Head Gasket Leak question

[remist17]

I built a 383 stroker and assembled the engine. I am using vortex heads. I recently put coolant in the engine and pressure tested the system. A small leak formed on the lower section of the head by the #7 piston. Close to the outer water jacket hole. I have not started the engine. Do you think the gasket will seat itself if it warms up or do I need to pull the intake, exhaust and head? I was hoping not to have to repalce the gasket. Sidenote I did not use any rtv sealant on the headgasket. Motor was square decked and the heads are new.

Your help is appreciated

[78 Chevyrado]

Try retourqing the head bolts. did you put sealer on the bolts that go through to the water jackets? if not it would be fairly easy to pull out one bolt at a time and put sealer on them. Otherwise it will need to be pulled and redone. they wont seal up after its run a while, it will leak worse when it builds up pressure. when you put the head bolts in, were they dry? did they have any oil on them, you need some kind of lube on the threads and a drop under the heads to get good torque readings.

You did right to not use rtv on the gaskets, they should be put on dry unless the instructions specifically mention RTV.

[remist17]

I used ARP bolts and the supplied ARP lube. Torqued them all per the ARP spec.
So I should loosen the bolts and then retorque? or just trorque them?

[spudz]

sounds like a bad gasket that may have been nicked or dented.. Id replace them if it was me on a new never ran motor.

[Dru]

Some of the head bolts go through to the water passages, they always get a dab of RTV, those will usually only leak at the bolt head if they are going to. But yeah its not going to seal itself by running, and it sounds like you have some money in the motor, so I wouldnt take any chances.

[remist17]

So should I just retorque and try or pull and replace?