Blown Head Gasket - flattening block in car?

[Brian Mifsud]

My son's 1996 58K mile Mark VIII sat a long time apparently in a garage. When we bought it, the whole car was/is cosmetically PERFECT inside and out. It has the Mystic Style Paint which turns from Tan to Purple.

Anyhow, front airbags were bad from sitting so long, and didn't want to put in the crap Chinese units, so installed the T-bird Struts... goodbye Lincoln great ride, but the car was back to rolling. Then an inexperienced driver not recognizing a rising temp gauge, led to a series of overheats. A shop found hydrocarbons in coolant and quoted $4600+ to fix it admitting it was a conservative quote not knowing if block/head were warped (engine rebuild basically).

Son has since bought a Camry and I'm stuck with gorgeous but immobile Mark VIII with all systems in great shape except failed head gasket and possibly warped head/Block?

I have not torn it down yet as I'm working on my Daily Driver, a 2004 T-bird replacing the cooling system's plastics to prevent overheat/head gasket failure.

If I pull head to replace gasket, I will check for flatness after cleaning up surfaces. Is there any proven method to keep any sanding crap out of cylinders as I progressively sand the deck flat again using a precision long bar and wet/dry paper? I'm thinking positioning crank so there's a large enough gap between deck and piston top to allow me to fill the void with Playdoh or something that will catch any grit from sanding.

I'd use a granite surface plate with sand paper glued down to treat the heads, but the block is the tricky one. If necessary, I'll pull the pistons to make sure everything gets cleaned properly, but am open to proven methods if someone knows they work.....

 

[Sapperfire]

If you're Positive that the Head Gasket is blown, Replace the Motor

 

[Sapperfire]

First thing to Check would be the Coolant/Oil Adapter, the part that the Oil Filter attaches to, it can Breach there.
I'd only worry about that if the Oil is Milky..if it Just keeps Overheating, First check that the Fan is Working properly as the Mark VIII had a Poor Connection at the Plug for the Fan - Remedy This Poor Connection by Soldering the Wire direct to the Fan Terminals..
Then make sure that the Coolant system has been Properly Burped and Filled at the Crossover above the Alternator

 

[Brian Mifsud]

First thing to Check would be the Coolant/Oil Adapter, the part that the Oil Filter attaches to, it can Breach there.
I'd only worry about that if the Oil is Milky..if it Just keeps Overheating, First check that the Fan is Working properly as the Mark VIII had a Poor Connection at the Plug for the Fan - Remedy This Poor Connection by Soldering the Wire direct to the Fan Terminals..
Then make sure that the Coolant system has been Properly Burped and Filled at the Crossover above the Alternator

Thanks for the tips.. checking and fixing those is WAY less labor... except.. if HYDROCARBONS have been found.. those can't get in by Oil right? The oils is clear and not milky.