So I got an HR engine i am building. And i thread in the arp l19 head studs and seat the heads down. I guess the head was dripping oil slightly and may have gotten on the head gasket. I forgot to wipe it clean before torquing down the heads. Now im thinking of all the wrong things I have done. Do you think I should untorque the heads and clean the gasket? Or just get a new gasket again.


Thanks

 

I've always been of the opinion once a completely torqued head comes off a new gasket goes on. I'm sure you'll find others who will reuse. Don't kick yourself too hard, we all make mistakes. Just don't make the same mistake twice

 

I wouldnt stress too much about...was it clean oil or old used oil?

As JHC said, I wouldnt un-torque your headstuds to clean. But I would get to a point where the engine is reassembled and if you can re-attach the starter and do a cylinder compression check. This means you'd have to have oil in the engine, just about everything reattached, and you'd have to manually activate the starter (off a battery?? please be careful) and check compression for consistency between cylinders. If all your cylinders are within 5% to 10% than you are good. If you see big (larger than 20%) discrepancies than you need to re-do your heads.

A little while back to did compression on my engine after 300miles after my rebuild - my numbers were between 110psi and 120psi on a mostly cold engine (It warmed up for 3minutes and a little 2minute drive to a the shop). Obviously low on the psi but I am running 9.1 to 1 pistons and the engine was cold - but the takeaway is that they were all close to each other. If engine is sealed than your compression will all come in close to one-another, if not, than re-do your head gaskets.

 

This is my first time doing something like this so im like going crazy over every little thing... LOL. Its was new oil, and the surfaces were machined.
Well I guess I wont know untill everything is put together. I undid it and got new gaskets.. but this time I forgot to wipe down block.... and now im tripping again...
It doesnt look like there is oil... there are some stains on the gasket so it makes me feel like there is a small film of oil I should have wiped..

 

When I talked to Cometic over the phone about reusing head gaskets they told me as long as it hasn't been heat cycled it's fine. If you look at the FSM you are supposed to tighten them to 72ft lbs then loosen all the way then redo the torque process. I looked for the instructions for HKS and Cometic to see if if they say to back it off as well but no luck.

If using ARP l19's torque them to 95ft llbs and call it a day.