Classic/Antique Car Repair: Possible leak between water and exhaust, egge machine co, santa fe springs

Question
Car:  1928 Jordan 'Tomboy' Continental 12E flat-head 6.  Is there a simple but effective method of determining whether there is a leak in the head gasket, or via a crack in the head or block, without removing the cyl. head first?  The following symptoms appeared this summer after I drained, flushed, and refilled with coolant: a few bubbles visible in the upper rad. hose upon acceleration, and a slightly irregular idle with a puff of whitish exhaust at tailpipe when engine stumbles.  Will a crack in the head or block be visible, or is magnafluxing required for certainty? Final question:  I have an NOS gasket, but can a new one be made up?  Thanks very much.  

Answer
From your symptoms, I'm pretty sure you have a leak from the combustion chamber to the cooling system.  You can prove this by using a combustion gas detector in the radiator - most mechanics will have this ability, or you can buy one from an auto parts store for around $50.  Balkamp is a good brand.  It works by allowing the coolant to be absorbed into a transparent cylinder of crystals of some chemical - the presence of cumbustion product shows up as a tell tale color in the crystals.

If you are asking if there is a way to determine which of many possibilities is the location of the leak, I don't know of any that do not require the disassembly of the top of the engine.  Usually the problem is obvious by inspection, but if you see no problem, then yes, you probably do need to have the block and head magnafluxed.

There is a vendor who makes up new headgaskets. I don't recall off hand what the name is, but I do recall he is somewhere in Washington state.   With the antiques I've worked with, I've never really had a problem finding gaskets -and since your engine is not that rare, I doubt you'd have a problem either.  First place I would try is Egge Machine Co. in Santa Fe Springs, CA.

You may have tried this, but if not, you may want to try putting some "block seal" in the engine - if the problem is minor, you may find that it does the trick with almost no effort.   Peruse the radiator chemical department at your local auto parts place - you'll see various brands to try.

Good luck - that is quite a car!

Dick