Head Gasket between cylinders Knocking?

[sbump]

If you can score replacement Vortec heads dirt cheap, it's fine to go that route. Have any used heads magnafluxed because Vortecs are known for cracking.

If you have to pay more than $100 a head, I'd look into aftermarket heads. www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-151124

Thank you, I actually went with those same ones in the link. They should be delivered tomorrow.

 

[Schurkey]

Vortec heads are fabulous on "hot rods" that don't need to meet emissions requirements and don't need to be winter-driven. And of course they're perfect for existing "Vortec" small-blocks.

They're less-fabulous on non-Vortec (TBI, carbureted, etc.) engines that have to meet emissions requirements, and/or driven in cold weather due to the short-sighted lack of exhaust-gas crossover provisions cast and machined into the head casting. It would have cost almost nothing to have added the iron to the casting so that the aftermarket could sink a drill-bit into the heads to bring exhaust gas to the intake manifold gasket surface.

But that was the choice GM made. No exhaust-gas heating of the intake manifold, and a plumbing nightmare to get the EGR to function.

Based on the Summit "360-degree" slide-show, it may be that the Summit heads can be drilled for the exhaust gas crossover passage. They seem to have the needed iron in the right place. Sinking a ~1/2" drill bit into the casting to connect the intake gasket surface with an exhaust port would eliminate a lot of conversion problems. A guy would have to be VERY careful in the process.

 

[Erik the Awful]

The hot trick on RX-7s was to block the EGR passages and just deal with the poor cold idle so you could get more horsepower. Man, I miss how that car ripped. As soon as you dropped the clutch in first you had to shift to second because you were already at 10k rpm. Then it just spun the tires all the way through second.[/sidetrack]

 

[BOOT]

If you can score replacement Vortec heads dirt cheap, it's fine to go that route. Have any used heads magnafluxed because Vortecs are known for cracking.

If you have to pay more than $100 a head, I'd look into aftermarket heads. www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-151124

Got a set of those right now that I'm making a vid on, so far nice heads!