hollywood_35

iTrader: (1)

I've managed to pull the heads off the LQ9 in my '07 Denali Classic, found where the head gasket was cracked on cylinder 4, and now I'm getting ready for the repair process. The last build I did was nice and clean and then engine was out of the truck, but the blocked stayed in the truck so I have just a few questions.

- What is the best way to get the old gasket material off the block? I know with the old lead-fiber gaskets it was just a matter of scraping with a razor, but as you know these are metal coated with some kind of rubber, which is now baked on to the block.

- Can lifters be rebuilt? I'm trying to do this build budget-minded since I'm a student and my income won't start up again until May. They're obviously saturated with the oil/coolant mix, I'm just thinking it would be fine if I disassembled all of them, cleaned, inspected, and rebuilt them.

- The bad oil in the block. I've sprayed down the cam and lifter passages with brake clean, the heads will be spotless via the machine shop, so I'm just worried about the residue in the bottom end and in the passageways. This is what I'm considering doing; add clean oil for startup, run for a half hour or so, add seafoam, run for a few hours, drain. Add fresh oil, change after about 500km, then resume regular intervals if it comes out clean.


The main goal of this build is to get me a nice clean, stock, reliable daily driver. Once I'm done school I'll get a brand new Sierra and this girl will be parked to get a serious overhaul.

FFDP

iTrader: (2)

Don't do seafoam, use trans fluid instead. A far better cleaner.


As for cleaning the heads and any gasket surface, I prefer these yellow wheels on a air noise maker. They work awesome, they are made by scotch-brite roloc.