Head gasket coolant passages

[josehf34]

I changed the head gaskets of my 360 SB after a quick engine inspection and valve job but when I was assembling the engine I noticed that two (one in each head) coolant passages were being overrode by the head gasket so I manually opened the passage in the gasket.

Now googling about this issue I feel like I messed the head gasket.

Should I replace them?

 

[saylor]

id try it, but the second it starts to get hot, pull it apart and put in the correct gaskets.

you dont wanna mess up your cooling...or your block...

- saylor

 

[josehf34]

id try it, but the second it starts to get hot, pull it apart and put in the correct gaskets.

you dont wanna mess up your cooling...or your block...

- saylor

Sounds risky, so, the chances are that the cooling isn't going to be efficient or maybe the engine will be "over cooled", right?

 

[Wildaugust]

Depending on which passages, it could cause circulation issues. For example, maybe not cooling the rear of the engine adequately.

 

[josehf34]

Depending on which passages, it could cause circulation issues. For example, maybe not cooling the rear of the engine adequately.

I only opened in both heads the coolant passage marked in red in this image:

 

[rags]

yes, change them. blocked passages force coolant to back of block then up through back of heads. coolant then flows forward through heads to thermostat.