preparing to reinstall the head on my 65 200ci

[Anonymous]

I hope to put the head back on my block this weekend and I have a few questions. I prepped the block with some scotch brite pads and cleaned all the old gasket residue off of it. How should I go about cleaning out the head bolt holes? When I pulled the head, I shot some wd40 into them to help inhibit any rust formation. Now that I've cleaned the block up, some of the crud has worked its way into the holes as well. Should I try hosing em out with brake or carb cleaner and then canned air or something? Is it necessary to chase the threads to keep the torque values correct? After I cleaned the deck, I put a little oil on it to keep it from rusting (the car is sitting outside under a cover). What is the best way to clean the deck of the block immediately before installing the head to remove grease, oil etc? Would brake parts cleaner be suitable for this task? Should I be using any gasket sealing compounds on the head gasket? How about Loktite on the head bolts? I apologize for the long post. Any advice, suggestions greatly appreciated. I've made it this far mostly by luck. I want to make sure I avoid as many dumb mistakes as I can. Thanks for all the great info everyone has provided so far. Thanks also for any help you provide now.

 

[Anlushac11]

8)


To clean out the bolt holes most shops will tell you to "Chase the threads" with a tap and die set.

You get a cheap tap and die kit or borrow one and then you take the appropriately sized tap and run it into the hole . The tap should pull out any material in the hole plus if any of the threads are rough or damaged the tap will clean those up as well.

 

[Hot 6t Falcon]

Bedtime,

Yes, to almost everything you asked. Anlushac gave good advice about buying a cheap "bottoming" tap to chase the threads.

You don't need locktite. But you do need thread sealer on any bolt holes that aren't "blind". If you can stick a wire in the bolt hole and it doesn't bottom out, but goes into the water jacket, that bolt needs sealer.

You do know to tighten the bolts in three steps, right? Go about 45 on all of them. Then 55. Then 65.

If you've milled your head, use hardened washers. Most engine shops will have a set for Chevy small blocks on hand. They are cheap, and they are the right size too.

good Luck