300/440/550 leaking head

Location
CT
My head gasket leaks water out of the motor.
The pistons were seized when I bought my 550 so I rebuilt it. The surface of the head and cylinders had some rust on them. I lightly wire wheeled the surfaces. I got the motor back together and running but water is leaking out of the head. I torqued the head in the proper sequence and to the proper torque. I didn't replace the head gasket, instead I tried to reuse the old one. Do you think I can RTV the surface of the head gasket (staying away from the cylinders)?
I'm worried that a new head gasket will do the same thing since the head and cylinder surface were pitted due to the rust.
 

N2 H2O

Previously Tbone550
Location
Charlotte, NC
Get a new head gasket. It should be fine. Stock heads are cheap and I might look into that if your current one is in to bad of shape.
 
Location
CT
I took the head off again and realized the gasket had some pitting around the outside. I was able to use some RTV and it seemed to seal well.
 
Location
CT
Thanks, I will do it right soon. This was one of the basketcase machines that I already put too much time and money in. I wanted to make sure it ran before I bought more new parts. So far it runs. Now I need to read the 'how to tune a BN44' section or look for an SBN...
 
I have always been told to never use Gasket sealer on a Head Gasket. I guess there are two schools of thought on this.

From Group K Website:
HEAD GASKET SEALING - The amount of head gasket sealing area between the cylinder bores and the thru stud holes in the 550 piston port cylinder is very narrow (much narrower than the 440). Sealing on an area that narrow is easy on the low compression/low operating temperature stock engine. However when operating temperatures, and compression ratios are increased, the job of maintaining a long term seal is much tougher. If the cylinder is bored to an oversize, that critical area becomes narrower yet. All GROUP K ported cylinders are decked and then stone finished to assure a perfectly flat sealing surface. Along with that, all Hammer kits and over bored Sleeper kits are recommended to be assembled with the durable and reusable .040" solid copper head gasket. It bears noting that no aftermarket cylinder head can resolve the sealing problem. Our tests have consistently shown that the problem lies with the cylinder surface and the gasket ...not the head.
 
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