Is this head scrap?

Greetings, long time lurker, first time poster.

I’m rebuilding the 4.2L six in my E-type, and I have gotten to cleaning up the head. I’ve already determined that it needs new valves and guides, but upon closer inspection I see that the #3 exhaust port looks like the surface of the moon, and also there’s lots of pitting in between the valves. I thought maybe the port was just full of carbon, but probing it with a pick reveals it is in fact the aluminum. The rest of the cylinders and their ports look nice and smooth.

Note as a newbie I can only post one picture so I attached the best shot I could get with the neighboring cylinder for context.

Should I continue and just clean up the port once I punch out the guides or go look for another head? I’m definitely in the stubborn “I’ll repair it if at all possible” camp when it comes to these things. Not opposed to putting in a stupid amount of labor to salvage it.

Also, if I salvage this head do I need to weld up the coolant openings to get a decent seal? You can see the typical amount of corrosion present.

Thanks for any advice!!

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Tig welding is possible. Whether this is so bad that it needs it should be determined by a pro in person.

I’ve seen far worse, repaired and reused.

What needs to be determined, by a trained eye and a borescope, is to what extent the inner passages are corroded.

There appears to be steam erosion, around that one exhaust seat: again, repairable, but it may be costly.

Is this rare head?

Is that a crack at the top of the photo going from the combustion chamber to the coolant hole?

I don’t like the look of the area between the valve seats.

As Paul says though, get an expert to look at it.

If this isn’t a matching numbers head for your car you might consider just buying a better one…

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Good eye, indeed it is cracked from the valve opening to the coolant hole. In the full sunlight it was hard to see and I was fixated on the port. Methinks this sucker got hot.

There is no id on the front of the head that I can see, and the engine is also non-matching (it’s a '65 4.2 block in a '70 car), so my assumption is it came from somewhere else, which is presumably also where it is going soon. :grin:

Would this lump of alloy be worth anything to anyone or shall I melt it down with the soda cans?

From what I have seen the water passages are remarkably clean, but I did also notice a crack along one of the head bolt passages.

I’m thinking a replacement is in my future but maybe an industrious soul could do something with this one.

They are still fairly common: check your local junk yard, to see if there’s a late Series I/II. XJ6 head: with a small modification, it’ll plop right down on an E Type block.

I have two, worse come to worst, but shipping’s a biatch.

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Indeed. Given the herculean task it was to remove this one, I might need to bring some excavation equipment and dynamite with me to the junk yard unless it’s already removed. However I suppose if I can get lucky and remove all the studs without too much fuss, just the dynamite :grin:

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Casey- since you have a Series 2 car the head was not stamped with the engine number. That means that you could replace the head with no obvious mismatch to the engine. IMO your head looks pretty corroded and would likely take a really skilled welder/machinist to try to salvage it, and even then may not be successful. Replacing with a later head with larger valves would give you a little more performance as well. Where in Colorado are you? I’m in the SW Denver foothills. There are a few other Colorado listers on the forum as well if you need any assistance. I know a really good head guy in Arvada and there is one shop in Denver that still has a tank to clean blocks.

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Hi Doug,

Good to make your acquaintance. I’m SE in Parker. The block is good and just freshly machined. I have pretty much everything to do the bottom end. In fact I just came in from block cleaning duty since it wasn’t too cold today.

Given the crack, steam/water corrosion, and pitting inside the chamber I’m inclined to look for a better head. And I agree I could potentially find a big valve head for that matter, though I’ll settle for something not totally shot at the moment :grin:

Yer in Colorado?

PM me! I’m up in Keenesburg. You can come help me pull it off, and the cost will be…lunch!

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Bologna sandwich? Nothing special…

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TWO bologna sandies, and a hipster coffee.

:wink:

I figured you lived in Wiggins… :rofl:

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Thanks Paul, that’s a mighty generous of you! I’ll have to see when I can make the trek up to Keenesburg, but I’d be happy to supply lunch, refreshments, and dinner with dessert for that matter!

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I was afraid to move there…:joy:

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