Where to go after water in the cylinders?

[C-2]

Alright, here’s my deal..
In October at the poker run I ended up with water in my 1,3,5,7 cylinders. The boat ran fine all day (actually all season), no overheating.
It happened like..
After running then idling for a few minutes I turned the boat off. After floating for another few minutes (not under power), I tried cranking it but this time it wouldn’t start. I cranked it about 4-5 times before I realized it wasn’t just flooded or something minor; I checked the oil and sure enough, chocolate milk. At the time assumed it was a head gasket, which puzzled me since it did not overheat and I am constantly monitoring my gauges. I ran the scenario by Paul Pfaff at the poker run, his suspicion was a header let loose.
That weekend really sucked and wrenching on the motor upon arriving home was the least of things on my agenda. I drained the chocolate milk, cranked out the water and fogged the cylinders/carb with WD40. I also yanked the headers (Lightning’s) and saw what could be a hole in the inner tube.
----time passes on----
This morning I’m all prepared to yank the motor, assuming I should do a complete rebuild. But after talking with my neighbor and a few others, we question if a rebuild is necessary. We put the headers under pressure and sure enough, there is pinhole leak in the #7 tube. The other header looks fine, no leaks but a noticeable wear pattern similar to the #7 tube. Other than the two spots, which are both where water settles, the other tubes look great.
BTW,Previously I had contacted Lightning; he acknowledged the old style headers with the carbon steel instead of stainless and offered to give me a smoking deal if I replaced them with a pair of the newer stainless tubes.
We do a compression check on all the cylinders, with all of them coming in at about 125-130 lbs. Except for the #2 cylinder that comes in at 150.
My stats are as follows;
1995 454 Mag, carbureted, 265 hours (most of which for the past few seasons consists of idling around and parking)
Lightning headers, the old style with the carbon steel inners
Maintained very well, oil changed every 15 hours.
My neighbor works with several professional welders and we believe the pinhole can be welded and the other similar looking spot reinforced, hopefully the steel is thick enough.
Assuming that can be done….
Am I ready to go again?
Are the compression amounts satisfactory?
Am I only prolonging the inevitable rebuild?
With my fist child arriving in two weeks, it sure would be great to bolt everything back together for another couple of seasons before a freshen up.
Whadda ya guys think and thanks in advance!

[Kindsvater Flat]

I would say pressure test the block and make sure there are no other leaks. Then have him weld the header and head for the water. If that cured the problem take the smokin deal on the new headers.
This is my guess and I would try it. Then you can spend the rest of your money on diapers. BTW congrats on the soon to be kid.

[Craig]

Well, you're finally getting back to the boat Congrat's on the upcoming addition. Your comppresion doesn't look bad. Typically you don't want more then about a 10% difference. I'd fix the exhaust and fire it back up and do a leak down test on it. Less than 10-15% LD, go boatin' A friend of mine got so much water through a busted riser gasket it wouldn't roll over! Got rid of the water and she cranked over and ran fine. Luckily it didn't bend anything. If you hurt anything, you'll know it. Since you're not trying to run 100+, put some new headers on it and enjoy it. I personally wouldn't reuse those old ones. If one failed, the others probably aren't far behind!
Craig
[ March 03, 2003, 06:46 AM: Message edited by: Craig ]

[flat broke]

Sounds like you dodged a bullet. I wouldn't mess around with the old lightnings, as stated earier, if one rusted through, the others aren't far behind. If they will give you a screamin deal on the SS tube units, grab em. As instructed in the previous reply do a leakdown test to determine if there are any other problems, then if not, bolt on the new headers and enjoy the season with your newest addition.
Talk to you later,
Chris

[wfodude]

Well I'll throw in my .02...If you had chocolate milk ...and a hard to turn motor..You might want to inspect the bearings...it doesn't take water long to tear them up.Might be cheap insurance against a very costly lower end failure

[Boater Bill]

Craig, you might be able to get away with just fixing the headers but I agree with wfodude that you "may" have bearing issues. Put some cheap oil in her and run it on the trailer for a while, get it warm, then change oil and filter out for your regular stuff and go for it. Keep an eye on oil pressure and change the filter a couple of times(before your regular service) watching for metal (cut it apart) and if everything looks good, you probably will get away with it. I wouldn't worry about your comp #'s as they look reasonable.

[C-2]

Thanks for the responses guys. As it turns out, we probably couldn’t weld the old headers anyway.
So it looks like I’ll be buying a new pair, hopefully at a good price. From there I think it’s local lake time to see how it goes.
Bill
Thanks for your suggestion; I’ll give you a call soon!
Craig
Hey sorry I never got back to ya after I asked you a question regarding the Olympus camera. I’ve been eyeballing the E10 (or the new E20) and will most likely get one before the season starts. There are some places out of NY that offer smoking deals (about the $600 range), I was a bit leery of them but my bro ordered the Sony/w/Carl Zeiss lens from one of the places and saved $400
Until this weekend (and reality set in), I was piecing together a 468/pro charged motor for the boat, but…we’ll see what happens. Besides, just not enough room for hydraulic steering! Would be fun though eek! eek!
How’s your missile holding together?

[Craig]

Hey C2,
I bought my camera from some shop in NY as well, over the internet. I've had no problems and got a great deal. I would go with the E-20 if you're serious. The E-10 has been discontinued. Only major difference is the 10 is 4 meg, the 20 is 5 meg. Motors holding together fine, it's just that drive It'll be back together soon!