Crossover pipe leaking on Liquifire 440

[cosmo440]

Never had this problem until now. Rebuilt the motor after blowing piston(have story and pics in previous post), and now have motor in sled(minus carbs and exhaust) and pressure testing to see what leaks, and the darn crossover pipe will not seal up. Have tried dry gaskets, gaskets with sealer, copper coat, thick, thin, doesn't matter, still leaks.

It will leak on the cylinder faces or the lower crankcase face or both on the crossover pipe. Doesn't seem to leak out the heads as of yet. I have checked the flatness of the faces and they are good. The only thing I can think is that after the cylinders were put on, you tighten the crossover pipe on the cylinders first, and then the two lower bolts and this is supposed to align the cylinders, is it possible the cylinders are not properly aligned? There seems to be no binding and the pistons move up and down freely.

Can I just loosen the 4 long stud nuts and try to realign the cylinders or could that cause other issues? I am stumped on this one.

[Matt]

Normal procedure is to tighten the manifolds first before the cylinders so that they are aligned.

[ljm]

Yes you should be able to lossen the 4 long bolts and the put the manifold on and retighten the 4 long bolts.

Did you use any sealant on the base gaskets?


Lloyd

[cosmo440]

The base gaskets are dry. I tried something last night. I removed the pipe, and just put gaskets on where it bolts to the cylinders(no gasket on lower crank half) and measured the clearance and got .052. The thickest gasket I have is around .041 thick. It is almost like the cylinders are to far forward on the exhaust side. This is why I think the cylinders are not properly aligned.