Top end gasket job HELP!

Being a gasket surface i would try and smooth the roughest part of that out with a fine sand paper wrapped around a block of wood or something, you want to keep it flat..
Just don't overdo it.
Also, what cleaner did you use.?

Scotch brite pad (green scrubbie).... works wonders.. and some E85 as a cleaner... or 93 if you swing that way

Mr.Riviera wrote:

This looks very rough up top, was it like that when you pulled it?

There's still quite a bit of gasket on that as well.

yes it was like they when i pulled it. i am thinking i may hit that area with some black rtv b/c that part of the casting is actally lower than the rest of it so sanding it may make it worse.

Rick, i used a chemical from work that we use on chrome wheels. it is 3% mix of oxylic, hydrochloric and phosphoric acid.
burns skin, clean aluminum and makes chrome look brand new!
it's a comercial product, but i believe napa has something similar in a gallon jug.
works best if you have a pressure washer handy.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

yes it was like they when i pulled it. i am thinking i may hit that area with some black rtv b/c that part of the casting is actally lower than the rest of it so sanding it may make it worse.

Rick, i used a chemical from work that we use on chrome wheels. it is 3% mix of oxylic, hydrochloric and phosphoric acid.
burns skin, clean aluminum and makes chrome look brand new!
it's a comercial product, but i believe napa has something similar in a gallon jug.
works best if you have a pressure washer handy.

Matthew,
I would knock the high points down with a fine grit sanding block and then during install use some RTV around that port for insurance.
Thanks for the info on the acid cleaner. I have seen a gallon jug at NAPA marked aluminum cleaner. Need to check the ingredients.
I could put this in the bead blaster but I'm always a little leery of any blast media getting trapped in an intake, not getting it out while cleaning, and then finding it's way into the engine. Not Good. If I had the ultrasonic cleaning tank available to me then I would blast it and clean with the tank. But i don't so I won't.
I'll just rely on some good old fashioned caustic chemicals.

wow, that rough part is going to be a pain to seal again... if that was mine I would be looking for a new LIM....

The surface of the LIM that faces the heads should be a nice machined surface for the gasket to lay against, dunno what happened to yours, but i've never seen a worse surface.

wow, thanks for the reassurance . i'ts been sealed like that for 14yrs and 151k miles now. i would like a new lim, and i may go that route if i cant get the studs out of this one.

Just offering my opinion, especially with the "other" problems with that one, might as well find a new one.

If its apart, and you can find another, I would do that. Then you know its "right." You could use lots of RTV and seal that one down, but someday when you want to put on a genV LIM its going to be a PITA to get off/clean surfaces etc.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

wow, thanks for the reassurance . i'ts been sealed like that for 14yrs and 151k miles now. i would like a new lim, and i may go that route if i cant get the studs out of this one.

Dude.. that is not factory.. someone has opened that LIM before.. guarantee it. I find it WAY hard to believe that GM would allow that through its production line.

That 'rough' spot looks like a defect in the casting itself. Looks like they had a low point that didn't get cast. I would look for a replacement LIM, all the others I've seen don't look like that. Plus you'll save yourself the hassle of removing those busted bolts.

local yard doesnt have one and the local dealer says only 3 gm places in the US has the manifold! (NY and IL)

guess i'll have to buy it from zzp, pay the $100 overnight fee and pay for the core too b/c i doubt they will take mine since its not usable in the condition it's in now. anyone got $300??

Did you try Morads.
They had the L32 Lim I needed in stock for not a lot of money. And they will do an overnight ship for you if you need it quick
Do you need their number?

Also, is there someone on here that has a LIM to send him and he can ship a LIM back to you when he gets one.
An exchange program.
Or one for sale.
Travis, do you still have the 2 LIM's you were trying to sell.?

off topic to finding a new LIM...

If you are going to port the runners, I would suggest that you have a look at where your gaskets sit in relation to the runners in the heads.
(take the gaskets, dry fit them against the heads, look where the edge sits around the intake runners)

That is, some gaskets match very well to the runners in the head, and can be used as the reference of where to port to, however some are bigger than the head ports by a bunch. If they are bigger and you port to them, there will be a fair amount of heat build up at the sharp edge where the head starts.

Since you have the LIM already off the car, you have the advantage to being able to measure each runner on the heads, as well as their spacing from each other, and duplicate that exactly on the cast passages on the LIM. Then you won't have it over ported at all, the flow will be as perfect as possible, and very little heat buildup.
(this is what the wife did when she ported her LIM and with the 3.5" pulley it purrs along smooth and cool with 0KR at all times)

...Of course, porting is one of those things thats more witchcraft than anything else, and the gains are hard to measure.


....oh and if you port match to the heads, make sure to "finger feel" the LIM into position by feeling where the LIM runners meet the head runners, when installing it. There is a bit of play back and forth even with the LIM bolts in place.

Karma wrote:

this is what the wife did when she ported her LIM and with the 3.5" pulley it purrs along smooth and cool with 0KR at all times.

I'm impressed, first that your wife took on the porting job by herself and second, with the great results.
Now if I could get mine to HAVE the oil changed on time I'd be doubly impressed.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

local yard doesnt have one and the local dealer says only 3 gm places in the US has the manifold! (NY and IL)

guess i'll have to buy it from zzp, pay the $100 overnight fee and pay for the core too b/c i doubt they will take mine since its not usable in the condition it's in now. anyone got $300??

There were 2 for sale right here:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/for-sale-f22/have-a-workbench-full-of-stuff-need-to-get-rid-of-asap-t6231.htm

https://i.servimg.com/u/f86/11/86/65/31/img00030.jpg

Or try car-part.com. You can buy a whole JY motor for a little more than $100 sometimes. Did you try Ed Morad??? He parts out a lot of L67s.

whomever i get it from would have to ship it next day air, and i dont want to pay $130 for just shipping.
I'll stick with trying to get the studs out. i got one drilled and ready for an extractor, but i need to run to AZ to buy one first.
I may have to re thread the holes and get larger screws, but w/e.
My last resort would be to take it somewhere that can weld aluminum and have them weld the housing on the lim.

As for the lim defect, it does look bad, but it only has to seal around the square for the coolant, and i have it pretty smooth now. with a little rtv i believe it will be fine.

I finally got the thing somewhat fixed. i went out and bought some new metal drill bits and a re-threader. tool cost $34, but it seems to have worked. the housing is on and sturdy, but i wont know if it holds out water until tomorrow and it's running.
Thank you for all the help!

She cranks up! No fuel leaks, no coolant leaks (so far) and the engine sounds good.
I did have to do a 2nd oil change b/c after a 10sec start up the oil looked like milk. i flushed out what i could and put new oil in. hope all is OK internally. I feel like i should do a 3rd oil change to get all of it out though. what do you guys think?

Oh, and thanks to everyone on here that chimed in to help me fix this. Thanks to Devin for driving me to AZ and lowes multiple times

-Matthew

Mr.Riviera wrote:

She cranks up! No fuel leaks, no coolant leaks (so far) and the engine sounds good.
I did have to do a 2nd oil change b/c after a 10sec start up the oil looked like milk. i flushed out what i could and put new oil in. hope all is OK internally. I feel like i should do a 3rd oil change to get all of it out though. what do you guys think?

Oh, and thanks to everyone on here that chimed in to help me fix this. Thanks to Devin for driving me to AZ and lowes multiple times

-Matthew

your using synthetic oil right?? That is coolant repulsive IIRC.. Less of a chance to spin a bearing

ha! i used whatever was the cheapest. i only ran it for 10 seconds.
otherwise i'll probably keep using what i have always used: castrol gtx and pf52 filter.

Since you already changed the 'work' oil, I would give it 100 miles before the next change.

ok, i've got a small problem (hopefully small). During the reinstall i broke off some of the spastic on the # 6 injector connector. it seemed to stay in place without the metal retainer so i left it. it drve fine until this morning on my way to work. i got a P0306 and flashing SES. (cyl 6 misfire) pretty sure it's too much of a coincidence not to be the injector connector, but what else could it be and are there any ways to fix this temporary until i can go to the junk yard and get one?