The Ford Barn

Jim Brierley · 07-13-2019, 11:11 AM

"Katy" lost a head gasket on a local tour, we limped to the mid-tour stop. A friend asked if I had spare, I did so he says we can change it in 45 minutes, so his wife looks at her watch and says "lets see it". Of course there were a lot of "helpers" there. 45 minutes later Katy fired right up! We didn't even remove the hood! The kicker to this story is the center stud did not feel right so I didn't tighten it very much. When I got home, and not wanting to remove the head again, I removed that stud and found the block was the problem, dang! I found a stud with longer threads, cleaned the hole with lacquer thinner, gooped the threads with JB Weld, screwed the stud in firmly. 2 days later torqued the head and ran it for another year or so until my 4-port was ready to go. Laziness can be a motivator!

07-13-2019, 11:11 AM	#17
Jim Brierley Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Temecula, CA Posts: 4,321	Re: What roadside repairs have you made to keep your A going "Katy" lost a head gasket on a local tour, we limped to the mid-tour stop. A friend asked if I had spare, I did so he says we can change it in 45 minutes, so his wife looks at her watch and says "lets see it". Of course there were a lot of "helpers" there. 45 minutes later Katy fired right up! We didn't even remove the hood! The kicker to this story is the center stud did not feel right so I didn't tighten it very much. When I got home, and not wanting to remove the head again, I removed that stud and found the block was the problem, dang! I found a stud with longer threads, cleaned the hole with lacquer thinner, gooped the threads with JB Weld, screwed the stud in firmly. 2 days later torqued the head and ran it for another year or so until my 4-port was ready to go. Laziness can be a motivator!