Quote Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe View Post
Sorry to hear about the issues but at least you found them! Do you recheck the torque of the head studs any after you initially torque them and make a certain amount of passes? Just curious, and what materials are your gaskets made from? Your friend's van looks awesome! The front engine dragster looks very nice as well! What's the story with the little convertible?

Hi!
I normally torque the heads down in 3 stages of 50, 60, and 70 ft/lbs in the garage with 30 mins between each torque down. I use VHT copper gasket adhesive as well. This is the first time I have used O ringed heads though. Never had this issue before without O rings. I used to use normal composite head gaskets. But on the last engine I changed to Cometic multi layer steel gaskets and these were fantastic. But I could not use these with the O ringed heads so I gave them to my Son for his V8 Escort project. He has rebuilt his motor 4 times in the last year and re used the Cometic gaskets with no problems.

So I am now using stock Composite head gaskets again. I guess I need to re check head torque from now on.

Which convertible are you talking about ? The Red one or the Blue one ?

Pel