Welding on the heads & seats 327 Mystery engine

[vigman]

So while getting everything ready I pulled out all the valves today & de carboned the head.

I found a WELD inbetween the intake & exhaust.

Now looking at it I panicked.... but I continued on.

My neighbor Kevin the welder looked at it and identified the weld spot as Nickle.. but they didn't do a great job cleaning it up.

The area in question is from the flat spot down into the V between the 2 valves, but the seats look undammaged.

It looks like at some point the intake valve dropped and got mushed back into the head.

And this is how they repaired it.

Kevin did a little grinding on it, and it looks better.. but suggested I had it redone..VIA a TIG welder ( which he didn't have)

Any thoughts..pix on the way..camera charging.

BTW how do you tell what type of seats you have.. the valve guides are IRON but really snug ( no valve play side to side).

The spring seat looks SLIGHTLY undercut and there were NO shims.

I am assuming the enging was rebuilt about 2-5000 miles ago.. however the WHEN
(guessing 15 years ago) would still put in in the leaded zone.

Still have not identified the cam ( Not GM )

All the neighbors ran for cover today.

Mike

 

[69MyWay]

Mike,

I was going to ask you about the valve seats. As you know, the original 327 would have taken leaded fuel.

 

[vigman]

Head Pix

Whump..there it iz

Mike

 

[vigman]

So I understand the following

If the seats were done..it means they were unleaded.. the factory heads did not have seats per-se.

The FIX is a combo of pins & weld... holes are drilled and this new material is pounded into the head/ welded and machined into place.

The machine shop thinks he can repair it without to much fuss, and since there was no water leakage it's mainly cosmetics.

About $300.00 to fix this problem , reseat and put in screw type rocker arm studs (not the big gorillas)

And thoughts of bronze guides vs iron?

I'm droppin the other one off to the machine shop ( hopefully) after work today


Mike

 

[69MyWay]

bronze will wear better and break in faster.

Is that $300 total, or just for that one head?

 

[vigman]

300 total

You know these posts are going to the dogs!

Mike

WOOF

 

[Jack]

maybe not

Mike:
While $300 to repair/update those 327 heads may be a fair price ... I suggest it could pass the point of diminishing return. If it were me ... and I had a few hundred extra ... I'd sell those heads (VBAY?) ... then take that sale money and the $300 you would've spent ... put 3 or 4 hundred more with it and get a nice set of aluminum heads (already equipped with nice studs & springs, big valves & ports, bronze guides, stellite seats) that'd flow-perform much better than the 327 heads ... even less$ are a set of Dart/World iron heads.
JACK:gap

 

[vigman]

Well maybe (logically speaking)

BUT!


Any other heads & I would agree but these 461 casting are a bit of history that I would like to bring back from the dead... It's not about MAX ponies it's GM 101.

If it goes over 300 then...they get SOLD
( If I don't cave in )


I could just plunk down the money and buy a zz-4... but theres just some measure of satisfaction bringing this back.

Now to a collector.. this would be a WRONG engine since the orig VIN number is gone from decking.. bit I could give 2 hoots about that.

I just can't let em sit outside and rust away!

So it's just ol sentimental me.


Mike