Saga of the GT40 head porting continues...

Well, went in to the machine shop and checked out the head pressure test...not good. My weld leaked all the way around where it was supposed to be bonded with the cast.

The machinist told me that all is not lost. He said that there is a process for welding cast that just cannot be done with my flux-core wire-feed welder, and could cost upwards of $200 if I have someone else do it.

So using my P heads started to sound like a must...

Called dad and told him, and asked if he had any hi temp epoxies that I might be able to use. He still works as a machinist, and said that he does but that it would be better fixed by heating the head, welding with a high-nickel content rod, and then re-porting...which was exactly what the first guy said.

But dad can do it, and wants the challenge

I told him to not mess with it if it is a 50-50 chance, or even if it is less than 90% chance of success. It would be a waste of his time, my time, and I would have to pay to have another pressure test.

Luckily, he is like me, likes the challenge of doing it the hard (but cheap) way. So he will pick the head up tonight and weld it up early next week for me.

The guy at the machine shop said that the porting was not too deep. He said there should have been AT LEAST 1/4" material between ports and water, and that the casting was most likely thin there. He looked at the one i ate through, and the others, including some on the other head that I have not ported, and said I shouldn't have been close to the water jacket yet...

So it is not entirely my fault

 

Man, those aftermarket aluminum heads are looking better and better!!!

 

YUP!!!

But even after all this time and money (still less than $300), the GT40s are much cheaper...

If I had aluminum, I would have never attempted a port and polish, and would never have had all this fun...(I mean this seriously...especially since funds are thin right now, this cheap work is keeping me occupied so I don't get to the REAL work, including rebuilding the trans and putting in a 3000 stall converter, which I DON'T have the money for right now.)

It doesn't cost me much more than time to sit around grinding, welding, grinding, and painting heads. I spent $25 on the test and maybe $15 on gas today to get the heads there. And got more encouragement and no bad feedback.

 

I would spend another $25 for the pressure test. It WILL be well spent. And then you know! Sounds good an Good luck!

 

Yeah, definitely well spent $25. It looked so good. but I don't trust "looks". It was amazing how much it was not sealed and how much it was leaking around the weld.

Will be tested again before i mount them.

 

for a guy whos soooo up to the challenge.... why didnt you just make some mods to your headers????? huh??? whats that???


just bustin on ya scott.

 

I AM modding my headers...I am going to weld up the two small holes where the HOOKER badge was riveted in, and sand the welds down flat

I looked at the parts shops at what I had at my disposal, and couldn't find anything I thought would work for me. THere was some flexible hose, but I couldn't justify using it.

 

i told you to get the exhaust pieces to practice welding on, not to mod your pipes silly. sheesh..... hehe, besides for what you woulda had to do, you coulda saved the pieces and used em to dimple the pipes anyhow. ahhhh nevermind.

 

No matter how I look at it, it is easier, cheaper, and a better use of my time to search half the state for heads that work with my headers than it is to cut up and reshape headers that don't fit in the engine bay anyway. They rub in at least 3 different places, so I would be better off just building them from scratch from the exhaust pipe up.

If I was going to mess around with the plumbing that much, I would put a junk yard hair dryer in there somewhere...

I am only in the predicament I am in because I "had" to port them, and hit a low spot. If I would have put them on unported, they would have run just fine....

Maybe I should have ported those D8s and got the port-bug out of my system

 

now i feel bad for taking those....i might give them back if you really need them

 

He'll just grind a hole in them Just kidding, Scoop.

 

Naw, those D8s will only port out to be as good as maybe stock unported E7s...they were worth nothing to me, that is why I gave them to you for...nothing

I just figured that if you had the desire to try porting heads to have something that flows decent, not great, but decent, you would have those laying around to mess with.

You may decide that it isn't worth messing with them, but if you have the money at 16 that I did at 16...I would have been grinding on those things every afternoon just for the fun of it...

Also, those D8s were put on a car with maybe 200-250 hp, so I figured they were good for that on your car, and HAD to flow better than your stock heads.

 

The technology of this thread is overwhelming.

 

Shadow!!! Where the hell you been? Been calling and leaving messages for months...

 

New job and new headaches associated with that new job. Also trying to get things lined out for next season since the last one was a bust. Check your PM's for the phone number.