Hey everyone...happy saturday (hopefully). Well for me....ehhh..im cooling down right now. Just had a short bout with a cast iron head and guess who won?? Right....not me. Anyway, I got my head back from the machine shop and i'm attempting a reinstall with the engine in the car. Seems nearly impossible. The gasket slips against the block...the head slips against the gasket....and im throwing my back out trying to get it on there. The dowel in the back is almost flush with the block. i'm assuming this shouldn't be the case. Should I pull it out and replace it?? Is that possible?? Should I rent a hoist? In short, what is the best way to do this. i'm using a FelPro Permatorque gasket and it says "use no sealer"...should I?? Hope you guys can help. Enjoy.......

no sealer needed w/ PT gskts. Yeah, i'd use some vise-grips and pull the dowel back up. Don't know what kind of vehicle you're dealing with, but it shouldn't be that much of an ordeal. You need to take a break, center yourself, and become one with the slant, grasshopper.

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'66 Cuda 225/4spd
'66 Dart GT convertible 225/auto
'64 Dart GT 340/4spd

Hey there....Its a 64 valiant 225. I just cant seem to support the weight and center the head at the same time.

Hey...found what I needed. My roommate was hungover enough to be persuaded to assist me. Two extra hands really did the trick. So now Im back in business (well,almost). Enjoy......

Just a quick note about that locating pin. It should stick up about 1/4". Be careful trying to pulll it out just a bit with vice grips. You will make a groove in the pin and also raise some of the metal. I used vice grips to remove some pins from an old block to put into a block that had the pins remove when the block was cleaned. (Why? I don't know!) I hammered the pins into the new block but the ridges created with the grips prevented the pins from seating properly and I blew the head gasket as a result. It is best to remove the pins and replase with new ones. I had someone take some pins from a Chebby block and grind them shorter to fit the slant.

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Chuck Rivers, Webmaster

Two good dowel pins is a must. When doing SL6 rebuilds, I spend a good amount of time with those head to block locating dowel pins. (I adjust the dowel pins so the head chambers are well centered over the cylinder bores.)

For a head swap, one trick is to have two 5 inch long pieces of 7/16-14 unc threaded rod to screw into the block. These "studs" will keep the head gasket in place while you slide the head straight down, using the locating studs as a guide to help get onto the dowel pins.
DD

I have made dowel pins by cutting down good quality 1/4" (grade 5 or bolts to give ~ 1/2" long pins. 1/4" unthreaded rod works too. Cut the threads and the head off a non-full-threaded bolt.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Well....Of course I've read all of this after the head and rockers are back on. And I wince at the thought of removing it. Although blowing the head gasket is a more disturbing thought. The back pin is about 1/16" out of the block. The front one is about a 1/4". What should I do? Leave it and see what happens or should I pull it back off and start over (OUCH)? Just gonna try and cool the nerves here. Thanks for the help. Guess I should have waited for these responses.

There will probably be no problem here. Just drive it and see what happens. In my early car days, I got a motor back with no dowels and I didn't even notice until I pulled the head off 30k miles later (no problems, just changing things around).

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988