Head bolts....

I'm working on a '85 Ram50 with a 2.0 Liter. No compression (well, about 20psi) on number 2. Took the pan off and checked there- everything seems good- no hole in the piston and the rod is nice and tight on the crank. Just want to delay taking the head off.

I can put compressed air in the cylinder and can tell there is no hole in the piston. Must be a bad head gasket. Have the piston down to BDC and some air hisses out of number 3. I think the valves are closed nice and tight.

My question is~ are the head bolts reusable or will I have to get new ones with the head gasket? These particular bolts have the "allen" socket head bolts.

I have another D50- an '86 with a 2.5 liter I believe- and had to put a new gasket on the oil pickup tube down there in the pan a while back. Lost oil pressure while driving one day and assumed the worst. Let the truck set for a week or two. Finally dropped the pan and among other things, I took the oil pickup tube off the block. The gasket was brittle and cracked and I thought that may have been a cause of low oil pressure (lost its' suction). Made a new gasket and installed it, and drove the pump with a cordless drill and had all kinds of oil pressure.
While I was at it I took the rockers off and pulled the lash adjusters. Made an assembly to clean and bleed them and did that. Reassembled the engine and after about 5 seconds of rocker clatter, it quieted down and the oil pressure light went out and it has been happy ever since.

Just did a 95 Dodge Dakota that had a bad head gasket. Oil in the cooling system and vice versa. Got the head off, removed the manifolds and had the head surfaced ($20). Put it all back together and runs like a top. Worst part of the job was cleaning the oil out of the cooling system. Now I know how them poor schlubs felt cleaning up after the Exxon Valdez.

....and while I am here.... I used to subscribe to "mighty D50.com" but can't find that anymore. When I was first working on that other Ram50, I learned a lot of stuff off of that site. Did it bite the dust or what?

Anytime i remove the head I replace the bolts especially on bolts that have a good number of miles on them. The bolts get distorted from heating and cooling and dont properly torque when you go to retighten them. A few of my buddies have reused and not had any problems but id rather not run the risk of having to tear it all apart again for 30$ bolts.

Well, decided to take the cylinder head off today. Spent the last day or so removing every wire, vacuum line, water hose and fuel line to the carburetor, manifold and engine. Each removed part was put in a drawer with all the nuts and bolts that held it and labeled- that way no extra parts left over upon reassembly. I have a nice metal cabinet with lots of drawers to hold all this stuff.

Labeled all those wires and hoses. Made a sheet of paper with all the pertinent info from each labeled hose and wire indicating where I took it off of to make up for delays in reassembly- and knowing me there will be delay!!!!

So, after I get the head off I see number two exhaust valve has a big chunk out of it. About a quarter of an inch out of the circumference of the head of the valve and about half that much out towards the stem!!! The cylinder looked real clean, actually. Number 3 was kinda grungy, with a bit of carbon built up around the top and what looks like rust down in it. I know it isn't right, but I think I will run a glaze breaker hone in that cylinder and clean it up. Heck, it isn't a top fuel dragster!!!

This is a low budget operation because, well, just because!! Just a litle old truck I saved from being cut up into a trailer and I wanna see if I can make it run. If I take my time and am thorough, I think it will be just fine.
The number 2 exhaust valve seat looked good and no signs of being cut. They all could use a bit of grinding. All of the intake valves had quite a bit of carbon build up.

I have a friend who has a good auto machine shop and will get him to check the valves and seats out and see what he thinks. If the head has no cracks or other disabling defects I'll have it surfaced.

All the pistons looked good.