Welding a pin hole in a cylinder head

[Darryl Saylor]

My dad gave me a Austin-Healey 100 cylinder head. It has a pin hold in the V part that goes into the water jacket. Where can I get it welded. I took it to my local machine shop and the guy there said it could be welded then they could mill it back smooth.

 

[kentprather]

It has been my experience to have the machine shop install a tapered screw in plug. If the head is stock thickness, there is a ton of metal in the v and a tapered pin is easy to do and you don't risk the issues of trying to weld British cast iron.

 

[Acme Speed Shop]

I'm in 100% agreement with Kent on this, pinning makes more sense on isolated repair area and pinning technology has advanced as well. Now if comes to cast iron welding, that is truly a art form that requires great skill, Indy Cylinder head is about the best in the bizz at this, but it very expensive, and more times than not cost prohibitive, they start at $300 on any cast iron weld repair, and go up from there.

Years ago I had a 948 SCCA customer who dropped #4 valve from a over rev, it completely destroyed the entire combustion chamber. He just could not bear to let go of that head, so we sent it off to Indy with low expectations of them being able to repair it, and they completely reconstructed the entire combustion chamber form scratch, it was identical in every way to the other three, it cost $1100 though.

On the pinning if someone who knows how to use a needle scaler, they can damn near make the repair invisible.

 

[Darryl Saylor]

I ended up taking 2 Healey 100 heads to Dover Cylinder Head in Chattanooga. The head with the pin hole, they did pin it. The other was cracked between 3 and 4. They said they ground it down and rewelded it. Both looked fixed when I got them. I put the formerly cracked one on my Healey and it fired up and purred like it was supposed too. It cost me $100 per head. I took it on Dec. 9th and they said they would have it ready the next Monday. I told them I would pick it up on the 23rd since I was going to be off. I'm not sure if that helped the price any but I was tickled pink. All Dad and his Healey buddies were saying was $4900 for an aluminum one from Moss or $8000 for one from Dennis Welch. Tags and insurance is next then it will be ready for my daughter's wedding.

 

[Acme Speed Shop]

I ended up taking 2 Healey 100 heads to Dover Cylinder Head in Chattanooga. The head with the pin hole, they did pin it. The other was cracked between 3 and 4. They said they ground it down and rewelded it. Both looked fixed when I got them. I put the formerly cracked one on my Healey and it fired up and purred like it was supposed too. It cost me $100 per head. I took it on Dec. 9th and they said they would have it ready the next Monday. I told them I would pick it up on the 23rd since I was going to be off. I'm not sure if that helped the price any but I was tickled pink. All Dad and his Healey buddies were saying was $4900 for an aluminum one from Moss or $8000 for one from Dennis Welch. Tags and insurance is next then it will be ready for my daughter's wedding.

Good to know, Dover was started here in Greenville, I am good friends with Ross and Chris Dover, and a steady customer here in Greenville, Chris puts the exhaust seats in all my heads. I guess my family has did business with Dovers for 35+ years. Good to know they do welding up there at that store. Dover for years here was all about bang out, get it back running street head work, and frowned on specialty work. I told Chris there is slew of picky anal people out the like me that want a higher level of work, he started giving it try, I got Mike Miller to start going there, and before long, all the racers,and picky classic cars started going there. I went there last week and a guy was bringing in 6 Corvair heads, so his specialty work has turned out to be good thing for them. In my magazine articles you may notice some head machining pics, they were all taken at Dover's. I can't say enough good things about the Dovers, they are good people.