Sometimes the sealer dosent get down in the threads very well and have had to reseal some of them

Thanks turbo2256, here's the million doller question, I know I would never want to do this but since the motors only have 50 hours on the rebuild, is it a horrible idea to pull the short head bolts out 1 at a time and reseal???

another thought,alot of the head gaskets used need retorqed after the first couple of hours,theres only a few gaskets to accually be considerd as permatorqe.you might want to put a torque wrench on one or two bolts and see if they need to be gone over again....

Had to do it to mine they were studs too real pain but it worked used locktite 252 the second time. It was thin enough to get inbetween the threads. I think part of the problem is if the threads havent had a thread cutting tap run down them which thins the thread out and changes the class of fit (I have thread cleaning taps) there just isnt room for thicker sealants to run into the threads.

Oh yea you better check all of them some of the ones under the valve covers could be leaking to. Crack your drain plug if you can and check for water in the oil.

That weeping is pretty common. For whatever reason the gasket does not seal around that lower water passage. It should, but it doesn't.

We put a thin coat of Mercury Perfect Seal on the gasket around the passage, solves the problem.

Thanks, I guess that makes the decision for me I'll pull the heads this winter and ensure the head gaskets and bolts get some sealent, thanks for all the input....

Thats probably the best thing to do. Currently I am rebuilding an older 454 jet boat engine and have noticed the area around the large coolant transfer holes in the cylinder heads along the exhaust edge are rather pitted and sealing land area around them looks a bit shady. Some extra sealant in those ares might be needed.