Thread: Cracked Or Warped Heads?

if your taking the heads off the engine its best to have them checked over by a shop. this way you dont run into the same problem later on.

the money spent is cheap insurance.

you can check them for warping your self by using a metal straight edge, and a light behind it so you can see light if theres a space for it to shine through, as well as feeler gauges, the thin metal ones you can use for gaping plugs and setting old school points with.

but for cracks they need to be magnafluxed to be safe.

I bet they are cracked like 90% of the heads out there, but where the crack is isnt an issue (between the valves). So many people run them without even knowing.

But I'd still get them checked out if indeed you popped a headgaskets from a major overheating.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

I bet they are cracked like 90% of the heads out there, but where the crack is isnt an issue (between the valves). So many people run them without even knowing.

But I'd still get them checked out if indeed you popped a headgaskets from a major overheating.

Agreed!

Doesn't cost much to let the local machinist take a look at them.

dont touch it. clean it up real nice, thats it. the piston tops and the gasket mating surface that is.

spray it all down with wd-40 too if its out side after the heads are off, this way it wont rust on you.

It's very unusual to have bad head gaskets on a stock 3800. The normal problem is lower intake manifold gaskets. Are you sure head gaskets are bad.