Blocked water holes in head & block deck

[Henry's Lady's Man]

I'm ready to reinstall my Snyder 6:1 head after a project, and I noticed there are two plugged or blocked holes in the head, small ones between #2 and #3. The very same holes are plugged or blocked in the block itself. Snyder's B gasket has the holes open. What gives? I read where one guy drilled out these blocked holes. Should I leave them alone or drill them out? I don't remember the holes being blocked when I put the head on just 2k miles ago after a rebuild, but I just might not have noticed.

 

[Henry's Lady's Man]

OOOPS!!! Here are pics.

 

[Bob Johnson]

Are your sure those are blocked holes. Could it just be rust/discolor due to previously installed head. The gasket has the holes and it can leave an impression on the head. The holes do exist on a Model B head and are extra steam vents. I would NOT drill the holes. I have had problems in that area with drilled holes because the gasket holes do not always line up well with the block and head. Also the gasket is not very wide in that area so holes make it even narrower. If you have an A block it will not have the holes so drilling them in the head will not do any good.

Bob

 

[Henry's Lady's Man]

Are your sure those are blocked holes. Could it just be rust/discolor due to previously installed head. The gasket has the holes and it can leave an impression on the head. The holes do exist on a Model B head and are extra steam vents. I would NOT drill the holes. I have had problems in that area with drilled holes because the gasket holes do not always line up well with the block and head. Also the gasket is not very wide in that area so holes make it even narrower. If you have an A block it will not have the holes so drilling them in the head will not do any good.

Bob

Good call, Bob. I just scratched the holes and it seems to be just a mark. There is undrilled metal under the marks on the A block.
This is a new Snyder head with 2k miles on it, and the block was just rebuilt and has the same 2k miles on it. It wouldn't be rust, but something got in there and made a mark.

 

[lodaddyo]

Its from using a model b head gasket with a high compression head on a model a block. The model b had steam holes between cylinder #2 and #3. The model a block doesnt have them

 

[Henry's Lady's Man]

Its from using a model b head gasket with a high compression head on a model a block. The model b had steam holes between cylinder #2 and #3. The model a block doesnt have them

Thanx daddyo; That explains it loud and clear. There are subltle differences like this.
Here's a good one... I also put in a '32 B cam, not knowing tht Henry redesigned the tappets to be larger; a whopping 1.187" base to ride on the B cam. I had these little self adjusting tappets with my original A cam and reused them. They only have a base diameter of 0.990". That's a far cry from 1.187", so I found original NOS solid tappets on eBay and used them. I had to grind down the valve stems to the recommended .015 intake and .022 exhaust for 1932! I learned my lesson, but saved the cam which was already showing signs of wear on the lobe edge center.