Welding Tips and Tricks

pavetim wrote:I have a borescope at work ill check it out next day or so and see how it looks from backside. I had a flashlight in the water jacket that's why its bright. Yeah Otto that's creative and something like,that backing idea could be done, water jackets are small that's why i said you cannot back it.

Are you planning on having the welds ground down so as to smooth out the air flow/water flow? I don't know the contours of the shape of the passages of that head but you may have eggshell thin metal for quite a big area which could result in a huge weld area. What is the head made of by the way? I think I see dis-similar metal valve seat inserts into a cast aluminum head?

exnailpounder wrote:.

Exactly! Jeff you have a talent for being concise.

LtBadd wrote:

exnailpounder wrote:.

Exactly! Jeff you have a talent for being concise.

What ...???

Yes I will smooth welds out for airflow. Head is aluminum and the valve seats are beryllium copper and valve guides are manganese bronze, you have to use those exotic materials when you run titanium valves. Here are more pics for reference you should be able to see where he repaired it. I suppose if we had to we could open up the slits on the bottom which are the water jackets, build it back up and ill have the head machined flat again. But I don't wanna spend a fortune to do this so we will see what you guys or Jody can do.

Some head work actually has epoxy applied to ports to aid in achieving desired flow. This could possibly be done to your head to repair it. These epoxies are not the cheap cure all JB weld type stuff. Suggest contacting a good motor designer/builder that specializes in custom blocks and heads. Places I dealt with like Gearte, Esslinger, Stanton, and ed pink could prolly point you in right direction. Cost of doing this could be more then your head.

This is exhaust port so have to consider combustion heat, that's why I am not trying the epoxy method.

Pavetim - There's a guy in Georgia, Jim French, who does automotive micro welding and I guarantee you two things: if it can be done, he cano it perfectly, and he is just about the nicest and most humble guy you'll ever come across. Here's a reference to his work (and a spectacular head specialist who can help you out if you get stuck)
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,158036.0.html

Pardon the link offsite gents

Sweet, I sent him am email with some pics. Thanks.

Jim French said he can do the repair for 50-75 bucks, thats if nothing goes wrong like the hole opening up cause walls are too thin. So cross my fingers.

pavetim wrote:Jim French said he can do the repair for 50-75 bucks, thats if nothing goes wrong like the hole opening up cause walls are too thin. So cross my fingers.

Excellent! I might have touched it for a price in that neighborhood, but head work is not my forte' so I'd have offered caveats and exclusions and all the legalese I could come up with. I would, however, have wanted a go if no one else would touch it. As I said previously, if no one thinks it can be done, what's there to lose? I will tackle anything I'm told "can't be done", and usually come out on top.

Steve S

Win or lose, be sure to ask for photo's so we can see how it goes!

Dollar to a donut it will come back perfectly ready for machining I've seen lots of Jim's work; he's damned well deservedly renowned for his skills at micro welding. And he's a top flight bloke to boot.