hi guys new to this forum and this is my first post. i live on the gold coast and drive a el falcon auto and from what i,ve read i,ve got a tickford 6cyl motor installed, it,s got the t in engine number which is no big deal to me. anyway my question is that i,ve blown out the headgasket for the second time. the first time around i used the headgasket in the bottle trick and it,s held for about 8 months and on tuesday it went again. now this maybe a shock and discust to most of you but i,m going to fix it the same as last time it worked and got me out of trouble. now before you,s go off at me for doing this again i just want to explain that i,m being treated for cancer at the moment and i,m off work without a income so thats the way i,ve got to go with the head. anyway i go back to work in july and will then have some money to do the headgasket properly, all i want to know is how hard is it to do and if there is any tricks or tips to it. before you ask yes i,ve done heads and engines before but not for a long time now and learnt the tools old school and know nothing about these new engines ( fuel injected engines). i intend on getting the head shaved and buying new headbolts and a decent headgasket, is there anything else i need to know.

Hi Oswald, one thing to make it last longer next time is to use an AU Multi Layer Steel head gasket as opposed to an E-series composite head gasket.

Have a read through this guide.

fordmods-technical-documents-diy-f38/head-gasket-doco-t99962.html

thanks for the information, it will give me something to read in all the spare time i,ve got. wouldn,t mind learning about fuel injection next, when i learnt it was back when every car came out with carbs.

thanks for the information, it will give me something to read in all the spare time i,ve got. wouldn,t mind learning about fuel injection next, when i learnt it was back when every car came out with carbs.

I checked that out when I did my head and I got told by quite a few mechanics and engine blokes that for the price of an MLS gasket compared to a quality VRS kit, unless your planning boost your wasting you money due to the fact the E series head are weak and are prone to cracks anyway.
I cant remember the kit I got but I called the Ford dealer in Kingswood to get a genuine Au VRS and they told me the brand that is the same and can be bought cheaper at auto shops. Think it cost me around $150 for the kit, same price as the MLS gasket and then I would have had to buy either an MLS kit or other separate gaskets to do the job.
To the OP, I too was taught old school and am not the best with OHC and injection. Some say its easy if you take your time but if you f**k it up you only have yourself to blame. I wasent 100 about my ability, and got injuries myself so I got it done for me. If your not sure ask around on here about good blokes in your area that can do heads, you might be able to get a performance version installed for the price most mechanics will just do a gasket change for ( around 2k).
Welcome aboard the riff raff of the Fordmods team.

thanks for your reply. i dont intend on doing any mods to the motor or the car itself as nowadays a car is basically something to get me from a to b and thats about it. i,m quite happy with the power the car delivers and so no need to change things. i,ve done my time wasting money on making a car go faster and to be honest i totally enjoyed it but that was back when you could drive fast without worrying to much about the cops. had a 2 door xb with worked 351, top loader box and 9 inch. use to drag race at surfers paradise raceway and back then i was pulling 13.8 which in those days was fairly quick. i,m talking early 80s. anyway i can get a vrs plus head bolts for $100 from carsrus. actually i,m thinking about updating around xmas time to maybe a ba mk2. i,ve done 1 ohc so shouldn,t be to hard to do this one, i hope. me old man told me once if it,s got tits or wheels it,s going to cost money. f**k if i left both alone i would be a millionaire now.lol.

Hey, Oswald! Welcome to the forum....and to blown E-series head gaskets.

If you're interested in fuel injection and have time to read, here's one of the better books on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Tuning- ... 932&sr=1-2

The author does a great job and the book focuses on Speed Density EFI systems like the Falcon sixes use.