water/rust in my engine

[youngdeezy]

well, today i started out by pulling parts off my engine to get it ready for paint. I have quite a few new parts for this baby and what not. so as i break 1 side down everything goes smooth as hell and things seem to look good and be okay. then i get to the other-side and get my exhaust off and i see this.....tick-tick-tick, BOOM! a blow right to the chest, i was thinking man this can be good. heres the damage, i know i should pull the heads off but i didnt even want to touch it anymore cause it killed my mood big time. what type of damage am i dealing with now? heres the pics.

the mid section where all the rust is

the left and right side was normal

 

[beermonkey9417]

it looks like yer gonna need a tear down and get them heads checked. and replace yer gaskets.

 

[1985Chevycutlass]

Damn, I just went thru the same thing bout a month ago to my 85 cutty. Mine didnt run hot or have any problems like they usually do when the head gasket is blown. I just checked the oil one morning and the oil on the dipstick was white (water got in my engine). We broke down the engine and it looked just like your pics. I just said f##k it and threw in a new 350 longblock. I needed a ring job anyway.

 

[megaladon6]

can you hook the starter up and use it to crank the motor? if so, do a compression test on that blank with the other plugs in. then remove the plugs and see if the numbers drop.
or, has the engine been sitting?

 

[Bonnewagon]

I think it looks worse than it is. Looks like water sat there for a spell and had time to cause mischief, but it's just rust. I would do as megaladon6 said and check compression, but first before moving the valves I would try getting the rust out. A tiny scraper, soda blaster,even a tiny wire brush attachment just to get all the loose crap out. Blow the debris out with compressed air, then oil it up good. If it leaks then you know the head must come off, but it may not if the valves stayed closed while the water was in there. I had a 400 get several cylinders filled up with water during a hurricane, right up to the carb,and it was a long time before I discovered it. I dumped the water, oiled the hell out of it, rocked the crank back and forth until she broke loose, and oiled it/spun it until she was loose again. It's in my TA right now as if nothing ever happened.

 

[youngdeezy]

thanks for the help guys. Any how since i have the b-body lt1 engine, i always had in mind to swap the iron heads for aluminum 1s. I came up on a great deal with 1 week of research and found these guys here. these are the later model heads and have the best flow rate of all the other sets avaible and sought after for porting as well. next week i'll order the cc 1.6 roller rockers to go with these guys. the new heads and rockers should knock the engine up at least 18HP with this combo. the guy wanted $280 and i shot him a offer of $200 and it worked + $40 for shipping.....im in the game now.

1995 LT1 aluminum heads with stock springs and rocker studs, 56,000 miles great condition $280
Casting number Heads: 10207643

 

[monte olrac]

Those are some nice looking heads, now i hope your care is set up with a reverse flow cooling system like the LT1 and i don't mean just a reverse rotation water pump either

 

[dan2286]

You seriously only have two arms holding the engine to the stand??

 

[anakputa]

Whats the cylinder wall look like? The heads can be done by yourself or send them to a machine shop. If the cylinder walls are rusty then get it honed and re-ringed unless there's too much taper. Then will need boring..

 

[youngdeezy]

Those are some nice looking heads, now i hope your care is set up with a reverse flow cooling system like the LT1 and i don't mean just a reverse rotation water pump either

im doin a complete lt1 swap so i'll be good these are just what i need.

You seriously only have two arms holding the engine to the stand??

No its held by 3 of the 4 arms, its fine been there for a few months with no problems at all.

Whats the cylinder wall look like? The heads can be done by yourself or send them to a machine shop. If the cylinder walls are rusty then get it honed and re-ringed unless there's too much taper. Then will need boring..

lucky the cylinder walls are perfect for some odd reason i only had head damage and i didnt want to deal with doin anything to them iron boys. with a lt1 the aluminum 1's are the only way to go so it wasnt a big deal for me to swap heads.