So here is the deal. I bought a b16 shortblock and tranny and it came out of a running car. then i bought a gsr head. i bought a new headgasket and a new timing belt and assembled everything, and torqued the head down, etc. then i started the car up and it idled fine and i bled the cooling system. the next day, i drove it around for about 10 miles, and pulled it back in the garage.

the next day, i started up the car and it sounded fine, then suddenly, it sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders. so i did a compression test and it yielded 60, 185, 183, 185 (cylinder 1 not holding compression). another thing i noticed was that the temp gauge started going up real fast and started overheating. there was also noticeable residue coming out from where the head met the block, on the timing belt side. so obviously the headgasket is not sealing correctly.

so i pulled the head again, and took it to the machine shop to have the head resurfaced. i also bought a new oem headgasket. i put the head on, torqued it in correct order, and put everything together. i started it up and had a lot of blow by and cylinder 1 was still dead with oil coming out of the surface of the deck.

so i have concluded that it might be a warped deck on the block. what i dont understand is why it seemed like the gasket sealed for 10 miles of easy break in driving, and then it decides to crap out from just idling.

do you think if i sprayed down an oem headgasket with copper spray, if it'll seal? what else can i do besides pull the motor out again, and have the deck resurfaced/buy a new block? thanks.

 

yea, check the block for warpage.

but if oil is coming out of cylinder number 1, then idont think the head gasket is your only problem.

 

a lot of blow by isn't good. Your problem sounds worse than my d series headgasket issues

 

but when i first assembled it before the headgasket popped, it ran perfectly normal. no blow by, steady idle, etc.

 

are you using the dowel pins,sometimes when you resurface the head too much the dowel pins have to be cut down

 

are b16a2 and b18c1 dowel pins different?

 

nah same dowel pins.