I have set of dart aluminum heads that were on top of a motor that grenaded. the first picture is a bit crappy, but shows the combustion chamber of the cylinder that exploded. obviously the valve will need to be replaced, but my question is: is this head shot totally? the previous owner decided to try to clean up the witness marks with a die grinder, and it appears that he has taken some decent amount of material out....



this one is a pic of the intake runners on the other head. for some reason, one of them is really discolored, and i am not sure why. so any opinion on that one would be nice too. the discoloration does not wipe of like oil or anything....



thanks for any help you can provide....

 

The head is repairable, youl'l need someone to weld up the combustion chamber and then grind it back to its original shape. The discoloration looks like an isolated oil leak, youl'l need to check the are around that port to make sure there isn't a crack that it was sucking oil into the port from. The leak could also have been at the gasket or manifold.

 

one plus abou taluminum heads, all but the most severe damage can be welded up and reprofiled

 

That can be repaired easily.

 

thanks for the input guys. any idea how much is reasonable to pay for this service? and how long it might take? anyone on the board good at this?

I think you are right, I inspected it a little closer, and there seems to be some leaking around the intake valve stem as it enters the port. Guess this one will need to be repaired too.

 

That kind of damage would be $150 in welding and grinding, which is the minimum shop charge for chamber repair, its not complicated, just time consuming in cleaning, pre-heat, weld, cool, grind and polish. The heads need to be disassembled to do the repair.

 

I would hazard a guess that it is further up the port than the intake valve stem seal, but its just a guess.

 

I think it could be fixed for under $200.....I have seen far worse and they were repairable

 

you may well be right, i was only going on a simple visual inspection of the port, and it looks like something is wrong with that area compared with the others, which is what led to my guess.

tomorrow i will try to find a shop around se michigan to fix it up. hopefully it wont take 6 months to get done like the last head place i worked with.

 

I turn that kind of simple stuff around in 3 days max.

 

so you do this kind of work? if so, how can i get a hold of you? i would drop them both in a box and send em out if you can do that kind of turnaround.

 

I don't take work off the internet - sorry, besides you would pay a lot in shipping. Just go to several shops and see if they have have experience doing aluminum repair - that is not a critical area, like between two valve seats that takes some skill to weld and not have the head crack on you.

 

most machine shops would be able to do that no problem.....and being the time of year it is, tracks just opening.....most of those guys have cars....cash talks, anything small I always pay my shop cash and get huge deals