1983 hydraulic engine

I have some questions I posted over on slant org site, Im hoping to get some work done on my truck engine this weekend and am hoping to have some of the answers before proceeding.

Maybe no-one will have the time over there to answer but maybe someone here will.

These questions are assuming I will have to pull the head, not sure that I will have to do that yet but Id like to know the answers to these ?s regardless.

Thanks in advance to the people that can answer these and any more comments.



1- When I loosen the head do I loosen the bolts starting center and then work outwards? I believe when I re-torque the head that is also the way it is done.

My understanding is that this is more important for an aluminum head and may not be as crucial with the iron head.

2- I have always been under the impression that it is a big no-no to re-use head bolts and yet doing a search on slant engines everyone seems to be doing it so maybe its OK for this low compression engine? ( As a sidenote I believe I have noticed that all slant head bolts are the same length/diam so I guess there is no concern as far as mixing them up. )

Would that still apply if I were to have the head shaved the 100thou or so that is recommended to bump the compression up to a decent rate ( evidently that may be approx 9.5 or so give or take.....I also plan to learn how to CC the head so that a more accurate ratio can be attained as per Dusters instructions I have saved from this site)

When I go to re-torque the head bolts should I put anything on the threads of the bolts....wont a grease coating change the torque value I want to achieve ?

3- Some say use a gasket coating....some not. Evidently it is a copper spray on coating. I have seen it and may have used it in the past on another engine. Is there an up/down to the gasket...do I spray one side or both?

4- When I remove the head and then pull the valves for cleaning I am going to guess that its not OK to mix them up, I am going to guess that even though they are constantly rotating during operation that they are still making a seat within the valve seat that is un-like another valve.

I would love to learn hands on how to lap in the valves, evidently it is done with with some prusion ( ? ) blue and the suction cup deal. I have read about this quite a few times over the years but have never attempted it.

Evidently the blue is put on the valve, inserted back into the guide and is spun with the suction cup deal until a uniform surface pattern is seen on the guide.

It is my understanding that it is a poor mans way of getting a better seal of the valves faces to their respective seats. For this engine it sounds like the perfect fix........Doesnt have to be perfect, just good enough.....for now.

When I initially go to cleaning the valves is it OK to use a standard wire brush that is on my benchgrinder or do I need to use the brass brush that I do not have yet?


I have I believe all of the specialty tools to measure the tolerances with the engine including the small inside measuring tools to measure the guides ect to check for wear..................Too be honest I would prefer to not have any machine work done to this engine, it is only something that Id like to see running again, I am using it as a tool to learn from. If the guides are worn and the valve seats ect as well that will be OK with me and I will leave it as is as long as things are not worn so badly that this thing absolutely will not run but Id like to know first hand ( hands on experience ) what is going on within the engine and how I could have corrected it if I had chose too.

5- What is the recommended procedure for inspecting the cylinders pistons once the head is off......if I had a broken ring would I definitely know it by scoring on the cylinder wall? Should I dump some oil into each cylinder and see if it stays there or time how fast it takes before it finds its way to the bottom end.

Just cause one ring is possibly broken prob. does not mean the other two are so not sure of a good way of checking all of this.

I am suggesting a broken ring only because I did fill up a small portable cylinder with air and dump it into the head, the air escaped VERY fast, within seconds......I did not feel it coming out the carb.....hard to tell if it came out the exhaust cause I had no help. I thought that I did however hear it coming up the lifter bores but that is only a guess, the portable cylinder I was using was maybe 3-5 gallons and it gave me no time to investigate thoroughly.

I plan to fire up the big compressor this weekend and stuff it with some strong continuous air before/assuming I pull the head.

I was told by the seller that his grandfather was told the mileage was accurate...... approx 60 some thousand......no dashboard any longer, no speedometer and no way of telling what it might have on it for mileage at this point but maybe its worth mentioning anyway.

At one point someone loved the truck very much....I would like to have met him, he took the time to paint it red, he had Mopar stickers all over it, he took it too many shows as can be evidenced by all the show stickers on it. My interpretation of the truck is that it was owned by someone that did not have alot of cash but loved his slant powered truck.

I have other questions about valve train inspection but they can wait

Hope all of this makes sense.