Head Gasket?

[TRIPPFONTAINE]

Uurgh. Exploring causes for a misfire in my 72 Csi, I went to change plugs and discovered the plug 3 was coated in coolant. This seems to suggest a cracked head, which needless to say is not good news. To that point, the car had been starting and running reasonable well, as it always has. Could this gunked plug be caused by something else? I plan to use a coolant pressure tester but I guess I'm wondering if there might be some other cause here - a stripped head bolt or something else. Any recs on how I should follow up on this one?
Maybe I should start by ordering a bottle of Stoly, and checking my bank balance.

 

[bill]

Had the same problem. You can verify leakage with a compression and/or leakdown test, but I would get ready to yank the head.
Lots of posts in this forum about gasket replacement. You will probably have to consider planing the head so you will need to find a shop to do that. For me all this work was no big deal, but I have done this type of thing several times. Stoli is good, but beer lets you work and drink it at the same time....good luck!

 

[adawil2002]

Does the CSi have it's original head?

If so the gasket may be OK, but the head has cracked at the exhaust valve(s).

When I bought my CSi the head was cracked at numbers 2 & 3 exhaust valves. Replaced it with a 1986 head with the machined water jackets. Memphis Motorworks machined and rebuilt the head with my original head parts.