Hit Water. Can this be fixed?

[blackford]

So on my 3rd intake port, I hit water. It's about 2" into the port and about 3/8" long. I'm thinking about using my MIG or Flux Core welder and just run a series of tacks along the hole. I have standard mild steel wire ER70S-6. Flux Core is NR-211-MP wire. I can weld very well with either. I sway toward the flux core as it is more tolerant of rust which could be on the back of the hole. I should probably use my heat gun on the hole first to dry off any antifreeze that could be on the back of the hole. Thing is that even a good looking weld may still leak. Is there a better way?

port hole.jpg

[fordified]

Spray weld it

[mag2555]

Why did you go so big there?
I don’t think you can port up the valve bowl throat big enough to call for that much area, where you just looking to slow down the air speed?

[blackford]

Why did you go so big there?
I don’t think you can port up the valve bowl throat big enough to call for that much area, where you just looking to slow down the air speed?

It's not that big. I've already ported it a test head doing this same exact procedure to get 243@.600 CFM out of a 351 Windsor head. You can't increase CSA in the runner without widening the port. Raising the roof and lowering the floor is a no-go unless a bulging the port is a good thing, not. 1/16 off of both sides.

I want to get back on subject though. Should I go ahead and weld this shut? I know you can weld cast iron if you're just adding material. Fixing a crack in cast iron is a much different situation but that's not what I have

[n2omike]

I had a bowl crack on a 289 head where it was super thin. I drilled a hole through the head under the valve cover into the water jacket... cleaned it really well and used JB Weld on the WATER JACKET side of the crack to repair it. Used it for close to 10 years after that. Never an issue. Tapped the hole I drilled and used a pipe plug to seal it.

[michaelbarry]

I have used Cronatron 211 filler and tigged up an exhaust port with luck in a similar situation, also adding JB weld to the back side (water jacket) of the repair. I tried and tried to seal it with only weld, testing it with each attempt by filling the water jacket of the head with water with the head turned upside down but it always weeped a bit. I mixed the JB up and made a small "funnel" of sorts and directed it toward the area inside the water jacket, as it wasn't very easily accessible. Worked just fine.

[Tom68]

I tried and tried to seal it with only weld, testing it with each attempt by filling the water jacket of the head with water with the head turned upside down but it always weeped a bit.

Yer it will always weep weld only, all but impossible to get a clean weld.

I had weeping intake ports on a 327. Wynns radiator stop leak sealed it up.

[blackford]

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

[vortecpro]

Belzona or cast iron welded, the nice thing about cast iron welding is you can make it thicker where its thin. The problem is all your guides will be destroyed.

[fordified]

As I said. Spray weld it. If this guy can do it anyone can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiB5zSM5hBU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVzeuwRFSM8

The weld is very hard so keep that in mind if you plan on grinding on it. Stones are your best bet for blending.

[mag2555]

If that was where a casting seem line was between the top and bottom mold box then that area can be welded since it only a localized thin spot.

Generally these casting seems neck down to 1/2 of the average wall thickness even without factoring in core shift and rust.
I generally I grind on a cast iron head with the frame of mind that if the head where new I would have .180” wall thickness to work with other then at casting seems.

I at the seems I am already down to 1/2 of that .180”( .090”) and then if like you I am grinding off .062” ( 1/16” ) then I am in danger of water pressure and expansion and contraction failing that wall even if I don’t grind or polish thru it.

[BobbyB]

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?

[stealth]

No one brazes anymore...?

[Bigchief632]

Personally, I'd cut my losses and start over. You'll waste a ton of time trying to fix that, and it'll still leak. Unless you can access that area from the back side, and fill it in that way. If I attempted to fix that, I'd try to get at the back side through the water jacket, or if it's possible to drill an access hole then plug it with a pipe plug, could get creative, if it's in a fire ring area use a long plug, or make something that you could screw in but leave proud, loctie in place and then mill flush. I'd clean the area up really well, and use 3m panel bond on the backside, let some ooz through the hole, and use a portable heater to speed the cure. Then lay a little over the top in the port. That would work. I've done that on a rare 429 Super Cobra jet iron head to fix something similar. And it worked.

[Chris_Hamilton]

Certainly aren't going to MIG weld it with ER70-6 or flux core wire and have it stick and not crack. You need a high nickel content wire to attempt to do that with a MIG.Cracking is almost always an issue as well. Brazing would be my choice as well.