Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1952 Chevy 235 (Low Pressure), coolant leaks, guide bolts

Question
QUESTION: Having trouble getting head gasket to seal properly.  Very minor coolant leakage. Head and block are well within specs and have no warpage, etc.  Any suggestion?  Present head gasket was installed w/o guide pins (difficult), so some movement occurred in aligning the head.  Could this have caused damage to the gasket?

ANSWER: The head gasket as well as the head could be as much as 1/8 inch out of alignment without the guide pins. This is more than enough to cause a coolant leak. My concern is that if you have coolant leaks on the outside, is there coolant getting into the combustion chambers? The last job that  had that was missing guide pins, I made them out of the shank of a drill bit. I cut off the drill bit that had a snug fit in the block with a cut off wheel on my Dremill tool. I have done this more than once and had good results.


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QUESTION: Thank you for your kind response!  Could I make guide pins from long-type head bolts (by removing the corners, etc.)? Thank you again.

ANSWER: That will help in lowering the head onto the block, but is not a replacement for the guide pins. There is too much clearance between the head bolt and the hole in the head and the holes though the gasket.

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QUESTION: Thank you again. Do you know a source for the real guide pins? As for the drill bit, I'm not sure that I understand. Do you place the shank into the block? What do you remove with the cutoff wheel? Could you please further explain the drill bit substitute? I am very grateful for your help on this.

Answer
Yes, the shank, the part that is held by the drills check, is fitted into the block with a snug fit. I have a big box of drills to choose from. I usually measure up about a quarter of an inch above the gasket and then cut the drill off. This not forms a very precise guide pin. The guide bolts that you asked about are an excellent idea to get the head aligned when dropping it onto the smaller guide pins. With the guide bolts be sure to cut a slot in the top end of the bolts so that you can use a screw driver to get them out.