Why does the Ford 352 head gasket only have one opening for coolant water?

[Guest]

The Ford Y-block motors are the same way, you have to be REAL careful on how you place the gasket or they will overheat real quick. I have seen quite a few 55 to 57 Birds out there with overheating problems that the owners spent major money buying 4 core rads and all kinds of cooling "Fix its" when it was the head gasket installed wrong. The back pressure explaination is correct the head was designed that way to save costs. Gasket material makes a difference. There are some major difference in gasket material. Check it out before you buy.

[peeeot]

hmm, I don't know what brand the gaskets were that I used. I assume they were felpro. When I bought my car, the engine was disassembled and it came with all the gaskets I needed to put it together. They were all usable so I used them.

Here's a pic of the felpro head gasket:

http://www.partsamerica.com/product_images/img/fel/8554pt.jpg

Here's a pic of my engine where you can see the tab at the back of the passenger side head:

http://thewolfweb.com/photo_photo.aspx?user=21299&photo=468732&filter=

Like I say, I haven't had any evidence of overheating... 180degree thermostat, stock A/C 5-blade fan, stock 3-row radiator, temperature gauge reads on the upper side of the M and I've never had any coolant overflow. Doesn't feel excessively hot under the hood.

[Hawkrod]

Sounds like you just may getting lucky. If everything else is okay then the extra heat developed may not be enough to push you over the top. It is impossible to say without tearing into it. If you look at the FelPro gasket picture you can see why the tab shows at the front. The rear end of the gasket with the opening has a notch cut in the lower corner while the front end is straight across. Ford designed it this way just so they could look at an assembled engine and verify correct assembly. Your picture is too far away from the gasket to tell if it is correct or not. The whole gasket can peak out but what you are looking for is the straight line of gasket at the front and a notch at the rear. Hawkrod

[peeeot]

I studied that picture carefully before I posted and I know exactly what you're talking about. I think I recall the word "front" embedded in the gaskets when I installed them, but I could be imagining that to reassure myself.

So you want the hole in the gasket to be at the REAR of the engine on both sides?

I really want to know whether I have those things in there right, but I suppose if it doesn't show any signs of overheating I shouldn't worry about it...

[Guest]

The holes are at the back of the gasket. Well I have finished working on the T Bird for now. I will haft to repaint the vlv covers as I sprayed them silver but it looks like junk. So maybe next week I will take the covers oft and remove all the old paint and do a real good job of repainting them the right color. For now all I want to do is to give my old back a rest and relax. I have deteriorated disk disease and it effects my legs so I think my car days are just about over! I still like to drive the old rigs but I just can bend over and crawl under these old cars like I oust to.

[peeeot]

Went home and looked at the car yesterday. The thing that I thoguht was a tab in that picture was just light reflecting off part of the block casting, and the actual tab that you're talking about was where it belonged, at the front passenger side. So gaskets are indeed installed correctly, as I thought.