390 problem

[steinauge]

I have a 67 Galaxie 390 4 speed car that I am putting together.The engine is a 71 390 out of a 1\2 ton pickup and was running when I got it. I pulled the engine apart,took the block and heads to the machine shop.The block and heads were pressure tested,cleaned,decked and the block bored and honed.The engine is relatively stock-port work.comp 280H, performer RPM,Hooker super comps.CR is 10.6-1.The engine has about 3 hours on it at this point.Yesterday  I ran it 30 minutes   at 1500 to 2000 rpm to get it hot and drained the oil-this was the third oil change since I built the engine.I have water in the oil.I drained the engine,washed it out and,thinking I might have a bad intake seal changed  the intake gaskets.I saw no evidence of leakage on the old gaskets.Put the engine back together with fresh oil and filter,ran it 10 minutes and drained it.Lots of water.No sign of water in any cylinder.I pressure tested the cooling system and it loses pressure but slowly and I cant tell where.Any suggestions? I will pull the engine tomorrow and take it apart in any case but wtf?

[Heo]

frezecrack in bottom of lifter valley

[jayb]

If the block and heads passed a good pressure test its got to be a head gasket.  You might try pulling the intake again and then pressurizing the block, see if you can see a leak at the block to head interface.

And, I hate to bring this up, but my friend Hemi Joel had one of his heads pressure tested at a local repair place.  Guy said it pressure tested fine; put it back on and still a leak.  He took it to a different place, and what do you know, there was a leak in an intake port.  Some "pressure tests" are not that reliable...

[Heo]

I pressure checked one block with 6kg/cm/2  no leak but when i started to grind
on it the grinding dust gathered in the crack down in the lifter valley where the
cyl block meets the bottom behind the lifter.
That  was from an engine that leaked only when you run it up to temp

[steinauge]

Thank you all for your help.

[gdaddy01]

sounds like a cool car , hope you find your problem , love those mid sixties galaxies with the four speeds and fe s

[steinauge]

Well I think I may have found the problem.I pulled the engine apart and found oil in the exh ports that have the heat riser openings.Since the performer RPM does not have heat riser openings that oil had to come from the valley.If that could happen water could get out too.I couldnt see where ,but it must have been leaking between the head and intake.I have the intake on the mill right now and will let everyone know how this works out.The heads and block both passed pressure test(again) BTW.

[steinauge]

Finished milling the intake and put the engine back together today.I have run it twice today and let it cool,so far,so good. I will run it some more tomorrow and  drain the oil and hope its fixed.

[steinauge]

I have heat cycled it three times and retorqued the intake bolts.Still no sign of leakage.