One ear on the upper water outlet on my cylinder head was cracked off. The broken piece was slightly notched with an angle grinder and held in place with a C-Clamp while welding with a Wire-Feed Welder. So far, so good and the head is salvaged.
I did something similar on my gooseneck. I brazed it and got a
real good flow. Looks like a real good “down-on-the-farm” fix
from 1932. I like stuff like this. Tells the story of real cars in
a real world.
Nice job. Thanks for posting the pictures.
I can tell you from experience, that repair may last a long time or it may fail in short order. Welding can be done on cast, but not with regular steel filler. Depending on the actual make up of the cast material, it will stick pretty well, but when stressed to a certain point (possibly tightening that bolt for example), it could simply pop. I am by no means an expert, but Pre heating the metal helps alot (I believe a necessity actually) and I believe the correct filler material needs to have a higher nickle content.
I hope it holds, because beyond it being welded to cast, it looks like a good start to the repair. All you can do is try, right?
Dave, this may not be the response you’d like to read, but here is my two cents worth. Good Model T heads are relatively plentiful and reasonably priced. With winter here there’s a window to shop for one.
In line with Chad’s comments I once had a similar repair done by a skilled and capable welder and it held up well. For a while. When the repair failed of course it was at about the worst possible time.
Given the cost and availability of Model T heads, why gamble ? My thought then would be acquire another head, consider having it checked out and/or milled (surfaced) and install using a new head gasket.
Just sayin’ mind you…
Have a day, Tom in Taylor Mill. KY 41015
