1981 Chevy Silverado

Hi there,

yes you can do a comp test to check this out, you can do a wet test, that is add a small amount of oil just a tea spoon will do, and crank over, then do the comp test this will seal up the rings and if the comp is still very low it will normally be a valve, you really should be doing both heads, as you will only be pulling the other sooner rather than later, do them both now this is the convention, yes, over heating will cause head bolts to become loose, this is due to them being stretched with the movement of the warping head, you only need a few thousandths of an inch movement to to this, and you should be replacing all head bolts when you do the heads.

Mark (mhpautos)