Technical Flathead with Pitted combustion chambers. Are these heads usable?

I picked up a set of aluminum flathead heads and one of the combustion chambers has some gouging or pitting in it. Can this head be saved?

Can it be used as is, or is there any way to repair it. I've seen the guy at Turlock with the aluminum brazing stuff but i don't know if that will handle the heat in a head.



This is the area in question





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Back in the day, that was nuttin'. There was a thread on the "Ford Barn" where some well respected old-timer engine builders say they used to fix these with a product called "DevCon" with great success. I would at least clean up any sharp edges. The best solution would be to mill them enough to allow cleaning them to achieve .050 to .060 "squish". (Them piston rings sure are made outta hard metal!)

 

sure was something bouncing up and down in that cylinder.

 

I saw one of those guys at the counry fair about 40 years ago and bit. They must have special beer cans, because I could never get it to work like they did.

 

its fine but looks like they need machining anyway.................

 

Smooth it out with a RoLoc, skim the head and run it.

 

Mill it until is gone. Check valve clearances. Mill as necessary for clearance.

 

I thought that's what they were supposed to look like.


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Won't this affect the strength of the casting and the compression ratio?


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Strength of the casting - no.

Compression ratio - infinitesimally. Not to worry; it is insignificant.

BTW, unless you are running at Bonneville or a 100,000 mile durability test, there is no reason for you to grind it completely smooth. Some pitting is acceptable, just no sharp edges (a wire wheel lightly used can burnish it acceptably smooth).

 

Thank you for all your replies. I was just concerned if the pitting would mess with the engine at all. It looks like I got the go ahead from several knowledgeable guys, so I will just run these. They are original weiand cheater heads, so I'd like to use them.




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I have not met a stock flathead yet, that did not benefit from increased compression (within reason).

 

6.8-7.2:1 were stock, depending on model. That's pretty good, if you are running a turbocharger.

 

I don't know what the compression ratio is on these... They have 400 stamped on the water neck. I think that's the valve lift. I heard these heads perform pretty well though. I'm excited to see exactly how they do on my flathead


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You have a perfect opportunity to get your compression and "squish" right for optimum performance. I went through this same exercise last summer with a set of used "Edmunds" heads. I had them on and off several times and by using aluminum foil balls, was able to get a uniform .040 to .050 squish. This yielded a consistent 160 lbs of compression on all eight cylinders vs. a stock 110 lbs. I figure they have between 8 and 8 1/2 compression, which is about all that is practical on a flathead without a lot of extra expensive work. I believe you're right about the "400" meaning .400 clearance for the valves (current Edelbrock heads come in "375" and "400" versions; (stock 8BA valve lift is .300).

 

The pitting just adds turbulence. Get that piston dome to cylinder height down around .040" and run em.

 

That pitting was commonly noted as ring dings.