Hit the DAMNED water jacket

I guess there isn't as much material on these heads as there are on other SBF heads. I figured I had MUCH more...

Anyway, will simplify the job for the other 7 cylinders. All I can do now is smooth edges and polish some walls. Not going to have to spend so much time removing a bunch of material.

Welded it up and cleaned it up, and looks almost good as new...

 

well,... the good news is, you know just how far you can go.

sorry

 

...I knew you were going to do it...

 

what type of heads were you porting?

 

i think they are gt40p's

 

GT40. I am swapping the Ps out for non Ps.

I did fine on the Ps, and ran them for years, but I just cleaned up and widened a little. Then I started reading up and they said there are no thin spots on SBF heads so I hit these a little harder. What should have been an hour on one hole ended up being almost 3 (spent a lot of time welding several layers to make sure I don't have any pin holes when I am done).

But, like said, I now know that all I need to do is clean up and smooth out, not try to reshape the entire port. Saves me LOTS of time when I do the rest of them.

 

sucks for you, but good at the same time.

Lesson learned

 

Welding cast iron?? I'm assuming they are aluminum?

 

me too....welded????? I had a set of heads (Victor Jr's) that were "overported" and the guy drilled a hole from the top side and pressed in a pieced of copper tubing to "repair" the foo-foo. I couldn't find anything on google, but you don't need to worry about it now anywho. Grats on the easy fix! PICTURES! (of the foo foo)

 

I have welded cast iron for years. Gotta clean it up really good and get a good surface for the weld to hold on to. And let the weld really pool up well so it will bond.

I used to work at a machine shop that repaired huge vacuum pumps and compressors that were made of cast iron. when they came in, almost all of them needed welding for some thing or another. Some we even machined out, and welded stainless sleeves and rings in (for paper plants and oil refineries mostly, due to the acids that formed in their processes).

So, yeah, cast welds fine.

This hole was about 1/8" thick and 3/4" long. It got thin evenly for a large surface, then one more swipe took out a gash. I just roughed it, cleaned it, and put several coats of weld to build it back up. Then ground down to make sure it was going to hold well, then went around the first weld and did about 3 layers each concentric to the previous. Final weld was maybe 1/2" by 1" then ground back down to a safe thickness.

Like I said, added a couple extra hours to the job.

Pics show the welded area, and a couple clean shots of the finished port and bowl. Will polish a little more just to make is shine. Need finer dremel paper drums.

Upon looking at the pics, they don't do the work justice. Bad lighting, awful flash, etc...

 

Sorry also, I stuck with the pros. I heard that its easy go grind off to much.

 

It wasn't "easy". I ground on it for quite a while before I hit it. But I PROMISE you I won't hit another one

In the pic with the weld in it, you cannot tell by the picture but I have re-welded the entire floor of that port and then reported it to a safe level. THAT is what took so much time.

My dad showed up while I was reworking it and he immediately asked "Uh...what is the welder doing out..." with THAT tone of voice, if you know what I mean.

He has worked in machine shops all his life, and several years diesel mechanic, and he said it looked REALLY GOOD considering the tools I am using...He still works on those vacuum pumps and compressors that I used to work on in college.

 

You might wanna have the head's water jacket pressure tested before installing on the engine. A lot easier than finding/fixing the problem after the motor is assembled. A head gasket alone cost more than the test.

 

Good idea...gotta find someone who can do that around here.

 

I knew you can weld cast iron, i've just always been told that it's best to TIG it. I didn't know there was a reliable process for welding cast iron with a MIG.