Bronze valve seats?

[madkaw]

where do I find that number? On the end of the head firewall side,

there a number sign and under it is says 1, is that it?

#1 in front thru #6 in the back , easy peazy

[ajmcforester]

sometimes with the project you need to understand when you need to go get professional help.I would recommend finding a very good machine shop look at the head what it would cost to be repaired. Removing the seats may make more work for the machine shop a lot of times they measure the seats before removing them make sure that their machine properly once replaced. removing the seats is an easy job for the machine shop and it's not worth worrying about the a couple bucks it will cost for them to remove it.

good luck I hope it cost to repair the said will be affordable enough for you to do it.

[Eddy67]

madkaw I thought you meant what is the serial number of the head, the damage is on the 4th cylinder

ajmcforester

For this head I will need to take it to the pros, I am going to remove and replace the bronze seats on the other head myself. I was going to chuck this head out that is in the pic but I may keep it for now. I also have another E31 head that has the 280 valve seats in it but it is already .030 under spec, not sure if its worth anything I guess I could go with a thicker gasket and cam shims if need be, anyone have any thoughts on it?

[Diseazd]

Eddy....Check the two water passages adjacent to number 3.....see if you can see any etching along the gasket surface into the cylinder. If so, it needs to be milled out if you reuse the head. That's where the water would enter the cylinder. Number 6 has a big water jacket and therefore that's where it usually occurs.

[Eddy67]

Heres a pic of the holes they look fine, there's one other thing I forgot about, the cooling jacket with the red arrow on it was completely plugged with this hard clay/sand type mixture almost like cement. I chiseled it all out, it went in some 3/4 inch or so, I could swear this was the sand from when the head was cast and all of the sand did not come out, interesting enough that it was near that cylinder in question.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Eddy67

[Diseazd]

Looks like it must of come from the small hole between the cylinders, or possibly the larger hole opposite the side of your red arrow....the way it was eaten away from that direction. I've seen it eat the metal ring in the gasket and get in that way. Still have the old gasket? Too bad....looks like a nice head other than that.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Diseazd

[Eddy67]

No I don't have it

[Zed Head]

There's others that know more but maybe you got a bad casting. If the sand you found came from the casting process that means the investment (probably wax back then) might have been damaged. The coolant could be coming from a leak between the cooling channel and the intake runner. Check the inside of that cylinder's runner. The head might be no good from the factory. Guys that port their runners sometimes over-do it and cut in to the cooling channel.

[madkaw]

madkaw I thought you meant what is the serial number of the head, the damage is on the 4th cylinder

ajmcforester

For this head I will need to take it to the pros, I am going to remove and replace the bronze seats on the other head myself. I was going to chuck this head out that is in the pic but I may keep it for now. I also have another E31 head that has the 280 valve seats in it but it is already .030 under spec, not sure if its worth anything I guess I could go with a thicker gasket and cam shims if need be, anyone have any thoughts on it?

Yep - .030 - it's probably junk, better let me take it off your hands. Those 280 valves are probably to big and the head will breathe too much air. To bad I don't live closer and could help you haul that junk off

[ajmcforester]

Yep - .030 - it's probably junk, better let me take it off your hands. Those 280 valves are probably to big and the head will breathe too much air. To bad I don't live closer and could help you haul that junk off

I hear ya I mean putting another set of seats would be too much to fix that second head, and if I took it off your hands I'd need to find another car to put it in I don't think I can help you off load the second head ;^)

[Eddy67]

Yep - .030 - it's probably junk, better let me take it off your hands. Those 280 valves are probably to big and the head will breathe too much air. To bad I don't live closer and could help you haul that junk off

Can this head still be used with a head shim? Or is a thicker head gasket better? This head even has a 3 angle grind job

[madkaw]

Okay, all kidding aside-well most of it anyway -

It sounds like you have a performance head on you hands. ."30 shave is considerable amount and will push your CR up depending on what block you are using. I have the same set-up on my L24. DON'T use a thicker head gasket, but shims for the cam towers will making geometry correct.

You might want to do some research and come up with a plan with all of your choices.

Sounds like you last option might be best for performance, but have the head checked out by an experienced Z machine shop- Rebello!