Hey guys,

So I found out in March that my head gasket was starting to weep coolant out by the #4 exhaust. At first it looked like it was coming from the freeze plug but further investigation revealed it was between the head and block. I didn't continue to drive it when I discovered that. So I'm at the point now that I've removed the head. I took my spare cyl head to a machine shop and they milled the surface and did a valve job for me. I'll be installing the IPD VX cam kit with sprocket at this point. I have a new Elring head gasket kit ready to go in.

As far as precautions at this point, I'm going to follow the 240 Bentley manual. The machinist told me to clean the block surface as clean as possible and not to apply anything to the dry head gasket when installing. I don't want to use scotch-brite or anything that risks the flat surface. In the process of cleaning, I'm worried about debris entering the oil and coolant passages. If I "plugged" those with bits of paper towel and kept a vacuum running as I was scraping/cleaning would that be adequate? Here's the procedure I'm planning:

1) Scrape all old gasket debris from block as described above.
2) vacuum out cylinders and wipe clean. Coat cyl walls/rings w/ eng oil.
3) Drain oil pan & change filter.
4) Add a few qts of engine oil back into the pan through the drainbacks.
5) Spin distributor/oil pump layshaft to pump fresh oil up to the deck surface.
6) Mop up any oil and inspect for debris... continue until clean.
7) Clean block deck until dry of oil.
8) Install cyl head per manual following torque pattern & torqued in 3-steps.
9) Finish re-assy & install new cam, preliminary valve shimming. At this point I could spin up the oil pump to build pressure into the head and bearings and see if I spot any debris in the oil pooled up in the head.
10) Before 1st start, drain oil pan again and refill to capacity.
11) initial startup: bleed coolant of air, leak-check, etc.
12) check valve clearances
13) re-torque head bolts?


What about re-torquing the head bolts after the first run? Is it necessary or advised? Should I oil the head bolt threads when installing them: eng oil, assembly moly-lube, totally dry? Am I missing anything here? I'd like to avoid pre-mature failure of the new head gasket.

Thanks!
Steve