My Autozone did not have it...either that or the counter person did not know what to look for...but he was the manager LOL. I don't think we have a Carquest...but we do have an Advance. I'll check there - Thanks.

Mind you, mine developed the rod knock only 70 miles after the top end was put back together. And I changed my oil TWICE before I even drove the car out of the shop. There was absolutely no warning sign. It started to hesitate a little then started knocking. And I only ran it about 10 minutes during the knock and it did that much damage to my crank.

Dude, some do that, some don't. There'* a good hundred variables. How long was it slowly leaking without your knowledge? How much blowby from loss of compression over time? What were your existing bearing clearances? How much coolant got in the oil? Was it DEX or not?

There'* really no way to know. We all do what'* economical for us, and some make it through long-term, while others don't. Take mos95b for example. He did everything RIGHT. Immediately drained the oil and commenced repairs. What was it? A week later? Boom. it was out of his control.

Many things are happening inside that motor that we can't see or detect. The best we can do is follow the knowledgable advice on this Forum, and pray for the best after that. If luck is good, we BS in the lounge for a year. If luck is bad, we leverage the great experience of the members here to get it done again.

In the long run, we save money. Regardless of the outcome. We're capitalists. Money matters.

I dont think this is anything to worry about, but this is why you guys are the experts and I am a humble servant

here'* the pics




BTW the pitting seems to be less than 64th of an inch and it'* only that one close up shot I took on the one side. The otherside really almost flawless to me. I've cleaned the mating surface on the heads, but I can't seem to get rid of the "impressions" of the old gasket. Is that normal ? Ok ? I've pretty much burned up a battery in the ol' cordless trying to get it as clean as possible. It'* clean, but the impressions wont go away.

Thanks again fellas
http://www.stingrayboats.com/MySting...0/ppuser/11566

I am far from an expert, but I am a very cautious person, and after doing LIM gaskets on four different 3800'*, and having bought and sold numerous LIM'* for projects, I would not use that LIM in that condition.

MAYBE if you were to skimcoat that pitted area with some epoxy then sand it or something...or better yet, get it machined at a shop.

If I took it to a machine shop, what is typically done...do they fill it in and machine it back down to specs, or do they simply grind it down? If that happens, do I need to get a different gasket set to make up the difference in thickness ?

tia.

Yeah... DEX will be taken away. I think I'll just keep with the nylon gaskets then.

Ditto on all of this. If your oil is drained and you're dealing with the top end, you might as well just finish the top end, refill with oil, and drive it, then change it again in a hundred or so. If you have the ability and time and equipment to drop the pan, feel free to go for it, but like Willwren said, there'* so many variables that you just can't know if your bottom end is going to let go or not. People who let their car sit for months after a hydrolock can pretty much bank on a rotted lower end, but if you were driving your car regularly and deal with the failure as soon as you find out about it, you'll stand a better chance of avoiding a lower end failure. But you just can't know.

And for me, mine showed itself as an overheat on a drive home from work, in December 2005, the same week I got hit by a layoff at work. With a baby and needing my car back-in-action as soon as possible for job-hunting, I just took the car to my dealer and paid them to do the intakes. So while I didn't save the money, I still had the power of all the knowledge from these forums, so I could make sure the job was done right, without getting (too) ripped-off. I was lucky, and didn't suffer a lower-end failure, so I can apparently BS about it in the lounge now!

You can't know if you'll suffer a lower-end failure or not, so don't stress yourself out. Deal with the intakes, replace your oil, and change it again in a hundred or so miles. Hope to see you BS'ing in the lounge!