Yesterday I pulled the car cover back on Christine ('54 Bel-Air) to check the new 235 to see if any rust is forming on the valvetrain while the valvecover is off. I pulled back the towel draped over the head and took a look around. Valvetrain looks great, no signs of rust or anything from sitting up.
However, I see antifreeze seeping between head gasket and block below sparkplugs. I retorqued the head while I was in there, but I have a sinking feeling I know what happened. When I installed the new copper head gasket and head onto the short block, I used that spray copper coat on both sides of the gasket. The first time the gasket contacted the block, the bolt holes didn't line up perfect, but the spray copper coat stuck to the block. So I had to gently peel the head gasket back up and reposition. I may have created a void or something when I repositioned the gasket.
Question- The engine ran fine until the oil pump went. No signs of overheating or coolant in oil, or coolant loss. Can I run this thing like this for awhile, at least long enough to see if the bottom end survived the oil pump failure? Could it possibly stop seeping coolant after more break in time? Or do I have to pull the head and change the friggin head gasket?
I'm starting to really dislike 235s.
help,
chiphead
