finally got around to pulling the head and replacing the head gasket

[merrill]

after 10 years of dealing with a pinging sound and a head gasket leak on the spark plug side i pulled the head and found the attached in the photos

i want to thank Joe Alexander for his guidance .

the head looks straight using a ruler  (front to back and x pattern)
the plan is to clean everything up and re install the head with a new gasket and using the copper seal i purchased from metric motors.

hopefully this will solve my issues.

[Benz Dr.]

I'd use a machinists straight edge because I don't think a ruler would be accurate enough. Anything more than .003'' is already too much of a warp.

[merrill]

thanks to some tips from Mr. Alexander the head is back on and the job is complete.

now to double check the linkage adjustment, dwell, timing and complete the richness test!

Then on to the next project....

[wwheeler]

Just out of curiosity, What kind of leak was it? Coolant, oil? The reason I ask is that I have discovered the hard way that if you have a coolant leak into the combustion chamber with an aluminum head, severe corrosion can develop. It will eat away at the aluminum. My understanding is that the combustion gases mix with the coolant to create a super corrosive vapor. I can post some ugly pictures later.   

[merrill]

hi
it was a coolant leak.  spark plug side of the motor,

there are  coolant stains down that side of the block and i had to occasionally top off the coolant.

[wwheeler]

Hey Matt,

I hope you got some of the cooler air we finally saw in Dallas!

Looking at your head, it didn't have the corrosion mine had. So must have not leaked into the combustion chambers. Until I saw my head, I had no idea that was an issue. Most of the corrosion is right at the gasket line. Nasty stuff.

[merrill]

Wallace
hi, yes we finally had some nice cool weather.   

sorry about the corrosion on your head very unfortunate.

matt

[ja17]

I know your done with the job now Matt, but I was looking at the photos and it looks like you may have had the wrong head gasket on the engine?

[RobSirg]

When l first had my Blue 280SL l noticed it was hard to start in the morning, and ran a little rough at first ( until the moisture burnt off in the cylinders). Eventually l noticed the telltale sign of cappuccino-like froth on the dipstick so it went in for a head gasket replacement.
The head was so badly corroded it was beyond repair - luckily l found a second hand head that was in perfect condition for a few hundred dollars.

The cause of all this...........The wrong head gasket was installed by the P.O.

Rob

[merrill]

hi Joe,
Metric motors did the rebuild 10 or so years ago and they installed the head gasket.
I sure hope they installed the correct one!

Matt