Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

General engine tech -- Drag Racing to Circle Track

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mt-engines
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by mt-engines »

Only way I would do it is to braze it.. but to be honest. You could find another head for less time and money than it would cost to fix a hydro locked cylinder after it springs a leak.
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by vortecpro »

Welding is the ultimate fix, we do it often.
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by rebelrouser »

I have had mixed results with welding cast iron. Seems if you don't have an oven to pre heat and then cool slow it always cracks. The other issue is once you start trying to weld you will find out if it is just a sand pit or it is really thin. Years ago I used to do a lot of 906 chrysler heads, so I cut one apart just to see how thick they were after I ported one. I wrote down some measurements and made some gauges so I could work without going to water or making so thin they would be prone to crack. Well one day I went to water on a port, so I cut that head apart and just like a block it had core shift. The casting got thinner on one side the further you moved down the head.
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by vortecpro »

Fortunately I've been lucky, been able to fix some rare stuff, and it sure makes porting easier.
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by mag2555 »

The core shift issue is why I like to start off my porting work in the valve bowl and with a adjustable replacement seat cutter as in this photo.

Note how the results of the cutting show that on the common wall side that it's thinner on that side due to core shift.
This deveation will hold true all the way back up the runner on that side.
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by amc fan »

Eutectic Castolin solder
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by Wetflow »

amc fan wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 8:30 am Eutectic Castolin solder
Isn't solder simply brazing with a lower temperature filler?
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by amc fan »

Wet flow... the low temp keeps the cast iron from cracking, you could use a soldering iron to seal up that hole.
If you can get the flux on the other side of the hole it would seal on that side as well with capillary action.
There are lots of ways to fix the hole but if it is eggshell thin, I think solder or Splash Zone are the way to go.
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by blackford »

BobbyB wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:06 am
blackford wrote: Wed Jan 18, 2023 8:27 pm Well I think I have pushed the boundary of how much these heads can be ported. I was probably lucky that I was able to Port them as much as I did on my test head and to get them to flow as well as they did, but I'm running into problems doing all eight intake ports on the heads that were on the engine. I had them on the engine for 18 years but unfortunately their day has come. Instead of trying to fix them and risking a problem down the road I am going to retire them.

I originally ported these heads 18 years ago and they functioned well on my little 331. Trying to increase the CSA on them just did not work out. I was able to successfully port a few of the ports and I only added 6 cc to them, but my success did not last.

I bought a set of Promaxx 180 heads just in case this happened. I'll be using them now. I finished disassembling one and looking it over and they will need some minor cleanup and a little bit of opening at the pinch but overall they look very good.

Thanks for everyone's help
Good effort, & great result for the time you used them. What was the MCSA that you had on the iron?
The pinch and part of the runner were only about 1.9 sq. in. I was opening these areas up to 2.05 sq. in. The pinch was fairly easy, but obviously moving the runner walls outward about .050 to .060 was too much. The intake ports were about 155cc after porting 20 years ago. I was shooting for 160cc to 161cc but I guess it was too much for the old iron. The 331 did make about 420HP before removed them to put holes in them, LOL.
65 Mustang FB, 331 custom built with 289 H beam rods and 383W piston, 282S cam, Ported Maxx 180s, T5z, 9" 3.89 gears. ~460HP@6500

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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by n2omike »

Found this pic I took a long time ago when repairing a 289 head that cracked.
A thin spot in the bowl cracked, so I drilled a hole between the valves, cleaned the spot really well from the WATER JACKET side of the crack (as well as the port side) and added a thin layer of JB Weld on both sides of said crack. Afterwards, the hole was tapped, a pipe plug installed/trimmed, and the engine was put back into service. Ran without fail for around 10 more years until the heads were retired. MUCH more effective to patch/repair an intake port crack from the water jacket side if possible.

Image
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Re: Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

Post by 1980RS »

n2omike wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 12:45 pm Found this pic I took a long time ago when repairing a 289 head that cracked.
A thin spot in the bowl cracked, so I drilled a hole between the valves, cleaned the spot really well from the WATER JACKET side of the crack (as well as the port side) and added a thin layer of JB Weld on both sides of said crack. Afterwards, the hole was tapped, a pipe plug installed/trimmed, and the engine was put back into service. Ran without fail for around 10 more years until the heads were retired. MUCH more effective to patch/repair an intake port crack from the water jacket side if possible.

Image
Now that's thinking outside the box. :mrgreen:
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