TO35 Head Gasket

[Mblaxland33]

Hey all,

I have a 57 TO35 with a Z134 that I purchased around
Christmas and tore apart and cleaned up. It?s mostly back
together and painted. It?s running good but, now that it?s not
covered in dirt and grease, I can see more problems haha. So
I need to take it back apart to replace the leaking water pump
and today I noticed oil dripping from the spark plug side of the
head. Right where the head gasket is. So I?m guess while I
have the coolant drained and everything apart to do the water
pump, I might as well replace the head gasket?

I did check compression on all 4 cylinders and I believe they
were all around 110-115. The engine seems to run great and
there doesn?t seem to be any coolant in the oil.

Another oddity, which is possibly unrelated, is the the power
adjusting needle on the carb needs to be turned out 4 turns vs
the recommended 1 turn to get proper power. I have not
adjusted the governor so perhaps that is part of the problem.

I have given it a complete tune up and rebuilt the carb. Valves
have been adjusted, valve cover gasket and breather tube
gasket replaced. Manifold has been cleaned and has a new
gasket. Exhaust pipe gasket replaced as well. I changed the
oil, filter, coolant, radiator hoses, thermostat, cleaned the air
filter and replaced damaged air intake hoses. I?ve done a lot of
other things as well but not really related to the engine.

So do you all think I should replace the head gasket while I?m
in there? And also are there other components that I should
do while I?m in there? Any thoughts would be very helpful

 

[Dieseltech]

Did you re-torque the head hardware with engine HOT? That should be done anytime the head gasket is replaced, and might fix the leak if it wasn't done before..

 

[Mblaxland33]

I didn?t replace the head gasket yet, just thought it should be done since its leaking. I could try to torque them to solve the problem I did loosen 3 of the nuts to remove the thermostat cable. Perhaps that?s the problem

 

[Steve@Advance]

Where is the oil leak?

The only place pressurized oil comes up to the head is at the very back.

Are you sure it's not coming down from the valve cover gasket?

 

[Mblaxland33]

It?s dripping in a couple places right at the seam where the head gasket goes. I?m 99% it?s not from the rocker cover. Biggest drop is right over the nameplate on the motor casing

 

[Steve@Advance]

If you go in, take a look at the cylinder sleeve height above the block deck.

The top of the sleeve needs to be .002-.0045 above the deck height.

The sleeves just sit in the block. If the head has been off before, and the engine turned, one or more of the sleeves may have come up off the seat in the block. If it did, sludge from the water jacket may have gotten under the seat in the bottom of the block, and is holding them up.

If any are too tall, they will have to come out, be cleaned, the seat cleaned, and new orings installed. Quite a job!

So, if you do take the head off, don't turn the engine! You can bolt them down with a couple of bolts and flat washers.