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Aluminum Head and Block Repair
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DRR Elite
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what part of the TRUTH and the FACTS don't you like?
 
Posts: 13522 | Location: NJ | Registered: August 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
DRR Pro
Picture of Goob
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quote:
Originally posted by David Covey:
quote:
Originally posted by Curly1:
Check with John Ferry and Ferrys Aluminum Head Repair in Mesquite. He is good and has been a huge help, my motor and heads are going there Monday.


Bruce,
Did you take your stuff to Ferry?
I picked mine up last Monday, I took it to him back in August. Basically untouched, he ground out the cracks, no welding.I ordered a water cooler for my tig and will be welding it up myself.

Good luck.

Dave


We always had to strip and clean the parts, grind the cracks, mark the areas, etc. and had them welded by a welding shop, then complete the machining to finish the repair.

Brodix repairs go to an outside shop, by the way. I have a set I want repaired, but I'm hesitant to do the shipping dance, just to find out I could just buy a new set for the same money.


"Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular."
Dave Cook
N375
 
Posts: 1839 | Location: Indy | Registered: November 21, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
DRR Elite
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that's the chance you take when you decide to attempt to fix rather than buy new heads
 
Posts: 13522 | Location: NJ | Registered: August 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of David Covey
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quote:
Originally posted by Goob:

We always had to strip and clean the parts, grind the cracks, mark the areas, etc. and had them welded by a welding shop, then complete the machining to finish the repair.

Brodix repairs go to an outside shop, by the way. I have a set I want repaired, but I'm hesitant to do the shipping dance, just to find out I could just buy a new set for the same money.


That's the way I am going. Precision Machine in Waco has all the equipment to machine the block once the welding is done. Jack has the BHJ plates to square the block along with align boring it. I'm also going to go with a 55 mm cam so when finished everything will be as new.

I also contacted Indy and they told me what filler rods to use and what needed to be needed to be done.

Nothing anyone with skills cannot accomplish.
I have the skills as I have worked as a chassis builder And have built and repaired numerous chassis.

I'm with you I just can't justify sending stuff on a tour of the US to get it welded up.

By the way, there is a new out of the box Indy Maxx sitting on a stand in the shop waiting on pistons that will be used. This one will be a spare.

Dave


"It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance." -Thomas Sowell
 
Posts: 3348 | Location: American By Birth Texan By The Grace Of God  | Registered: April 29, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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the repair will fail!!
 
Posts: 13522 | Location: NJ | Registered: August 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of CURTIS REED
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quote:
Originally posted by 1320racer:
the repair will fail!!


I'm curious why you would say that? Do you really believe that a manufacturer is the only ones who can weld?



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Posts: 3143 | Location: KIEFER, OK. | Registered: August 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Paul S/Q
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I called Dart about repairing my big M after it pitched a rod and cracked it, sent them pics to see that it wasnt bad at all, they didnt want to do it ..
 
Posts: 787 | Location: hopefully pickin up a check in the winners circle | Registered: November 29, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post



DRR Sportsman
Picture of FootbrakeJim
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I am just dumbfounded that none of these shops can get to the job in a timely manner. I will admit I don't know anything about any of those shops' operations, but it is hard to believe a guy that does nothing but repair aluminum heads can be that backed up on work to where he would let a well-paying job sit for months. Am I missing something? (And yes, I have seen machine shops with 1, 2 or 3 employees, 20-30 blocks sitting around on the floors gathering dust, and nobody running any of the equipment). I have also been to excellent machine shops, where they have racks full of customer jobs, where I have dropped a block to be machined, sleeved, tanked, new cam bearings and soft plugs installed, and they call me in 3 days to pick it up. It seems like there is a nice opportunity out there, waiting for the right guy...


Dan "Jim" Moore
Much too young to feel this damn old!!
 
Posts: 1101 | Location: Farmersville, TX  | Registered: December 05, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by CURTIS REED:
quote:
Originally posted by 1320racer:
the repair will fail!!


I'm curious why you would say that? Do you really believe that a manufacturer is the only ones who can weld?

I've seen enough failures of repairs done by the original manufacture to know it's a maybe at best no mind done by a racer that has never repaired a cracked head and/or block.
 
Posts: 13522 | Location: NJ | Registered: August 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
DRR Sportsman
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for what it's worth i had a dart head repaired. I called dart and sent them photos and they didn't want to do it.

It had dropped a valve and really did a number on the chamber.

I've not welded aluminum much and had my machine work buddy have his guy weld the chamber up. Had new guides and seats on that chamber put in, cleaned up the seats on the others and decked the head.

I made a template off another chamber and hand blended it it to match. It can be done.
 
Posts: 560 | Location: somewhere between been and never was | Registered: November 03, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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welding up a banged up chamber is not the same as welding a cracked head!
 
Posts: 13522 | Location: NJ | Registered: August 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
DRR Sportsman
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I fail to see where he said the head was cracked...
 
Posts: 560 | Location: somewhere between been and never was | Registered: November 03, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by David Covey:
Basically untouched, he ground out the cracks
 
Posts: 13522 | Location: NJ | Registered: August 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
DRR Sportsman
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Head or block? Doesn’t say.

Agreed cracked in the chamber is sketchy if that is the case.
 
Posts: 560 | Location: somewhere between been and never was | Registered: November 03, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post



DRR Pro
Picture of Goob
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quote:
Originally posted by I Hate Dragsters:
Head or block? Doesn’t say.

Agreed cracked in the chamber is sketchy if that is the case.


Except for 1.9L Phord Escort heads, they're better after the repairs. Big Grin

Y'all ever notice that almost all Phord model names sound different when you insert the word anal first?

Anal Explorer
Anal Expedition
Anal Escort
Anal Probe.....well, you get the idea. Laughing Hard


"Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular."
Dave Cook
N375
 
Posts: 1839 | Location: Indy | Registered: November 21, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
DRR S/Pro
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Fixing a block or head that is cracked into water is much different than fixing a banged up chamber or oil pan rail.
First issue is there is no money doing it and to do it right can take way more time that anyone knows! If you have never tried to fix a crack, it's not easy! Try it, then pressure test the repair, 9 out of 10 times it's still leaking because you can't see the entire crack. Even when welding, more of the crack shows up than you thought existed. Repairing a crack can easily take 3 or 4 grind weld sessions! $$$$$$$$$$$ They are a PIA and that's why no one wants to get stuck doing them and it could still crack again after it's put back into use.
 
Posts: 2163 | Location: Tewksbury, MA,USA | Registered: November 03, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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TOP38…KNOWS!
 
Posts: 13522 | Location: NJ | Registered: August 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of CURTIS REED
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quote:
Originally posted by TOP38:
Fixing a block or head that is cracked into water is much different than fixing a banged up chamber or oil pan rail.
First issue is there is no money doing it and to do it right can take way more time that anyone knows! If you have never tried to fix a crack, it's not easy! Try it, then pressure test the repair, 9 out of 10 times it's still leaking because you can't see the entire crack. Even when welding, more of the crack shows up than you thought existed. Repairing a crack can easily take 3 or 4 grind weld sessions! $$$$$$$$$$$ They are a PIA and that's why no one wants to get stuck doing them and it could still crack again after it's put back into use.


Yep, it can be a pain. We manufacture some large cast aluminum water heated centrifuge bodies that we weld a plate into and make a water jacket for them. I have done it for years so I do understand what it takes.

I’m running a set of Alumistars that I got from a close friend. He broke an axle and it punched a hole through the barrel on the inside of one wheel. They were not very old so I welded it up and after working it back you would be hard pressed to know which one it was.

Your right it really depends on where the cracks are as to how involved the repair will be.



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Posts: 3143 | Location: KIEFER, OK. | Registered: August 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
DRR S/Pro
Picture of David Covey
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quote:
Originally posted by I Hate Dragsters:
Head or block? Doesn’t say.

Agreed cracked in the chamber is sketchy if that is the case.


Block is the major issue, head is beat up. Both will repair no problem. Other than beat up only cracks in the head are in the guide area and that is welded all the time when porting heads.

I can't find the article but years ago there was one with pictures of a hemi head that had the entire combustion chamber blown out. It was welded up and put back in service. Article talked about the tooling (hemispherical cutter)required to cut the chamber out. At that time I too would have thought it impossible..
T/F and T/A engines get repaired all the time, that is a big part of why aluminum is so popular.
Here is something for you to look at.



"It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance." -Thomas Sowell
 
Posts: 3348 | Location: American By Birth Texan By The Grace Of God  | Registered: April 29, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of CURTIS REED
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Well when you start talking about T/F and T/A engines, machined blocks are easier to repair than cast blocks. You don't have to worry about inclusions in the machined blocks and crack migration isn't as big of an issue.



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Posts: 3143 | Location: KIEFER, OK. | Registered: August 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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