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Thread: Blown head gasket or head?

  1. #21
    Member Nemo von Klepper's Avatar
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    Thanks, I'll check it out.

    I was thinking about pushing block sealer into this crack with a grease gun through the head bolt tap, then I would chase a tap through the head tap before reassembly. My thought is that it would give it a head start and then when I had the head reinstalled I could run block sealer again through the cooling system. I'm wondering if it might not be better to remove the thermostat or plan to replace it immediately.

    Thoughts?

  2. #22
    Member Nemo von Klepper's Avatar
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    Ok,

    So I'm going to try to see if I can use block sealer to keep it going for a while, until I figure out what to do next.

    I did a little research into part numbers this morning as a feasibility study of building and installing an L-134 as a backup plan. Probably way simpler than installing a short block V6, or the only other engine I have lying around, a Saab T16 (Turbo 16v) lol --not as far fetched as it sounds. I've seen Mercedes diesel engines installed in Willys SWs and somewhere in Serbia there's a BMW M3 racing with a Saab T16 It's just way more work and money than I want to spend.

    From what I can make out, my oil pan, crankshaft, water pump, distributer, rods, pistons, timing gears and backplate are all the same parts as a CJ3A. It looks like the fly wheel and cam shaft are slightly different. I can probably use my flywheel, but I'll have to take a closer look at the cam shaft. I guess if I invest into CJ3A parts, it won't be too bad; I like the lower hood of the 3A and maybe I might even eventually find a 3A body in better condition than my 3B.

  3. #23
    Super Moderator LarrBeard's Avatar
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    When I was in college I spent most of a summer working on what was probably an ex-Civil Defense CJ-2, or maybe even an MB/GPW. It broke my heart when I found the crack in the block in the passage where the distributor shaft goes down to the oil pump drive gear.

    But - I learned a lot about Jeep things playing with that project.

    I'd go for the block sealer. Put in a 185-degree thermostat to get as hot as you can. Run it, then drain about half the water out before it cools to keep any leaks from getting into the combustion chamber. Let it cool, refill it. Repeat several times. That should get the sealer into the crack. The issue is that it is in a high pressure area, and around that exhaust valve gets hot, lots of expansion pressure pressure there.

    One school of thought says to keep sealer in there to keep stopping up the crack. The other says get it out because it tends to seal things (like thermostats) that don't want to be sealed.

  4. #24
    Member Nemo von Klepper's Avatar
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    Thanks.
    I was thinking of changing the thermostat after the job just to remove that potential problem from the equation. What would you think of running it without a thermostat for the job, keeping an eye on the temp gauge?

    This jeep has already proven to be an education. I was a need based Saab mechanic before this. I preferred to farm out the work whenever I could. These jeeps are so simple in comparison that I find myself getting into stuff that I wouldn't have on my Saabs. Now I find myself doing even more challenging stuff on the Saabs.

    Speaking of engine swaps, I once lifted an entire engine out of my '64 Saab 96 with my bare hands.

  5. #25
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    I wouldn't run without a thermostat, or at least the restriction of the body of the thermostat. On my old derby cars, I would take the thermostat out, cut the center out, then reinstall the outter portion. This slows down the water for more even heat transfer.

    I once knew a guy who had a foreign auto repair shop. He dealt with mostly high end rides ranging from Mercs to Jags. He bought a lot of vehicles that the owners couldn't afford to fix. He always had a couple of Saabs in the inventory, because Saab was the sound the owners made when they received his bill. As a side note, he liked dealing with strippers and dope dealers, because both pay their bills in cash.
    Last edited by gmwillys; 02-26-2019 at 07:20 PM.

  6. #26
    Member Nemo von Klepper's Avatar
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    Yeah, I thought about that after I posted. If the object is to run hot, I need to restrict water flow.

    Re: Saab, yeah, I have good luck with them, but then I've been driving them since my first car at 16. Because of the longevity of my Saabs (knock on wood) some of my friends get the impression they're more resilient than other cars. Maybe, but I don't lone them and when a friend asks my opinion about a Saab when they see one for sale I tell them "if you want one you need to be very mechanically inclined, or wealthy; preferably both". That said, the guy that put a Saab T16 in his BMW M3 track car did so because the Saab T16 is a more resilient engine with a higher power to weight ratio, etc. It was an interesting project, but I think 240 BHP would be badly served by the Dina 18 transmission in the case of my jeep. My object here is to keep it as original as possible too.

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