Hi all, again a question... What is your opinion about that heads? Got them from a friend - cheap. I did searches, but did nit find such photos... Are they useable or trash? or are they weld-able? thanks for all your ideas in advance! Best forum is here!! Michael Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I don’t think you’ll keep water in there without welding. They are weldable but maybe not economically viable unless your good with pre heating and Tig welding. Pick shows a section that looks to be rotted under the gaskets fire ring so it’s gone too far. Anything that close will weap at best.
Hi Michael, At least the chambers look good ! Like Torana68 said,,,,they can be repaired,,,,,it will require a good welder and a sum of cash . Then the milling that will be required to get them flat and clean again . Both heads will need a fair amount of attention,,,,,it’s not insurmountable though . A guy with a welder and a mill could easily fix these,,,,and not have very much money involved,,,just his time . However,,,,you have a nice avatar,,,,with some very good looking machines there,,,,,and a really nice checkerboard pattern floor . I’m afraid you will have a lot of money in them after repairs compared to the price of new ones . Also,,,,,I’m not too sure how much corrosion is inside the water jackets,,,,,there might be some thin spots just waiting to leak,,,,,When you least expect it . Like Clint Eastwood said,,,,,do you feel lucky ? Good luck Michael,,,,,,really nice avatar . Tommy
Folk's..... Would you really run those on your new Fresh Flathead? There's theory, then reality. Yeah it's possible to fix these on planet Resto in the Beach Comber Galaxie but for someone on planet earth that has a Summit catalog ......Nope.
F-one , That’s a good analogy,,,,,LoL . I always did like you boys from Alabama . And you are right,,,,,my new Flathead would never see these,,,,I just couldn’t trust them myself . As a matter of fact,,,,I’m probably gonna use the factory heads on mine,,,,,they just look too darn good not to use . Tommy
Ah, but the OP is in Germany and, these days, maybe money, time and a welder is more accessible than Summit?
Mmmm, being in Germany isn't like being on the far side of the moon..! That's a LOT of welding. Then what happens if the heads crack during the welding, or warp too much to fix, or (likely) have to chase leakers (small water leaks)..."after"...machining. I also agree, time for another set, new or used, up to the owner, but NOT those. Mike
Dear all, thank you for all your opinions and answers. If I look twice and be honest with me and recognize your words...they are sadly more gone, as I was thinking... I guess I will take them as a wall art from the good old days - surely this heads could tell a long life story as they look very used..: Thanks for the reaction of my garage, too. I have another set of old style offenhauser heads...I think this ones are a little better in the end...will send some pics, too Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
These are the Offis. Perhaps sand blasting and little grinding..? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
With the current price of aftermarket heads, I wouldn't pass on anything that didn't have big holes in them. The second set of Edmunds I bought off eBay had some pretty bad corrosion areas (must have been run a while with a blown gasket) on one side. The common take on this is that welding old unknown aluminum alloys is a crap shoot at best. On mine, I sandblasted them and use some high temperature JB weld and it seemed to work well. It was a couple of years ago and no problems yet. Modern epoxies are some amazing stuff. There are others such as Belzona and a few others that, while quite expensive, are even more effective. These days, there are probably more glued together panels on new cars than welded ones. There is another company (I forget the name) that had some unbelievable videos on YouTube I saw a few years ago. Some of the things they were able to do will blow your mind.
Yea, the Offenhauser heads look a lot better. A full 360° grit blast, a run through the surfacer to clean and square the decks, maybe a pressure check. Install. Mike
It's 12:30 AM, and the other distributor of high quality epoxy just popped up in my mind; it's Devcon. Getting old is a bitch!
Thanks a lot! will test it and see how it works...you never know when you need something like this... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
What you can see is probably repairable. But what about what you cannot see ? What if those combustion chambers are paper thin, how you gonna fix that ?
Those look much much better. It looks like most of the stuff on those heads is gasket funk. Definitely No!....,on the grinder and sand blaster! They need a good bath in hot soapy dish water and scrubbed with a hard bristle brush. Personally the most aggressive clean up I would do, would be a drill with a wire brush on the combustion chambers only. For the deck surfaces.... I would carefully scrape with a blade (like you would clean old gaskets off a part). A utility/razor knife/box cutter is a good stiff blade to use with care. After the deck surface has been scraped....., I would use a big flat file, medium to fine cut to true the surface. You are not trying to draw file it true, rather you are keeping the file flat and true until the all the deck surfaces are clean. Really you are just cleaning it up and checking it for true. It’s going to have some low and high spots but you’ll know pretty quick if it needs machining. The heads on one of my flatheads, I kicked up out of the ground with my heel. They were cast iron Mercuries and they cleaned up great by the methods above. Good is good. Bad is bad. I’m not above working with old crusty stuff but you have to have something to work with. Those Offys look like they’ll clean up.
Hey! Thanks for the recommendation! I will try it and see what happens. Nothing to loose with this method. You will read from me soon. Michael Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I will never trust a used aluminum head until it's blasted. I've uncovered many pits and corroded spots that looked just like a bit of surface schmutz, but after sandblasting I found the corrosion was very deep. I've been bit, so I'll be very cautious the next time. I've got a pair of Harrell heads that look great on top, and the chambers are actually very nice too. But they need welding around some of the water ports and the necks because the galvanic corrosion ate deep pits. Some too close to the combustion chambers to trust the gasket could seal. But they are valuable enough that I'll get them welded and then surfaced.
it has always been amazing to me how someone can spend gobs of money to rebuild a great Henry Bent Eight and then throw on a set of questionable old heads that may have paper thin cooling passages in em and wonder why the engine overheats when new heads with better alloys are available...........
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