes good for you. Let us all know how those Cometic gaskets work. Good luck!!

Justin

[FoxChassis]

If you don't know why the head gasket blew, you do not want to be putting stronger gaskets in there. Figure out why the old one blew out first. Head gaskets are a "fuse" and rightly so. They're a lot cheaper and easier to change than pistons.

[Kevins89notch5.0]

Good luck man. I'll be needing some of that myself in a month here. A good friend is dropping in a dart 331 with AFR 205s, etc. I'm buying his old 302 top end consisting of edelbrock heads and intake, crane cam, 42lb injectors, and mass air meter. I'll be bolting those on with my current S-Trim, but upping the boost to around 14psi. Oh, and I've never been farther into a 302 than yanking the upper intake. This should be interesting.

[Hissing Cobra]

If you don't know why the head gasket blew, you do not want to be putting stronger gaskets in there. Figure out why the old one blew out first. Head gaskets are a "fuse" and rightly so. They're a lot cheaper and easier to change than pistons.

I hear ya there. It wasn't detonating and the temp guage never went above 180. The car has always run excellent. A friend of ours also had his head gasket on his Mustang blow the week before mine did. His originally went together two months before mine and our gaskets went bad in the same exact spot (right around the ring for the rear piston on the passenger side.) We have the same heads and gaskets. After seeing this, my brother pulled out his brand new gasket set which he was planning to use on his new 336 stroker engine and discovered that his was separated around two of the rings. Luckily, he was able to send his back. I don't think I'd call mine and our buddy Andy's a defect as we've both gotten two years out of them but it is odd that they went in the same spot.

Oh well, I hope this all works out or the car will be in the garage for some time.

[anthonydalrymple]

Best of luck too you! Check that cooling system out while your at it too....

[795.0pacecar]

I've heard the cometic gaskets tend to leak alittle and are more of a race engine gasket. I've heard that they stop leaking after a while so all should be well.

[slickshift]

Good Luck
If ya need a hand give me a shout
I drive a van full of tools and I'm local now

[slickshift]

....and I'll burn you a copy of that old-time live VanHalen bootleg and bring it over

[Hissing Cobra]

Update: We're just about done. We fired it up today and let it idle at 2,500 rpms for 20 minutes to break in the new cam/lifters. The oil pressure is right where it used to be (40-60 lbs. depending upon the rpm speed) and the temp never went above 180 degrees. Tomorrow, we'll be readjusting the valves and she should be good to go. It's been a long day but it felt so good to hear the beast roar once again.

[slickshift]

Sweet

...It's been a long day but it felt so good to hear the beast roar once again.

Nice day for it too

[v8only]

good quick work. What do you suppose ate your lifter away like that?

[Hissing Cobra]

Thanks guys. It took me about 8 hours of cleaning, painting and detailing parts and between my brother and I, the reassembly took about 8 hours. He came back today and readjusted the valves and we took it on a 1/2 hour ride. Capri GT (Ken) came along for the ride. It's running good! Total cost was about $400.00.

As for the damaged lifter and cam lobe, that may have been my fault. It's a solid lifter cam and they need adjustments from time to time and I didn't do it last fall like I should have. Luckily, we caught it right at the beginning.

The headgasket may be related to quality but I can't say for sure as they've been in for 2 years and 15,000 miles. Both mine and my buddy Andy's blew in the same spot. After looking at mine and his, my brother went home and took his brand new set out of the box and noticed that his fire rings were also separated. He sent them back and bought the cometic units for his new 336 stroker motor. A subsequent search on the Corral.net has revealed that we're not the only ones that have had problems with those gaskets.

The good thing is that it's back together and I hope to make it to Mustangs Unlimited on April 30th.

Hey slickshift, I'd love to have a copy of that live Van Halen bootleg! We'll have to get together sometime this summer. According to Ken (Capri GT) your house is very close to my brother's work (Mid-Cape Machine Shop in Hyannis.)

[CapriGT]

Capri GT (Ken) came along for the ride.

I want everyone to know that this car sounds and runs as good as it looks

[slickshift]

Hey slickshift, I'd love to have a copy of that live Van Halen bootleg! We'll have to get together sometime this summer. According to Ken (Capri GT) your house is very close to my brother's work (Mid-Cape Machine Shop in Hyannis.)

Mid-Cape Machine?
Yeah if that's the place I think it is, I could almost throw a dead skunk over their fence from here
lol

I'll have to stop in and say "Hi"

[Hissing Cobra]

Thanks Ken. Slickshift, he's right off of Willow St. about 100 yards from "Box Car Willie's".

[GT350R]

A subsequent search on the Corral.net has revealed that we're not the only ones that have had problems with those gaskets.

And that brand is..................................

[sk83r005]

Any updates? I want to see how it turned out. I'm trying to keep tabs on all us New England guys

[stroked4eyes]

Yeah...anything new happening?

[Hissing Cobra]

And that brand is..................................

Fel-Pro 1011-2.

Sk83r005, It's back together and running good. We also changed the step up springs in the carburetors and the throttle is instant now, almost as good as fuel injection.

Bring on the Summer!

[linemen339]

Hey Pete,
You know if you ever need a hand just call me. If I am not working I will be there to give you a hand. I stopped by your bothers shop the other day to say hi. Are we shooting for the trip at the end of the month? Glad to here you got it back up and running.......

[GT350R]

And that brand is..................................

Fel-Pro 1011-2.

Ruh Roh! I couldnt tell you how many motors I have those in right now. Good news is that the TT 302 has cometics already or I would have been crapping!

[Hissing Cobra]

Hey Pete,
You know if you ever need a hand just call me. If I am not working I will be there to give you a hand. I stopped by your bothers shop the other day to say hi. Are we shooting for the trip at the end of the month? Glad to here you got it back up and running.......

Yeah, I know. Thanks. I'm still shooting for the trip on the 30th. Will your new engine be installed by then? If not, you can ride with me but I've already got a passenger. CapriGT (Ken) from this site is riding with me.

[DOHC32vMarkVIII]

Hey Pete,

Good to hear you got everything taken care of! It's definetly no fun just sitting there not being able to drive the car, drives me crazy!

[evlgt85]

How the heck did I miss this thread? Really.

Glad to hear the car has fuel coursing through it's veins once more.


May the mighty yellow Cobra whose legend precedes it continue to awe and inspire those who look upon its glory.