hi guys, i just picked up a 1981 honda civic wagon cvcc with a blown head gasket..
i popped off the head after setting it to TDC and there was water in all cylinders..
and some minor surface rust.. inspecting the head gasket.. im not sure where it failed..
could you guys tell from these pictures? i'd appreciate it, if you could help me identify the failure..

 

from left to right between cylinder 1 and 2

 

if there was water in all cylinders then it was probably overheated to hell.
have the head cut and put a straight edge on the block.

and those graphite gaskets always had a limited life. they sometimes go just for the hell of it.
i still love the old iron block motors though. hard to kill.

 

yeah i think it's the original head gasket and the previous owner said a coolant hose busted which caused it to overheat and he limped it to the shop which diagnosed it to be the head gasket. i bought a fel-pro permatorque blue stripe head gasket to replace with. so far i've cleaned the block surface using a razor blade to scrape off the old gasket that's stuck to the block and scotch brite pad afterwards to clean it up even more. the block seems really straight when i put my straight edge on it.. tomorrow i'll be working on cleaning the surface on the head and checking for straightness.

 

if your head gasket is broken it should be able to split so you can see all three layers.

 

the head gasket isn't broken from what i'm seeing.. and after cleaning the head a bit.. i see that there's an indentation on the head between cylinders 1 and 2 where the head gaskets metal was.. need to get the head milled..

 

And check top of block as well,then spray both sides of new HG with copper spray (I've been using it for over 20 yearz now)

 

i wet sanded the head and block straight with a straight edge with sand paper.. put everything back together she runs like a champ! i'll post some pictures later

 

It looks like the head probably warped. Is the wagon a tan color by the way?

 

the wagon's original color was that light metallic green, but it's been repainted like light metallic blue..

 

oh alright lol. I saw the tags said seattle in them? My friends wagon was a mess and he sold it but it wa obvious it was gonna be bad. It was tan though lol.

nice job!

 

here's a picture of it.