Okay, here goes:
I tore the cylinder head off the car to put the BR dual valve spring kit and a few other things. When I reassembled it, I used a new headgasket (OEM) and ARP headstuds to the exact specifications that came with them. 500 miles later it is leaking oil under the intake manifold and I have oil in my coolant. Classic H.G. blown. It struck me as odd that a brand new one with ARP's would go so soon, so I retorqued them to 100lbs. This stopped the leak for a week, now it is back.

This is my DD and although I am sure I could replace the HG in a day, it would be a long one and I wanted to consult the guru's for advice.
-Do the aluminum heads warp when you remove them from the block?
-Is there any tolerance to have them resurfaced?
-What should I do? Order a cometic and copper spray it?
- Can I reuse the ARP's with 500 miles on them?
-When installing the studs, how do you ensure there is no oil in the threads(compressed air would shoot it everywhere). It seemed like when I hand tightened all of the studs, I could easily tighten them more after leaving it alone for a minute. Does that mean there was oil trapped in the threads? I ensured that all studs where completely level before installing the head by using a ruler.

Sorry for such an unorganized post, but i really do not know what to do.

 

get the head resurfaced any time its off. they do warp and get embossed with the head gasket.

 

Where do I find the tolerance to give to the machine shop?

 

there isnt one. just give them the head and tell them to resurface it with the smoothest r/a (roughness average) they can. usually under 30 is best. some heads only need .003" others need .010" to be cut off.

 

Well, this sounds like it may be another issue, not a warped head. Did you torq the bolts down in sequence? If you didnt there is a risk of leak since the head wont sit completely on the gasket even if you over torq.

I doubt the head needs to be machined, if it does all you have to do is take it to an engine shop and tell them to deck it. They should be able to get all the info needed.

 

I pulled my head off 80k ago to do studs, springs, retainers, and such. New OEM gasket,ARP's, and cleaned mating surfaces. Been A+++ for 80k.

I don't agree the head nor block needs resurfacing if you took it off with no prior issues.

 

unless the head gets checked you cant say if its warped or not. its not worth guessing over unless you want to do it a 3rd time. last head i yanked off a mitsubishi was off .006".

 

took my head off my bone stock 60K motor. it was warped .006". gotta check them heads everytime you take them off. period!

 

As stated, pull it back off and resurface it--alway resurface it. Sometimes is a warpage issue , sometimes its a seal issue--regardless its worth the few dollars to be sure. if you want to check it pull the head--get a METAL straight end and lay it across the head surface--lengthwise then the diagonals using the rules edge, not its flat surface. Check tolerance with a feeler gauge--should be more the .003 or less ( need to check that yourself).
BTW never use a gasket sealer on HG's.
Torque in sequence, in steps--no matter studs or bolts.

 

Thanks for all the great input guys. The car had 60k when it came off and was stock. I followed the specs for torquing in sequence and in steps when I did it. Any suggestions for cleaning the block without dumping junk in the nooks and crannies of the engine? I didn't clean the block surface, so maybe that is a contributing factor.

 

I use a few new razor blades and a vacuum to suck up the junk while i scrape.

 

you can blow the oil and coolant out of the galleys... just place a shop rag over each hole when blowing out the gunk... also make sure the block and head surface are clean... spray some WD40 on the block and scrub it with a an abrasive pad, such as the red type, and then hit all the heavy spots with a razor blade... its time consuming but it needs to be done to get a good seal and to be able to get the correct torque specs of the studs..

 

i work in a machine shop and i agree with the ppl saying take it in to get resurfaced everytime. i will also agree it's not needed but why even take a chance. the machine shop will most likely do a better job then when it came out of the factory. why live with thousands of an inch off when you can use light bands and check for millions of an inch off.

 

Your calls but if you want to be sure the 3 thou off idea is a good one .
What tends to happen is the fire rings compress the aluminium material on the deck face of the head which is to be expected .
If the head is R/R'd without doing it there is a chance the fire rings won't seal as well as they could and once you stick some boost into it they only have to move a little to break the seal .

It really depends on your budget and how much you're prepared to risk doing the job twice .
IMO if the things had the cams and springs out a real good clean up and a quick skim is not much more to do so in these situations I try to get as much done to things as possible while they're accessible .

Hate doing and paying to do things twice , A .

 

Update: I resurfaced the head and it was only off 2 thousandths. The main cause for the leak was bad oil seals and the valve guides were oval. No idea why.

Also, the leak of oil may be coming from the mivec oil feed line fitting between the head and the banjo bolt.