cracked 461 head

[Jerry G.]

I cooked a head last week and developed a crack in the combustion chamber from the water jacket to the valve seat. I really like these heads becasue of all the porting that was done on them. Does anyone repair this kind of crack?

[Dick W.]

Re: cracked 461 head

I cooked a head last week and developed a crack in the combustion chamber from the water jacket the the valve seat. I really like these heads becasue of all the porting that was done on them. Does anyone repair this kind of crack?

There is a company in Greensboro NC, Key Block, that repairs cracked cylinder heads. I am not sure that he could/would do that head though. Have you thought about sodium silicate to seal the water leak? Worked real good on the NASCAR engines until they finally allowed them to run aluminum heads. Those castings were ground on so much that you could almost read newsprint thru them. If you did not use the sodium silicate in them, you did not finish the race on 8 cylinders, if at all.

[Jerry G.]

Re: cracked 461 head

I'll give them a call tomorrow. Since the crack goes into the valve seat i don't think stop leak stuff would work.

[Dick W.]

Re: cracked 461 head

I'll give them a call tomorrow. Since the crack goes into the valve seat i don't think stop leak stuff would work.

I was thinking seat inserts. My bad