Head repair question

[karlak]

LOL..... heads are on a shelf waiting for me. I have spent the last 18 months working on the house. Have not had the time or the funds to do both. I have 3 project cars that have been waiting. I must have A.D.D. I now have a 2.2, 2.5, 2.2t3, and 2.4srt4 project. None of them running.

[iTurbo]

It's Tuesday night, 18 months later. Were you able to get ahold of them?

Heheh nope. For me it was easier just to find a better head. I still got my junker TIII head with scored cam journals. Maybe I should send it to Steve if he's still interested in doing something with one.

[iTurbo]

I called Steve at Absolute Automotive Machine today. I told him I was working on a Chrysler TIII head and he seemed to be very familiar with them and had done crack repairs etc. I told him that I had a head that had some pretty serious grooves in the cam bores and he said he thought that it could still be fixed. He said they are generally worse on the sprocket side because of the cam belt tugging on them, but usually can be fixed with a hone. Otherwise they can fit the head with press-in bearings. He said that it wasn't a common size bearing and that they would probably have to order them in bulk if it needed them.

I wasn't planning on having this junker head rebuilt, but other than the typical core plug crack and the cam journals being rough, it seems OK otherwise. Currently the head is in my Omni for a mock-up but I'm probably going to pull it off tonight and get it ready to ship.

[iTurbo]

Here's what I'm up against with my 'junker' head.

[karlak]

Mine is not cracked but journals look worse than yours. May have to send head to him to get estimate.

[iTurbo]

I was about to get this head packaged tonight, but decided to check the thickness first. I measured with a digital calipers on both ends between the cams and got 5.018" pretty consistently. Does anybody know the acceptable thickness range for a TIII head? There is a 'step' on one corner of the head that measures right on 5.000"...I'm guessing that is the service limit and the point that the step would become level with the deck?

[Lotashelbys]

A new one will measure 5.021-024. Most I have seen on new ones is 021. I would say that one is very good only missing a few thou. After a head is down to like under 010 I use the .074 Cometic on it to get it close to "new" spec. I wouldnt worry too much about it if its over 5.000

[iTurbo]

Cool thanks Jackson. I'm packing it up now; will update again after I hear back from Absolute.

[Ondonti]

Exactly,

Its being used right now for some TIII products I am bringing out but after that, I promise I'll send it out to you.

Bring out some sort of sensor that megasquirt can understand without using a distributor....and without ford EDIS crap

[turbovanman²]

A new one will measure 5.021-024. Most I have seen on new ones is 021. I would say that one is very good only missing a few thou. After a head is down to like under 010 I use the .074 Cometic on it to get it close to "new" spec. I wouldnt worry too much about it if its over 5.000

Mines very thin, that pad is almost gone,

Bring out some sort of sensor that megasquirt can understand without using a distributor....and without ford EDIS crap

Nah, no more custom stuff, way too much hassle and no one wants it anyhow.

[glhs441]

I had Steve at Absolute Machine put bearings in my head, he was great to deal with.

Only the two next too the sprokets.

[iTurbo]

Good to hear. Steve told me it's usually the ones near the sprockets that are the worst, which is true with my cylinder head.

[karlak]

Get the head back???

[karlak]

update on your head?

[CaptMoe]

"crickets"

[karlak]

???

[zin]

I'm still looking into finding bearing inserts for this issue, but finding a federal mogul catalog is actually kinda hard without spending a ton of money on it. Maybe I can find one at the swap meet this weekend.

If you still need one, I've got a PDF of the Cevite Bearing Book... I could email it to you. However, I think I just downloaded it from their site... Just shoot me an email if you need me to send a copy...

Mike

[theort]

fix my head found the largest bore size then made them all to size took my cams put them in the lathe took 15 or 20 thousand off the journals had them hard chromed then ground them to size better than new

[turbovanman²]

fix my head found the largest bore size then made them all to size took my cams put them in the lathe took 15 or 20 thousand off the journals had them hard chromed then ground them to size better than new

Trouble doing that is, you are stuck with those cams and they are ruined for a regular TIII head.

[zin]

fix my head found the largest bore size then made them all to size took my cams put them in the lathe took 15 or 20 thousand off the journals had them hard chromed then ground them to size better than new

Sounds like an elegant solution! Though I suspect not a typical T-M solution...(also known as a cheap-azz solution)

I'm curious as the the cost of boring the cam journals in the head as well as if there was any special set-up or prep work that was needed. Also, regarding the chrome, what chroming process did you use? "Triple Chrome/Marine Chrome", or??

I'm curious about the chrome mostly due to my fear of it flaking off at some point down the road and seriously damaging the head... Of course if it is done well, that shouldn't be a problem...

Mike