.. preventing head bolt leakage ??? ..

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mopar66

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.. so here i am .. just finishing up my small block mild rebuild ..
went through my 1978 '318' block doing the usual decking, new pistons, rods, cam etc.. found a good set of '302' swirlport heads i rebuilt .. wanting to make sure i leave no stones unturned in my final assembly which will cause later problems ... i know to seal the outside manifold / header bolts to prevent leakage > but i have also heard there are several head-bolts which also intersect block water passages which must be sealed as well >> can anyone tell me which head bolts need to be sealed off ( or is it ALL of the head bolts ) ?? .. and i have heard several versions of successful treatments > teflon tape ; silicone sealant, etc .. i bought a new set of ARP head-bolts and was going to coat bolts with 30W oil per procedure to attain specified torque readings > but it seems if i put silicone sealant on bolts then coat with oil that would influence the torque reading or mess with the silicone cure chemistry ??? teflon tape would also seem to taint torque readings ?? .. which is the best sure-fire way to seal .. where to seal ??... looking for some input here from those who have been there before .. THANKS !!!
 

Yeah there are water pump bolts clear through the timing cover to the water jackets.
 
RedFish said:
Head bolts into water jackets ? Not that I recall.
Click to expand...

I haven't counted 'em lately, but at least some of 'em do, you bet

A quick glance at a tor' down 318 shows MOST of em are into water. I'm not sure that there are any engines that don't
 
I make it a practice to coat head bolts on every engine I build with high temp silocone whether they go into a water jacket or not. I know about all the theories about coating bolts changing torque value blah blah blah, but it doesn't change that much. Since I've seen head bolts break on disassembly on both kinds of bolt holes, I prefer to coat them all. Never had a problem.
 
.. i'm assuming that when you coat the bolts with silicone to seal, that you do not coat with oil over the silicone, and therefore just eliminate the bolt oil-coat process ?? ..
 
Never ever applied anything but oil or moly lube to head bolts...never ever have had a leak...never even heard of applying anything BUT oil or moly lube..
 
mopar66 said:
.. i'm assuming that when you coat the bolts with silicone to seal, that you do not coat with oil over the silicone, and therefore just eliminate the bolt oil-coat process ?? ..
Click to expand...

Correct. In fact, several manufacturers do not recommend oil. GM, for instance, recommends liquid teflon on their bolts as a sealant. I've always thought that silicone was not too far of a stretch, plus, it seals better than the teflon and is better at heat resistance. Also, head bolts will not seize with silicone unless you crossthread them like a dumbass. lol
 
No head bolts on LA mopars or big block are "wet". None hit water. There are a couple (one per side) that have oil passages that pass around them, but they are under the valve cover. You dont use any sealant on the head bolts.
 
moper said:
No head bolts on LA mopars or big block are "wet". None hit water. There are a couple (one per side) that have oil passages that pass around them, but they are under the valve cover. You dont use any sealant on the head bolts.
Click to expand...

Finally the voice of authority.
 
So.....I never argued any of them went into water.
 
RedFish said:
Head bolts into water jackets ? Not that I recall.
Click to expand...

daredevil said:
not head bolts but water pump bolts do i believe
Click to expand...

moper said:
No head bolts on LA mopars or big block are "wet". None hit water. There are a couple (one per side) that have oil passages that pass around them, but they are under the valve cover. You dont use any sealant on the head bolts.
Click to expand...

StrokerScamp said:
So.....I never argued any of them went into water.
Click to expand...

I've had just about enough of this nonsense

What you are looking at is an LED flashlight shining DOWN through the deck into the block water jacket, and the light coming BACK UP through a head bolt hole MOST LA SB holes are "wet. A couple on the ends of the block are "dead ended"

mt1r93.jpg



2nvh5hy.jpg
 
67Dart273 said:
I've had just about enough of this nonsense
Click to expand...

Your new on the board so maybe a little courtesy is in order as most of the members here are courteous. Did you ever think of stating your position without being a horses hiney? You could just as easily posted the pictures and said here ya go, these will show you.
 
I notice that some small blocks will puddle oi laround thier intake bolts so I started using silicone on all my bolts that might leak something,wp, timing cover ,intake, exhaust manifolds etc. It helps quite a bit with leaks.
 
fishy68 said:
Your new on the board so maybe a little courtesy is in order as most of the members here are courteous. Did you ever think of stating your position without being a horses hiney? You could just as easily posted the pictures and said here ya go, these will show you.
Click to expand...

I might be new to this board, but I've "been around" a long time. I DID try courtesy, that's exactly why I reposted the incorrect responses. Don't you think it's a little discourteous to post incorrect information? For your own personal edification

I GOT OFF MY *** and went out in the rainstorm to the garage and took these pictures to illustrate the point. Hell I thought I was the one going nuts. Was I dreaming of some other kind of SB?

I've HAD some water and oil leaks here and there over the years, and back then there WAS NO www to post correct or incorrect information. I had to go out and dig for the information, read shop manuals, and learn by mistakes. I considered those water leaks pretty damn discourteous at the time, I can tell you.

Instead of calling me out---when as it turns out I happened to be correct in this situation---why don't YOU be a little courteous?

I didn't see any posts from you saying something like "I looked this up in my shop manual and....... or "I went out and looked at my core engine...........

so ask yourself, how discourteous are YOU being, here?


So here ya go, these pictures will show you


FOLLOW UP


I just went BACK out in the rain to the garage, and here's what I found: I have 3 318's that I can see into, vary in age from about '70--about83? ALL of 'em have wet bolts. Maybe some of the motor home/ heavy trucks don't

I have one 340 block torn down, and it DOES have dry bolts, so I'd guess so do the 360 engines.

the OP was asking about 318's...........
 
67Dart273 said:
I might be new to this board, but I've "been around" a long time. I DID try courtesy, that's exactly why I reposted the incorrect responses. Don't you think it's a little discourteous to post incorrect information? For your own personal edification

I GOT OFF MY *** and went out in the rainstorm to the garage and took these pictures to illustrate the point. Hell I thought I was the one going nuts. Was I dreaming of some other kind of SB?

I've HAD some water and oil leaks here and there over the years, and back then there WAS NO www to post correct or incorrect information. I had to go out and dig for the information, read shop manuals, and learn by mistakes. I considered those water leaks pretty damn discourteous at the time, I can tell you.

Instead of calling me out---when as it turns out I happened to be correct in this situation---why don't YOU be a little courteous?

I didn't see any posts from you saying something like "I looked this up in my shop manual and....... or "I went out and looked at my core engine...........

so ask yourself, how discourteous are YOU being, here?


So here ya go, these pictures will show you
Click to expand...

Hummm... Seems like I struck a nerve.:-D
 
Mines nice and dry since I just took a dump and wiped my a$$ after reading this. Hows your ******? I bet its nice and dry since you got all that sand out of it. HA HA! :toothy10:
 
thanks for correcting me. I will no longer post unless i am sure i,m correct. I guess moly lube seals the bolts cause i have never had a problem with water coming thru my head bolts.
 
moper said:
No head bolts on LA mopars or big block are "wet". None hit water. There are a couple (one per side) that have oil passages that pass around them, but they are under the valve cover. You dont use any sealant on the head bolts.
Click to expand...

I've never seen wet head bolts, but I only kept 273's and 340's. I thought only Chevys ran head bolts into the water jackets. Live and learn.
 
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