Need some help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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As I understand the OP's situation, this engine only has a few miles on it. It has been mentioned before that this is not really broken in. The cam may be, but the rings are not likely anywhere near seated IMHO. It needs some driving and loading the rings, once any leaks are resolved.

We don't know HOW much the engine had cooled when the OP released the rad cap and found some unknown amount of pressure behind it. OP, was the engine stone cold, like having set overnight, when you removed the cap and found the residual pressure, or just cooled down for an hour or a few? And, if the engine has not been heat cycled enough to get the trapped air all out, then it will tend to have more residual pressure until that is done. OP, do you have an overflow tank on this setup?

The leaks under the t'stat housing simply don't look like fresh oil; no way it will be that black after a few miles. Likely rust or sealant like MT mentioned.

The low end miss? Could be quite a number of things, like carb tuning or ignition. Or simply just not being used to the exhaust note.

So more detailed info is needed from the OP on several items.
 
AJ/FormS said:
RAMM
68 posts and not one help from you,And then 4 in a row;and still notta one helps the OP.

So here's a recap;
It has "a slight low end miss" It's either misfiring as in down a cylinder or its not-nothing slight about it.
It has enough air pressure in the rad to blow the cap out of his hand and send it airborne.I'm sure the image of "Old Faithful" is a very inaccurate one. Probably just a normal release of normal cooling system pressure.
it's pushing a black fluid out the stathouse, but doesn't seem to have oil in the rad. That's because its not oil and probably black rubber **** off the inside of the hose--I see this often hooking engines up to the dyno
cylinders are still"oily looking"Cylinders looking oily is awfully vague and could be as simple as getting the carb/timing right and actually breaking it in properly.
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J.Rob
 
I think I went into a panic when I saw the black residue, since I have so many issues trying to get this thing sorted out. It is not oil, it is some sort of black residue. I don't see it in the radiator. No overflow tank. I will get a picture of the spark plugs also. I will try and get one of a cylinder and maybe some video of it idling. When I posted about the cap jumping up from pressure the engine wasn't exactly ice cold. Later after I posted that I went back out and touched the heater hoses and could still feel a little warmth. Not hot, but just a little heat. I did not think it would hold pressure that long.

FELLO FABO MEMBERS, PLEASE BARE WITH ME THROUGH THIS. I am in panic mode and some of my data may be a little off until I get tips from yall to help me a long.
 
I feel like a jackass now. All the gaskets I have ever installed from Felpro have been blue, well this one was black and I forgot about it until I cracked it open. Drained the radiator and fluid looks like it should. Going to pull the intake again as I can see it did not seal well around the water ports since there is a dampness just above the intake over the water jackets. I will try and pull it in a little while and report back.
 
Here is a picture of a couple spark plugs. They actually look darker now since I swapped to a different style intake gasket ( Edelbrock .060" vs. Felpro .065" thickness ), both had the printo-seal. I can tell the Felpro did not seal as well as the Edelbrock gasket. But the Edelbrock gasket wasn't sealing either, just wasn't as bad as the one I just installed.
 

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Here is a reminder picture of the intake after pulling it with the Edelbrock gaskets.
 

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Are all 8 spark plugs black (carboned up) like those 4, or is it just those 4? The pix of the 1st 2 may be oily, hard to tell. Some larger, higher res pix would help.

How many total miles driving on the engine at this point?

So the black stuff is not so much a worry now? Good. I'd check residual pressure in the system once it has set overnight. And the system will have to be heat cycled a few times again to get the air out now that you drained some coolant out again.

It helps some to keep the cap on loose while you warm it up and after you can see the coolant start to flow in the top of the rad, it'll purge some of the extra air. Top off the coolant at that point and close the cap down tight. With an overflow tank, it will take a few full heat/cool cycles to get all the air out of the cooling system. And if you don't have an overflow tank (you have not said if you do yet), then you need to fill the rad to 1 or 1-1/4" below the rad cap and keep it there.
 
nm9stheham said:
Are all 8 spark plugs black (carboned up) like those 4, or is it just those 4? The pix of the 1st 2 may be oily, hard to tell. Some larger, higher res pix would help.

How many total miles driving on the engine at this point?

So the black stuff is not so much a worry now? Good. I'd check residual pressure in the system once it has set overnight. And the system will have to be heat cycled a few times again to get the air out now that you drained some coolant out again.

It helps some to keep the cap on loose while you warm it up and after you can see the coolant start to flow in the top of the rad, it'll purge some of the extra air. Top off the coolant at that point and close the cap down tight. With an overflow tank, it will take a few full heat/cool cycles to get all the air out of the cooling system. And if you don't have an overflow tank (you have not said if you do yet), then you need to fill the rad to 1 or 1-1/4" below the rad cap and keep it there.
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All the plugs are like those. Around 7 miles total driving. I drilled a small hole in the thermostat ( first time I tried this ) and it lets the air out as I am pouring the coolant in. Works pretty good. I am going to pull the intake manifiold tomorrow and report back here.
 
Some closer, higher res pix of the plugs would be good. It is hard to give good advice without good info.
 
I'd hate to say it was oil if it was not...... any oil in there may be from the gaskets anyway. You might want to get a fresh set of plugs to swap in to help in diagnostics.

I may have missed the answer: Are the head locating dowels (pins) in the block to help accurately locate the heads?
 
nm9stheham said:
I'd hate to say it was oil if it was not...... any oil in there may be from the gaskets anyway. You might want to get a fresh set of plugs to swap in to help in diagnostics.

I may have missed the answer: Are the head locating dowels (pins) in the block to help accurately locate the heads?
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Yes, dowels are in place. Just pulled the intake manifold, it leaked worse with this style of gasket than it did with the Edelbrocks. I will get some new plugs for the next try.
 

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For what it is worth, the March 2014 issue of Hot Rod magazine details a procedure to check for an incorrect fit of the manifold to the heads. It starts on page 124 and is quite educational even though the engine in question is a big bock chevy. It is well worth the read.They used lead shotgun pellets(.110-.112 dia.) and drilled .200" holes in a spare set of intake gaskets, then bolted on the intake without end seals. After torquing they removed the manifold and miked the pellets to see how much was needed to machine the manifold to seal it. I suspect that your motor has a manifold sealing issue.
 
48jeep said:
For what it is worth, the March 2014 issue of Hot Rod magazine details a procedure to check for an incorrect fit of the manifold to the heads. It starts on page 124 and is quite educational even though the engine in question is a big bock chevy. It is well worth the read.They used lead shotgun pellets(.110-.112 dia.) and drilled .200" holes in a spare set of intake gaskets, then bolted on the intake without end seals. After torquing they removed the manifold and miked the pellets to see how much was needed to machine the manifold to seal it. I suspect that your motor has a manifold sealing issue.[/QUOTE

Good tip.
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duster360 said:
Here are the measurements I got from the intake manifold. As instructed, I sat the intake down on the engine with clean surfaces and no gaskets. I slid the intake to one side and kept pressure on it with one hand to be sure it stayed flush with the head. I was using Edelbrock .060" gaskets.

.042" at first intake bolt hole
.048" at first set of intake runners
.056" at rear intake runners
.0585" at rear intake bolt hole
.055" gap at front between china wall and intake
.050" roughly at rear china wall and intake, kinda hard to measure there.
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BTW, I may have not interpreted these last 2 measurements right. In the measurements of the gap between the china wall and intake at front and rear, are these made between the bottom of the intake and the top of the china wall? On one side or the other or??? And were the .055" and .050" gaps between the intake and china wall perfectly even across from side to side?

Here is what is baffling me a bit, with our new Edelbrock heads and intake on a 340 LA block: there is no way I would have been able to set the intake on the engine and slide it over to one head. If I pulled the gaskets, then the intake would drop but it still would have a gap to the china wall and be in contact with both heads. You can see a pretty large gap between the bottom of the intake and the china wall, especially in the 1st pix. (Maybe I am mistinterpreting something here????)

Here are pix: if I pulled the Felpro gaskets, the intake would drop about .090" but still have a gap from the bottom of the intake to the china wall. OP, do you have nice even gaps at both sides like these? (I am guessing not....) And are the bolt holes to the heads lining up like the 3rd pix? This is with the intake just set on the heads and intake gaskets, heads torqued but no bolts or torquing on the intake.
 

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I will get some pictures this evening of how the intake sits and bolt hole alignment.
 
Here are some pictures and measurements. I drilled holes and put tape on one side and small pieces of soldier in the holes stuck to the tape.
 

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so I guess the gap is fairly even all around, and the intake gasket is not thick enough. that is why when I cut the head gasket side of my heads .015" I did not cut the intake side or the intake, I like my intake tight. who makes a thicker gasket?
 
Pretty clever way to do that. So what are the measurements exactly? I see numbers that look like .630" ; that is over 1/2 inch. Is .630" actually .063"???? How thick is the gasket by itself?

Did you just set the intake on the heads and center it and press is down by hand? Or did you torque it in place? How big was the gap between the end of the intake and the china wall if it was torqued down?
 
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