Cylinder Head Problems

[AndyH]

Hi all,

I am setting about restoring our Elan after 35 years off the road!! Upon inspecting the head i have noticed at some point someone has over tightened the head bolts and cracked the casing.

We took the head to a local garage (very small) and asked about getting it welded back up, but they were unwilling to take the work for fear of warping the head.

Does anyone know of any specialists that could do it? Or would it be best to get a new head?

Any info would be great!

Thanks

Andy

[cliveyboy]

Andy
If you are in Essex you could try
http://www.specialisedengines.co.uk

Clive

[AndyH]

Hi Clive,

Thanks for the reply

I don't really want to go to Specialised Engines due to countless bad reviews i have read (mainly based on the 1.9 CVH engine).

Andy

[rgh0]

Andy

I presume the cracks you are referring to are around the top of the head between the bolt holt and the cam tunnel. I presume also that the head bolts have sunk into the head by a few mm.

This is a relatively common problem and happens over time especially if the head has been overheated. The Elan factory here in Australia repairs this by counter boring the head bolt hole and fitting steel inserts into the head and welding the head cracks if they are bad enough to warrant it. I have a head currently on my bench that I am trying to decide if the cracks are bad enough to warrant this or whether it will live a bit longer as it is.

Specialist twin cam places in the UK must use a similar approach. After this work is done you may need to line bore the cam tunnels as the work is adjacent to the bearings and can upset the alignment so its not a cheap exercise if you have to go down this path.

If heads are overheated repeatedly they loose their hardness ( which was not very good to begin with) become too soft and you will continue to get problems with head gasket sealing from the fire rings sinking into the the head and from head bolt sinking and loosing tension (even with the inserts) and ultimately the head becomes junk. Theorectically you should be able to re-heat treat the heads to restore the original hardness. I have never done it or seen it done but one day if I come across a soft head that is worth retrieving I will do the work with a heat treatment expert I know to give it a try.

regards
Rohan