Junk or repairable?

R

ronzmtrwrx

Member
I bought these old 59A style Sharp heads and after blasting one, I see that I may have bought some nice wall art. What do you guys think?
 

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I was going to offer some encouraging advice until I blew the pictures up; now, not so much.
 
I prefer cast iron heads. Better performance, less maintenance and troubles. Unless you're going for the aluminum look.
 
If they were mine i would mess with them, worse case its a wall hanger. If you dont have the ability and equipment to try and repair them, paying someone would be to exspensive .
 
ronzmtrwrx said:
I bought these old 59A style Sharp heads and after blasting one, I see that I may have bought some nice wall art. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Hey Ron,
A lot of 'cracks' going on in just the two pics that you show. I would alum weld up the wear/oxidation or JB, but those cracks would stop me until after thorough check...for more cracks.
 
These are the only ones I find on this head. I'll blast the other one this evening and check it out. I have an oven and a tig as well as a mill, so I'll probably give it a go anyway. The heavy corrosion will be an issue I'm sure. They were cheap and now I see why. Lol. I'll take pics as I go just in case I'm able to pull it off. Thanks for the replies.
 
drill a 1/8 hole st the end of each crack. The one the corrosion won't hurt anything, but afterblasting fill with JB weld. Torque heads at 45 ft/lbs through 3 heat cycles. Might consider setting pidyon to head clearance to 40/50 thou. Good luck
 
I would fix em. Now, after saying that, I will also add the fact that welding on old heads can REALLY be frustrating.

Looks like some windows from the top side might be needed.
 
Repairing the corrosion with JB weld. For the crack I would put an aluminum tube in each of the bolt holes A good source for aluminum tubing is available in short lengths from Aircraft Specialty Spruce this type of repair I have done with good results using material from them. For a tubing size use 1/2 inch outside diameter with a 7/16 inside diameter locktite applied to the tubing will help seal the crack and I bet you will be able to use the head with out any welding or special work other than a drill press. If the crack is seen on the top of the head then thats another problem where only careful welding will posibly save the head.
Ronnieroadster
 
I think the first pic shows a casting flaw that does not hurt anything. The second pic shows a crack but again, I don't think it hurts anything. I would run them and see. All you are risking is a pair of head gaskets. I would be interested if you decide to sell them.
 
Ronnieroadster said:
Repairing the corrosion with JB weld. For the crack I would put an aluminum tube in each of the bolt holes A good source for aluminum tubing is available in short lengths from Aircraft Specialty Spruce this type of repair I have done with good results using material from them. For a tubing size use 1/2 inch outside diameter with a 7/16 inside diameter locktite applied to the tubing will help seal the crack and I bet you will be able to use the head with out any welding or special work other than a drill press. If the crack is seen on the top of the head then thats another problem where only careful welding will posibly save the head.
Ronnieroadster
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I actually like this idea and think it may work. If I were doing it, I would expand a bit on the method though. The holes look pretty rough. I'd take it to a machine shop and have them machine the holes smooth and use aluminum tubing that is almost a press fit...or a shrink fit. Worth a try and shouldn't be that expensive.
 
Ronnieroadster said:
Repairing the corrosion with JB weld. For the crack I would put an aluminum tube in each of the bolt holes A good source for aluminum tubing is available in short lengths from Aircraft Specialty Spruce this type of repair I have done with good results using material from them. For a tubing size use 1/2 inch outside diameter with a 7/16 inside diameter locktite applied to the tubing will help seal the crack and I bet you will be able to use the head with out any welding or special work other than a drill press. If the crack is seen on the top of the head then thats another problem where only careful welding will posibly save the head.
Ronnieroadster
Click to expand...

That is what I had planned except I was planning to sleeve all four of the head bolt holes with a .625 od tube instead of .500 after I make the welding repairs. It's hard to tell how thick the wall is on the head bolt holes, so I may need to back off a little on the od of the tube I install. Since there's only four to do, I'll just make them myself on the lathe. The cracks go up the side of a couple of the bolt holes but I figured the epoxy I apply will remedy that. There's no issues on the top side other than the heads have been bolted on several times with no flat washers. The top surface of the bolt holes need cleaned up so I'm going to lightly ream each head bolt hole to true them up and then make a counter bore with a pilot to fit the holes and counterbore each one just enough to locate the flat washer which will have an id slightly larger than 7/16" for a little wiggle room. I think I can get them back into runnable condition. Thanks for your input.
 
I did the "Aluminum Tube Trick" on the Edmunds heads on my '51. It was not so much to repair anything but to allow the heads to be located more precisely. I think it would also make a good repair. I used 7/16" ID - 1/2" OD tube from a place called "Online Metals". So far, so good.
 

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