Page 1 of 1
Cylinder head corrosion
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:19 am
by matt
Has anyone had to repair their cylinder head due to corrosion on the face, the engine i have i believe was stored for a number of years which led to this corrosion.
Other than getting the head machined, provided theres enough thickness left to do so are there any other ways to fix this that won't increase the compression ratio? Looking at how 'deep" the corrosion goes a resonable amount of metal would have to be removed to get the surface flush again.
Or will i get away with this corrosion because its not on the edge of the chamber????
Thanks Matt

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 4:31 am
by TS_turbo
no probelm at all ,corosion is away from gasket matting surfaces i have on my TS smoe spots too ... and i filed and carefuli sanded with thing like JB weld or liquid metal ...dont know exact word

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 7:28 pm
by matt
Ok thanks TS_turbo i'll just leave it as is
Thanks Matt
JB Weld
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:21 pm
by shures
Head Corrosion is common on classic SAAB's (84-93 900's for example). The factory fix is to use a material to fill these pits with what appeared to me to be JB weld. I have successfully repaired several heads by filling with JB weld and carefully sanding it normal to the rest of the head and as smooth as possible. I know several line mechanics who did it often in the day when those cars were more common. Seems like a weird repair but it works.
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:50 am
by MD
Hey Matt,
Just be sure the corrosion will not allow any mixing of oil and water and that the compression areas are sound for sealing between cylinders. A good idea at this time is to test the head for hardness just in case it was ever overheated and you wind up with a "soft" cylinder head that will compress upon tightening down. Remember that if you need to take lots of material off, you could always use two head gaskets with a compensating plate in between to sort out the compression ratio. Like I said-if you are DESPERATE. There should be no problem getting a replacement used head anyhow which would be the preferred option.
Rotza Ruck.
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 6:55 pm
by matt
Thanks MD, i think JB weld option probably suit me better as i don't want to increase comp ratio for application, i ll definetly get it checked over tho' i didn't realise overheating etc can weaken the head material, i just thought it would warp or crack it, so if you had a cyl head with flat matting surface and no cracks you're in the clear but.........not so
Have you played with custom head gaskets? I want to use some cooper ring liners i got but..........reinz make one to use for them but the place i found that has them in germany doesn't reply so.......custom head gasket may be required...
i'll post new topic