Jhucks03

I bought a set of used, ported heads off of here and turns out one head has cracks in the intake port on the front and rear cylinders. Didn’t pass the pressure check. Can anyone fix them or are they scrap.

Thanks

oldcutlass

I'd go with scrap, but thats just me.

Hammerdrop

I have an answer: Indy Cylinder Head in Indiana.

67OAI

Don't know where you are located but most large cities would have a specialty shop that does a lot of repair work on diesels including welding repair of cylinder heads. I know of one in Jacksonville Florida. May be less expensive to replace rather than repair. Good luck.

redoldsman

I think it depends on the heads whether you scrap them or not. If they are D heads you for sure would want to get them repaired.

Fun71

I agree. If they're J or 8 heads, I would seriously think first before committing to a repair.

Andy

See if the person off here will refund your money, unless they sold them as is with no claim of being good heads. I wouldn’t weld them..

Jhucks03

They are large valve C’s. Billed as Mondello-ported. My location is Myrtle Beach, SC.

Hoping I didn’t get completely hosed. But, not looking great.

VORTECPRO

You bet they can be fixed...................

BillK

They can be fixed but at what cost and is it worth it or not ? If there are cracks in the intake ports it is probably because they have been ported to the point where the metal is very thin. That is the hardest type of repair on cast iron. Welding up chambers like Mike shows is relatively easy but when it comes to fixing a very thin, cracked cast iron port I would personally not fool with it. Cut your losses and move on.

By the way, what I tell my customers when they mention buying used heads from somebody a long distance away is to find a machine shop close to the seller and pay that machine shop to check the heads for you. Any decent seller would not have a problem taking them to the shop to be checked.

68442

There is a method of repairing cast called metal stitching. I have done this a few times with unbelievable results. Most guys doing this are doing pre war stuff that is not replaceable(steam engines etc.). There is a guy local to me doing it and it ran about $100-150 a crack. I watched him over time rebuild a vintage steam engine chamber that had blown apart in pieces. And this will be operating a close to 3K psi in operation.

BangScreech4-4-2

There are lots of C heads out there. Try again.

BillK

Metal stitching works great on old heavy castings with cracks where you can easily get to them. Not so well in thin castings like in an intake port where you cant get to it. I use it fairly often to fix small cracks in combustion chambers and blocks.

VORTECPRO

The nice thing about welding the heads is you can go in there and fix the areas that are thin, and this only applies if you have a rare part or a special set of heads you want to save. But make no mistake you can save just about anything cast iron, but it takes some work. The picture I posted depicted a head that all the seats had been sunk due to previous multiple valve jobs. The welding allows you to bring the seats up to GM factory specifications, and make the head factory fresh again.

fleming442

Fixing them also depends on how much work has been done. Porting another head to match ain't gonna be cheap.

CANADIANOLDS

let me guess where they are cracked…..down in the area beside the valve guide?

wr1970

I am on a thin limb!😂 That being said I totally agree with you on this. The only place I wouldn't fix a cast iron head is in the spring pockets after hitting water. Was told by a cylinder head shop.

Jhucks03

Best I can recall. I have to get by there and pick them up.

CANADIANOLDS

I have a set of ported Mondello heads here that have cracks ..probably the same place as yours.

been sitting on my shelf for 10 years.

I’ll post some pics of them and how they tried to fix them..they were sent back to Mondello. Came back with a big blob of epoxy. Still leaked

VORTECPRO

When the machined welding looks like this I wouldn't be afraid.

wr1970

That's not a spring pocket 🤣

Jhucks03

Finally got by to pick the heads up. I tried to zoom in for a couple of pictures.

wr1970

Send them to vortecpro to get fixed.