well, I think I found the problem and it's not surprising that no one knew what was wrong. I was cleaning my old head to prepare to take it in to have the valve replaced, it decked and whatever else it needed and was just kinda looking the whole thing over. Getting intimate with the parts, and really focusing on the drivers side front of the head. I was comparing everything between the new and old head when I noticed some empty threads on the remanned head beneath the engine hook that the alternator bracket also attaches to. Below this there is a little oil plug -- there's tons of these all over the head. In the case of the head that's been giving me hell, this oil plug is missing!!! I put my lips to it and blew and it weezed out some remaining oil from one of the head bolt holes. On my old head there is a plug that fits in there with an allan key. This would explain why oil was literally squirting from my engine. The oil/water mix I'm assuming was due to residual water that leaked into the oil ports when I removed the head. This also would explain the feeling of compression when I turned the engine over by hand after a gasket "blew", and the wheezing sound that came from the head. I thought the wheeze was a badly blown head gasket. When I blew on that little oil hole it made the same sound.
So, this adds to the list. In total:
-- missing manifold stud.
-- missing rocker arm bolts.
-- missing oil plug.
-- incorrect valve clearance (too loose and too tight)
-- god knows what else.
What were these people on when they built this thing up? I've now removed the head three times, wasted two head gaskets and misc other gaskets. 8 quarts of oil lots of coolant and countless hours due to their mistake.
Despite all of this, because I'm impatient and think i've solved the problem, I'm still tempted to use the head and give it another shot since I'd really like to have my car on the road soon. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a fool would I be to do this with 10 being the most foolish? I do understand that waiting will mean a greater likelihood on a long-term repair.
Also, how much money should I ask in refund for the mistakes of the people at aluminumheads.com? I'm tempted to charge them a full labor rate for two head removal/installations and for materials and see what they say?
