i'm in the middle of replacing the headgasket on my ej18.

I have used emery cloth(fine) to clean off the gasket on the head(retarted)

after the fact i thought this might be too agressive on the head.

am i screwed?

 

also, i have discovered some pitting on the block but only in a few places and only on the outside of the water jacket. I can get them smooth with agressive scotch pad rubbing. Should i smooth them out or leave them and let the headgasket form to them. (don't have time to machine it/money for more rebuild stuff)

 

 

thanx for the help!

could you post some good pics?

no camera...sorry.

i feel that if i scotch pad the hell out of it and make them dissapear that it will be way more than smooth enough without creating low spots. but what do i know? thats why the world has the USMB!

Well if you scotchbrite to aggressively you could create a problem. The pitting is concerning. Did your headgaskets fail at the pitted area? Using a gasket scraper is better than using sandpaper or scotchbrite pads to clean up the head. Problem is that your heads need to be prefectly straight with no low/hi spots to allow proper sealing. You are gambling when you say that you are going to scrub away the pitting.

no failure. the engine is out and might as well do it. Didn't leak coolant at all.

just want to get the surface as perfect as i can w/o machining.

Then I would leave well enough alone and seal it. Just use a gasket scraper and carefully get the gasket material off, follow up with your fine scotchbrite pad to just clean it up pretty, but do not go trying to remove those pits, you will end up with a low spot and a failure point. Make sure you tighten your heads down correctly, there is a special procedure on here somewhere, just need to search for it. Good luck:)

you can also check for low spots as follows:

 

Your going to need some "decking paste" or use Ford, Lincoln Mercury disk brake wheel bearing grease (only because its blue and can be seen really well like the decking paste)

 

apply grease or paste liberally to head and or block surfaces,

 

than take a ruler or any other item that you know for sure has a true edge. ( i use a piece of 1x1x6 bar steel that i machined true)

 

then pull the tooled steel across the entire surface while applying minimal pressure. (make sure the tooled steel or ruler spans the entire width of the surface your checking.

 

the residual grease will indicate the low spots if you have them.

 

(learned this from an old Diesel Mechanic)

 

be sure and remove the grease or paste when your done so the head gasket will seal properly, i recommend using brakleen since it doesn't leave any residue. Make sure that the surface is Sterile.

 

hope this helps!