Head Issues

[drlogistics]

Things are progressing nicely with my 211. My truck came with a complete engine gasket set and I've replaced pretty much all the gaskets. At the same time I've cleaned up and re-painted most of the engine components. My truck smoked really bad before I started working on it so I removed the head and took it to a local machine shop to be cleaned up, checked for cracks, and a valve job. They told me everything checked out ok and they did the valve job and hardened the seats so unleaded gas would be ok.
Well, I got pretty much everything put back together today and was ready to start dumping in the fluids. Super excited because I was only minutes from finally being able to start her up for the first time in approx 3 months. Not quite. About 2 gallons of coolant went into it before I noticed a slight trickle down the side of the block. HMMM. Thats curious. It couldn't be the head that I had professionally redone and paid $450 for. Or could it. I quickly pulled off the carb and manifolds to gain better access to where the leak was coming from. Sure enough, there is a crack right at one of the exhaust ports. I will be pulling the head off (AGAIN) tomorrow and taking it back to the machine shop. You guys have any advice on how I should handle them?

 

[butch atkins]

I would ask if they manafluxed the head for cracks,it is a process that uses a dye under ultraviolet light that will show minute cracks in an object.google manafluxed,educate yourself on this before you confront them,are you sure the head was not cracked before you tookit off?if they didn't magnaflux the head you should ask how they determined it was ok before they started work on it.If you could spot the crack,why didn't they see it?Magnaflux is a standard procedure for a lot of engine/head rebuilds so this type of bs doesn't happen.i would be very aggressive in pursuing an answer as to how they let this get by them.Good luck on your project.

 

[drlogistics]

They did magnaflux it. Or at least they said they did. I am now sure that the head was cracked before I sent it to them. But it would have been a lot easier to find that out before I paid them to do a valve job and spent all the time rebuilding the engine. I am hoping the crack can be repaired.

 

[nattieleather]

Sorry to hear you're having a problem. I hate to say this but since it's at the manifold they may come back to you and say you craked it putting the manifold back on. It becomes a he said they said kind of thing. Depends if they are a stand up shop if they will eiher A: fix it right at no cost, or B: return your money or at least some of your money. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Oh are you sure the problem isn't coming from the block?

 

[drlogistics]

I am positive that it is the head. I can see it.

 

[nattieleather]

Ok good. I hope your able to work it out with the machine shop to make it right.

 

[drlogistics]

I finally got a chance to take my cracked head back to the machine shop. Thankfully they were very apologetic. Unfortunately they are telling me the crack is not repairable. The shop manager told me if I could find a new head they would do all the work on it for free. They are also going to cover the cost of new gaskets. So I scoured the interweb yesterday and found a 2193983 cast head in Maryland. The seller wanted $300. We settled on $250. And I just happen to have one of my trucks in his neighborhood today so I get free shipping . I'll have the new to me head in my hands tomorrow. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[nattieleather]

Would you play the lottery for me... Sounds like your on the path to getting it back together despite the aggravation of delays.

 

[Mastertech]

Glad to hear that they handled the situation like profesionals. As an owner of a Auto repair shop thats how I would expect my people to handle the situation.

 

[hendersond]

That is exactly the way it should have been handled. My hat is off to them. I was hoping you were not going to take it in the mouth. Glat it is working out.

 

[drlogistics]

The new head is all set. They pressure tested it and did the valve job. They also milled my intake/exhaust manifolds. Unfortunately, I am swamped with work right now so I haven't had any time to work on the old girl. It is torture knowing that I am only about 2 hours worth of work away from having her running again. Oh well. It'll happen. And I promise I will post video of her first start.