Head gasket fail, water pump leak

[Gerard]

Gday all

Is it possible that a HGF could put pressure in cooling system to force pump leak? My niggles with engine have shown water pump leak when revs get to 3500 to 4000 an upwards. When revving, it became apparent coolant weeping from 4 piston rear and at exhaust side. Low revs and no obvious sign of leak. I’ve pulled head off and found it pretty grimy after only 1000 miles since being built. Curious if the above and images should give me some additional concern or not. Will get head looked at for warp etc. fingers crossed it was simply a gasket that failed and put it all back together

[Gerard]

Turns out my head needs a light skim and rebuild. At least head has some decent depth and can afford a tidy up.
While off road I can replace front suspension bushes!

Just been thinking how great value Mike’s early car was.... mine is way over capitalised and will always be a mongrel when done.

Have to remind myself it’s a hobby and an opportunity to learn how to pull things apart

Happy sprinting one day

[Bish]

Well done for keeping upbeat about it Gerard!

It’s easy to let it get you down when things go a bit wrong. But, you’ll be back on the road in no time enjoying some more smiles per miles.

How does the sprint cope with the temperatures that you get there? I was worried sitting in traffic on the M25 the other day because it was 24 degrees and sunny! Nothing to worry about of course, but I had one eye on the temp gauge anyway....

[Gerard]

Thanks Bish. Thankfully my wife OK with yet another outlay and we are both still working and not greatly impacted by COVID

As for Perth temps, car won’t go out if it’s hot and same goes for rain. It lives a cosseted life, it’s second home being with a mechanic

[Carledo]

It's worth noting that this engine is hyper critical about having the head retorqued after a rebuild. Most of the folk on here who build these engines regularly will retorque up to 3 times in the first 1000 miles, once after the first warmup cycle, again at around 2-500 miles and a third time at 1000 miles, after which it should have settled in and be fine for years. However, if you neglect this necessary retorquing, you are virtually asking for a HGF!

Steve

[Gerard]

Steve,

Mine had the first 2 retorque as below and was in for a tune, service and retorque at the 1100 mile mark! Just one of those things and not sure I could have much else to avoid. When it’s all back together, let’s just say..... plenty of retorque on my to do list.

Cheers

[tamtrucks]

when i had my mk1 2000 estate i did the head gasket,i re-torque 4 times in 1000 miles at 250miles intervals...did not wont to pay out again 100 quid for another copper head gasket! it pays to re-torque.....bearing in mind that was on a 6pot engine......just my 10pence worth