Post head gasket help!!

[01GrandayumJeeTee]

All right guys, here's the deal. I posted about a month ago asking about a motor swap. I ended up deciding to keep my motor and do work to it. I got me heads milled down so they're flat, had the block checked and that was all good, and then I got the Fel-Pro PermaTorque head set, which has every gasket from the heads to the upper intake. Everything still looked brand new when I tore it down to rebuild. All the gasket went in, nice new injectors, coolant system flush with regular green coolant in it now, new plugs and wires. Went ahead and installed a new t-stat, a shiny new Magnaflow direct fit hi flow cat and a PaceSetter Monza cat back system. The car starts right up and sounds absolutly amazing!! Here's my problem. I think I'm still losing coolant. I don't believe it's leaking in the engine because there's no frothy oil but there's no puddles under the car. It doesn't overheat, runs about 205, and I get white smoke out of my exhaust like there's is a blown head gasket. Could the smoke just be from the oils they use to bend the exhaust? Did the coolant just need to work it's way through the engine? No visible leaks and everything is tourqed to the most updated specs. I am not an ameture by any means as I used to build 400SB's for a local race track. But I am also no motor guru. I only use the best fluids and filters. Here is a list of my mods.
Magnaflow hi flow cat
PaceSetter Monza cat back
MSD wires
Weapon R Secret Weapon CAI w/ K&N 6" filter
K&N oil filter
Royal Purple oil and race fluids
EBR ceramic brake pads
17" chrome TSW rims w/ Nitto NeoGens
4500k yellow headlights
Pioneer AVIC DVD head unit
00ga Tsunami wiring
2x Soundstream Tarantula 2000watt amps
2x Soundstream Tarantula T5 2500watt subs
all Alpine component speakers
Kinetic 600 capacitor
Optima Red Top (secondary capacitor)
Optima Yellow Top (primary battery)
battery relocated to trunk
custom red to blue chameleon painted bezels
red interior lights
white face gauges
red underbody, wheel well and hood scoop neons
2.5% silver tint
full DynoMat installation

All this on my beautiful silver 2 door coupe 2001 Grand AM GT!!
Thanks guys, any and all help is greatly appreciated.

[SappySE107]

Have you ran a compression test or a coolant test for combustion traces? You should start a garage listing for your car and its mods. That list really doesn't have anything to do with your question.

[01GrandayumJeeTee]

No I haven't had a coolant test and there was a compression test in the beggining of the process which is what led me to rebuilding the top end. The block is in great condition. No cracks, warps or anything like that. Plus, like I said, I had the heads milled down .020" to be flat. They said that was the most they could be milled without really having to tune it to the head work. The heads have new everything. Valves, springs, retainters, seats, pushrods, rocker arms, everything. After my post last night, I went out and started the car, filled it with coolant and now the level is sitting pretty but it looks a little sludgy. I'm thinking maybe I didn't flush it good enough. Still there's no puddles or visible leaks. No frothy oil so I know it's not going into the oil. I let the car run for about 45mins and it run up to about 215 the stayed steady at 205. Still getting white smoke out of the exhaust. A new this I noticed is that I'm getting a high pitched hiss/whine from the top of the enigine. Sounds like it's under the upper intake. Still there's no fluids leaking and when I step on the gas it doesn't sound like a vac. leak and it doesn't lose power. I'm so stuck guys. I can rip the car up and down the road. I just want to make sure that all the engine hisses, whines and other things I'm seeing after this build are normal. I just put a whole lot of money into a car I'm still paying for. I'd really like to drive it. Another question. After Hearing all of this but having no noticable problems, can I consider my car reliable enough to drive 700miles? I have a trip to NYC planned and wasn't expecting to still be working on my car. Like I said. It sounds funny but I haven't run into any leaks, cracks, fluid spills or other catastrophic events. Any insight is helpful. I'm almost to the point where I'd like to rip that 60 degree v6 out, take a plasma torch to it then do a full heart transplant with an ls1. My race buddies have already volunteered to make all the mounts, brackets, frame supports, custom drive shaft, the whole shebang. Only hold up on that project is getting an engine, which would take about 2 weeks. What are your thoughts? Oh! And thanks Ben, for the quick response. I've checked your store out and there's some go fast parts I'm interested in. Let's talk.

[SappySE107]

No, the engine is not reliable in its current condition. If you haven't done a compression test since doing all this work, I think you should. This hiss sound is usually a vacuum leak. Water is in your exhaust for a reason so do a test on the coolant. Those 2 tests will help narrow down possibilities if nothing else.

[01GrandayumJeeTee]

Ok. I'll look into the tests. I just don't understand how I can be losing compression if everything is completely flat and all new gaskets with proper torque settings. The smoke from the exhaust I'm thinking is oil from the mandrel bending process. It's doesn't smell sweet like coolant does when it burns. It actually smells like dumping a quart of mobile1 synthetic onto a fire. And like I said, my coolant level is now where it's supposed to be. I really hope I don't have to rip it apart again, I've already used most of my student loan to get the effing thing running. I have ruled out a coolant leak, I think it just needed to work through the engine. The car is running like it did when I brough it home from the dealer. Nice and smooth, but with a little more power from the mods. Just a few thing here and there that worry me. So the next step is the compression test and I'll do a coolant test just for peace of mind. Now can you please tell me what readings I should be expecting if everyrhing is in good working order ad what the numbers mean please? I have until 5/13 to get it ready for NYC. Is it feasable? It took me 3 days to rebuild the top end, but I took my time to make sure I didn't ruin anything. So I know for a fact that if I need to tear it down again I can redo all the gaskets in just a few hours. Best thing about that I guess is I still have the reciept for the gasket set and I bought an extended warranty. So if the gaskets failed I get another set for free. I just really want this on the road and reliable like a month ago!!!

[pocket-rocket]

I've seen white smoke out the exhaust only when one of two problems are present. Brake fluid being drawn in on braking (long story with a really beat up Prelude with a bad master cylinder and leaking brake booster) and when coolant is being drawn in. It doesn't have to be sweet smelling at the tail pipe. I have a feeling your exhaust doesn't smell the same out of the manifold as it does at the pipe thanks to the cat. I would also run to the parts store and use a coolant system pressure tester and test that system, cold and hot and see what it reads.

[01GrandayumJeeTee]

Ok. So here's the deal. I am purely confident that the white smoke is NOT a head problem. The coolant is not going into the cylinders and burning,nor is it dumping onto the crankcase. I have no frothy oil and I called the guys from PaceSetter and they described to a tee what the smoke looks and smells like. So I'm sure that it's oils burning off from the bending process. And like I said, I ran the car under throttle for about 45mins with no overheating and no coolant level drop. I am however going to AutoZone today to rent the compression and coolant testing kits. I will run those tests and if I don't like my readings or find there's a catastophoc failure, I will be putting the car on the lift and ripping the engine out to melt it into a puddle on the floor. Then I will make the calls for an LS1 swap. I just found out that I inherited $85,000 so money is no issue for this daily driver project/build. But like I said. Things just need to be tweaked and tuned in because there is no way I have a head failure. I took them to the race shop to have them milled down and I have some o the best gaskets money can buy!! But we will see and only time will tell. I will post the result of
my finding later on tonight. If I decide to do the swap I will he selling this engine as everything except the crank and pistons are brand new or rebuilt with about 5 miles on them. And like I posted the other day. I use only K&N filters, Royal Purple oil and race fluids and only Lucas additives if need be. I have not run any Lucas oil, fuel or injector treatment in it yet as it's a fresh top end build. This whole thing is really starting to by more of a PITA than it was worth to own a sweet looking car!!!

[86FieroSEv6]

Does this engine use torque to yield head bolts? If so, were they replaced?

[01GrandayumJeeTee]

Yeah. The head bolts are TTY and yes they were replaced.

[96lumina]

Here's a new one for ya'...just read all thee above and even though you had the heads milled;

1. Did you have them do a pressure check the heads?

2. Did the shop do a magna-flex on the heads to check for internal cracks?
Even though a head looks good on the outside, it could even look brand new, there could be internal cracks that the naked eye cannot see...so I must ask cuz it doesn't take much coolant to create the white smoke...does the car smoke before reaching temperature?...sounds like you have a internal crack that leads from the coolant to the exhaust...something you won't see on a compression test or even a coolant leak test...this crack is just small enough to drive you bahzerk cuz it is hard to detect...there is some stuff that is guaranteed to work...I think it is called copper seal or something like that...but since you just inherited 85K I would do the engine upgrade you spoke about...good luck!

[pocket-rocket]

Here's a new one for ya'...just read all thee above and even though you had the heads milled;

1. Did you have them do a pressure check the heads?

2. Did the shop do a magna-flex on the heads to check for internal cracks?
Even though a head looks good on the outside, it could even look brand new, there could be internal cracks that the naked eye cannot see...so I must ask cuz it doesn't take much coolant to create the white smoke...does the car smoke before reaching temperature?...sounds like you have a internal crack that leads from the coolant to the exhaust...something you won't see on a compression test or even a coolant leak test...this crack is just small enough to drive you bahzerk cuz it is hard to detect...there is some stuff that is guaranteed to work...I think it is called copper seal or something like that...but since you just inherited 85K I would do the engine upgrade you spoke about...good luck!

I agree with the pressure test. Any time I pull a set of heads, they go to the machine shop to be cleaned, pressure checked and decked if need be.