Hi all, so thank you for the replies, I was able to get it all cleaned and together. The good news is that the head gasket seems to be working well, the car has some more pep and seems a bit smoother/better overall in that department. I followed Dave's article on the process and retorquing, just waiting for the final post 100 miler now but no leaks there. The car is movable and that's good at least. Some things I experienced about the reassembly that I'll say in case it helps others:
-I got to a point where I had to call it when it came to cleaning the block itself and the pistons because I was likely not cleaning it any more and just repeatedly wiping it down with no further benefit. The head, being out of the car, I did first and was able to get it ready to eat off of.
-I didn't realize the gasket would need some convincing to get over the studs, particularly the large one next to the thermostat housing. This made it bend all around but I avoided kinks or any major damage... still unexpected I guess in my head I naively pictured it sliding right on. Paired with the tacky copper spray, being outside in the driveway, and the heft of getting the head back on by myself, it felt a little like I prepped for surgery then had to crawl into the room on my hands and knees.
-I forgot that the stud behind the thermostat neck is super close to the neck flange itself which presents challenges, to the point where mine actually interfered with getting a seal on the neck flange gasket. Rather than untorque the head nut and reorient the washer (which had a side cut flat), I decided to grind a bit at the neck flange to get enough clearance, it looked like someone previously poorly did the same type of thing so I did a bit of a better cleanup and also tried to get the sealing surfaces of the bottom aligned a bit better too (without removing too much strength). Next I also needed gasket sealer like a permatex to really get that neck gasket to hold the water again, I knew this from when I replaced the thermostat before but just forgot and it cost me another day because you don't really find out until you get everything filled up and ready to start.

Unfortunately today I did need to refill the water after the heat started to build and I checked to find it low, so I might have a thirsty crack in the block. Still have some hope that it's the system working out air bubbles and filling the heater. But, given I did an initial refill after the short run before the final retorque, I think today's fill is most likely something else. Major bummer.

Plan from now, pick one of these "chemical magic" block sealers as a Hail Mary to buy more time. Long term is hoping a rebuildable good engine/block surfaces here in the NE. Here are my new questions:
-Does anyone have a positive experience with irontite or something similar? (I know they all have failures, but I'm trying to identify which ones have actually had some success).
-Does it make sense to bypass the heater for this sealing? I've heard they can be negatively impacted

Thanks Tx that’s helpful! I’ll for sure try it though to date I’ve never been able to rotate via the fan belt but I usually rock the car in gear and that does the trick.

Also just confirming my head tolerances are in spec, some low spots between cylinders but none above .010, some between .006/.008/.010 but my understanding is that anything under .010 is considered acceptable.

The old gasket was steel, not sure if it is over asbestos or not.

Is there some trick to cleaning out the pistons? I have the shop vac, rags, cleaning sprays of a couple kinds and some brushes plastic and wire. It seems like gunk is going to get in between the piston and the wall above the first ring but I don’t have anything that can fit running through that tight space… a feeler gauge maybe plus shop vac hovering above? I don’t want to damage anything.

It would be great if the crack happened to be coincidental with the head gasket leak, the suddenness of the coolant loss without a major overheating event is what gives me some hope with that. The gasket has some indications of being blown between cylinders for sure, and some suspect water passage areas. It’s a little confusing to know on the parts that got mangled/split during disassembly.

Ross, chemical treatments meaning the water passage additives/treatments? I did also consider using some space age ceramic metallic epoxies which seem to work well above the combustion temps and fix cast iron cracks in things like blast furnaces and turbines, but the ones that seem to meet all the criteria also need heat curing around 200 degrees for a few hours. Aremco pyro putty is what I was close to trying.

I’d appreciate seeing another crack that’s in a running engine if only to make me feel better about this one!

That could be a game changer, every shop I’ve talked to won’t consider any block work without the engine being out of the car. Napa did this?

Well, good news is the head otherwise came right off, I was expecting way more of a fight. I used plastic spatula things to wedge into the sides first then when it started moving and spitting coolant I climbed into the engine compartment and stood over the engine and picked it up handing it to someone else. Thermostat housing was one handle and the air cleaner mount bracket was the other. The scraping, brushing, prepping then commenced, and is ongoing.

Is there a best way to get all the remaining antifreeze out of the block? Should I try anything for this now before I put the head back on? Here's the reason, it's the bad news, I might use a ceramic block sealer (thinking irontite) because of a discovered intake valve to piston block crack I have neither space, time, or money to fix right now.

I am aware the best way to deal with a crack is to have it stitched or otherwise have a good shop address it. My #4 piston and valves are less than ideal, I'm thinking this must have been in the full open position when it was laid up 30 years before I owned it and got some moisture in there. It's clear that any real repair will need to include new valves and re-sleeving and might not even make sense based on the chamber pitting. Unfortunately this can't happen now, car needs to run and move of it's own accord. I need to try something if this ends up being part of the coolant loss. My only hope is that this looks like it was a long term thing, so hoping the sudden massive coolant loss and smoke was the head gasket leak and this can survive as is for more time, key word being survive. My long term plan might be to someday find another good engine as a core and maybe have that rebuilt and swap down the road when the reserves are refilled, I have access to a garage, and/or a non-gravel and non-shared driveway. It's a big setback and just might be the end of the line depending on what happens after I put it all back together.

That’s an interesting thought with the spark plugs, I do have at least sixteen kicking around from all the electrical rule outs when Penny gets fussy!

Another quick question, the nuts don’t need to be removed through some de-torquing process for they? I planned to just pull them off in reverse order if only to be cautious, but making sure they shouldn’t be all half loosened then fully removed or something strange.

Does anyone know how long a straight edge I’ll need to check the head? Most seem to be 24” or 50”. I’m hoping to get one this week and do this project Sunday.

Also, point of clarification, to “crack” the head off with compression I just turn it over with the plugs in but no spark correct? I assume combustion would cause destruction but just making sure. I’m going to start with the putty knife method but want some backups so I don’t absorb a day just trying to remove it.

Hi all,

I think I need to replace the head gasket. Pretty sure it’s leaking, I’ve got many signs like rough running, white smoke from draft tube and tailpipe, coolant going down but not actively leaking out onto the ground. I think it got worse sorting through a restart after some work where I think the mechanic reversed my distributor and backfired the engine. I went through the ignition following the speedwell video and it’s actually running better… except for the above indicated coolant/smoking which is new.

I’m any event, I’m not meaning for this to be a diagnosis question, rather, I have limited time and only outdoor shared gravel driveway space to do this. I have a good idea of the procedure, but I’d appreciate any tips to make it faster, like spraying the copper sealant at a certain time then letting it sit while I do some other step. Also, I’m the event I have to leave the car in the driveway without a head on it, how should I do that? I have some extra plastic sheeting for bodywork and gorilla tape, maybe just sheeting off the open top with that?

Any tips are appreciated to make it as smooth as possible!

Thanks!

So I had some luck and found my ignition rebuild parts receipt. It listed a different number for the condenser, AL101. AL97 was the cap, AL99 rotor, and AL4350 the points?