360 head gasket blocked ports???

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DSMRossi

DSMRossi

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hey guys I have a question.

I'm in the process of putting my new motor together and I'm looking at the head gaskets. If you look, I have to either block the water jacket holes at the front or the rear of the motor when I install my head gaskets. Do I need to open this hole up or is this used to block coolant flow purposely?

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It's tough to see, but the hole where my finger is isn't punched out in the gasket
 
Another member posted this when he posted about 360 head gaskets. The water/coolant is to flow into the block, straight through past the cylinders to the back and then up through the cylinder heads back to the radiator through the top hose. If the holes were open, the cooling wouldn't be as efficient , coolant would bypass going all through the block and just go up the front through the heads and out the top hose leaving the rest to heat soak/overheat
 
Ahhhh makes sense, so the ports should be blocked off at the front of the motor to prevent the coolant from flowing directly into the heads at the first passage

Thanks!
 
My intake gaskets were blocked off at the rear. All of the engines I rebuilt had all of the head gasket passages open. Is that an LA or Magnum motor?
 
If that's the case which end up is correct? If he flips it over the it's the rear that gets plugged.
 
Asked a reputable mechanic that exact question once, he told me block front side even bank; 2,4,6,8 that leaves the open water port in back on that side which is the very back cylinder of the block, he said if you have your open water port in the odd side that the water would not circulate to the very back of engine. Made sense to me. Would like to hear other feedback on this.
 
Shadow said:
Asked a reputable mechanic that exact question once, he told me block front side even bank; 2,4,6,8 that leaves the open water port in back on that side which is the very back cylinder of the block, he said if you have your open water port in the odd side that the water would not circulate to the very back of engine. Made sense to me. Would like to hear other feedback on this.
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the gasket has alignment holes that go over dowels in block, head gasket will go on one way only, and will block front passages. you cannot set them on any other way!!!! your block should have two dowel pins each side.
 
perfacar said:
the gasket has alignment holes that go over dowels in block, head gasket will go on one way only, and will block front passages. you cannot set them on any other way!!!! your block should have two dowel pins each side.
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Exactly, and I saw that question coming when I posted above.
They can only go on one way.
Which side up isn't a choice either.
 
d1970 said:
Another member posted this when he posted about 360 head gaskets. The water/coolant is to flow into the block, straight through past the cylinders to the back and then up through the cylinder heads back to the radiator through the top hose. If the holes were open, the cooling wouldn't be as efficient , coolant would bypass going all through the block and just go up the front through the heads and out the top hose leaving the rest to heat soak/overheat
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Couldn't have said it better myself :thankyou:
 
If that front hole was open you would not get flow thru the head or eng. Look at where the water pump flow coolant to each head. if that hole was open it would go straight up to the t- stat and back to the radiator. with that port plugged it forces the coolant to travel thru the head and block.
 
I'm going to hand feed you just a little bit more......but it's like leading a horse to water...........the horse still had to choose to drink the water.
It's a long thread but there is valuable info even for a stock rebuild. I did all of the internal mods from that thread. Happy with the results.

Here is the exact thread. no searching here needed
http://moparchat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70569
 
Rapid Robert said:
go to www.moparchat.com then scroll down to & click on "circle track chat" then read thru Sanborns' cooling mods that are in a sticky at the top of the page. it'll take you a spell but he is one of the countries' foremost cooling experts in the country (read thru & see for your self)
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Sanborn aside. I'm saying no to the quoted statement. The gaskets dowl holes are offset differently so that its idiot proof, they don't flip. The heat is mainly in the heads, you need complete pass through, so it goes to the back of the block and then up and back through the heads and out the top hose.
 
If the head/block dowels are missing then a mistake can be made.........if they are there, he will see that it only goes on one way.
 
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