Hemi issues. Help me diagnose. Coolant, oil. Etc

[MopSquad]

Rebuilt '70 Hemi with 900 miles.  Purchased the car with 650 miles on the engine.  Driven infrequently by the previous owner over a 5 year period. When I first purchased the car, I drained the fluids. Coolant was a rusty color. Thought it was just rust over time. Flushed and filled and few times. Today, some issues showed up. Coolant was leaking after a 40 mile drive. Some out the over flow but the rest on the k member. Then slinged by the fan. See pics.  The car did not overheat but the temps on the heads were 225 driver, 203 passenger. Also the car was down 3 quarts of oil in 200 miles. The oil is not cloudy. The coolant is chocolate brown.  When I start the car, coolant leaks onto the k member.

Help me diagnose!

[cudabob496]

oil was full, then lost 3 quarts in 200 miles?

[HP_Cuda]

and your oil dipstick doesn't look like a milk shake?

Hopefully this motor wasn't packed full of dirt then rebuilt.

[Topcat]

What's the history on who and when the engine was built?

[jhaag]

Know nothing about hemis but looks like you may have oil in your water? Someone can answer better than me, but I would suspect a blown gasket or seal somewhere allowing pressurized oil into the cooling system. Maybe head gasket or intake, somewhere the oil passages are close to coolant passages. 

[Topcat]

Head gasket options aren't very good for Hemi's.

Fel-Pro teflon blue gaskets for 426 Hemi's are very expensive.
Around $250-$300 for a set.

Ray Barton offers a pretty good one I recall.

I would recommend you do a dry and wet compression check.

[MopSquad]

Thanks for the replies.  I am unsure of the engine builder but the car was pro built 5 years back. I did correspond with the builder of the car prior to purchase. I can ask him who built the engine.  To answer one of the questions, I lost 3 qts of oil in 200 miles. The only smoke coming out the rear was at startup and it really didn't have an oil smell. Never smoked other than at startup.  The oil in the oil pan is clean. The coolant is chocolate milk.  I'll do a compression test and leak down.  What's the secret on the plug access under the brake booster?
Thx!

[Topcat]

#7 is a PITA.

I have Firecore80 wires which has the bakelite boot inside the valve cover.
It's supposed to be a flexible silcone boot.

Even then it takes a myriad of extensions, swivels, wobblys, etc. to get around the brake booster for the spark plug.

I finally gave up that way and just remove the brake booster each time when I need to do a valve adjustment.

[cudabob496]

When I've lost oil like that, it was bad valve stem seals

[cudabob496]

check percent of antifreeze in coolant, to help determine
 if it is rust or oil.
I've seen rust in coolant like that when the person ran no antifreeze.

[jason340]

When I had an oil in the coolant issue (not a Mopar) after the engine was off for a while when you opened the radiator  and stuck your finger in it the oil would stick to you finger. Oil and water just don't mix well.

[MopSquad]

The coolant mixture is very well congruent (if its oil and coolant). No separation. I'll get those compression numbers to you guys.
Any idea why coolant would leak down to the k-member.  Hoses are tight. Can't see leaks?  Possibly water pump seal?

[Topcat]

The coolant mixture is very well congruent (if its oil and coolant). No separation. I'll get those compression numbers to you guys.
Any idea why coolant would leak down to the k-member.  Hoses are tight. Can't see leaks?  Possibly water pump seal?

Tighten all your water pump housing bolts?

[rUNCHARGER]

Water pump seal or any of the hose connections on the water pump will drip down on your k-member. To me that really looks like rusty coolant. That looks like the results of running straight water in the cooling system. I agree that a compression test, coolant system pressurization and leak down tests are in order.
I think with that rusty mess that you should also jack up the car and look for a rusty trail down the side of the block as well. If the headgasket is leaking to the outside (which I doubt) it would leave a rusty trail on the block as it travels to the K-member.
Undo the M/C (leave the brake lines hooked up) and tie it to the hood hinge to access #7 if needed. Once you crack the plugs loose you can slip fuel line hose over the plugs to spin them out and pull them out.
My gut feeling is  you will be pulling the heads off and resurfacing them because they weren't coated if steel headgaskets, maybe not torqued correctly and the previous guy ran straight water. But it's only a guess over the internet from thousand of miles away.
I see so many guys pay good money for cars with Hemi's thrown together by flippers it's painful. Sorry for your troubles.

Sheldon

[BIGSHCLUNK]

When I've lost oil like that, it was bad valve stem seals

  when I ran small blocks I always knew when my valve seals need replacing, cause I'd go thru lots of oil quick!  I would not doubt if my HEMI could use seals too. But I've always been leery/lazy to check it out. Everytime I start a simple fix project it always turns into a 3K+ project. 

To me the coolant sample does not look oily... just rusty..