Rust holes in engine of Austin Healey 3000 Mk II BJ7

[Chuck9482912]

[h=2][/h]

I just got my engine back from the machine shop all assembled and found a rust hole in the head! I've talked to the machinist and he'll take it apart without charging me and weld it. My question is whether there are other areas to check for rust as well?

It would be bad to miss something now and end up with oil in my coolant or coolant in my oil. (Two things that don't go great together- Actually that could be another thread as I've heard of oil being put into the cooling system...anyway I digress) In talking to the machinist, he said he could pressure check the cooling system with air. Any other ideas?

I did find SC Parts sells a an Oil Gallery Repair Kit with part numbers 306279 and 344716 selling for 250lbs and 112lbs respectively. Does anyone have any experience with these?
​

 

[Healey Nut]

How does your machinist propose to weld up a rust hole in cast iron without preheating the entire piece and not distorting it and being able to put it back together without further machining valve set cutting skimming etc . This guy must be a miracle worker ??

 

[Keoke]

Find a good used head and replace the one you have. That is the best suggestion I came up with.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Any other ideas?


​

1. Get a different head.
2. Get a different machinist.

 

[Michael Oritt]

You may also want to visit this page from John Sims' site:

https://www.healey6.com/Technical/Gallery.pdf

 

[dougie]

Here's another good bit of info. on the subject.

https://healeyspecialists.com/solution-to-infamous-3000-block-internal-leak-problem/

 

[jcsb]

I just got my engine back from the machine shop all assembled and found a rust hole in the head! I've talked to the machinist and he'll take it apart without charging me and weld it. My question is whether there are other areas to check for rust as well?

It would be bad to miss something now and end up with oil in my coolant or coolant in my oil. (Two things that don't go great together- Actually that could be another thread as I've heard of oil being put into the cooling system...anyway I digress) In talking to the machinist, he said he could pressure check the cooling system with air. Any other ideas?

I did find SC Parts sells a an Oil Gallery Repair Kit with part numbers 306279 and 344716 selling for 250lbs and 112lbs respectively. Does anyone have any experience with these?
​

I got one with the original tubes. I instead made my own tubes after using the kit to do the mod. I centerless ground stainless steel tubular stock to a very tight dimension. As for a head I have the head that came off of my engine that I will be selling. Bought a Denis Welch aluminum ported head prior to taking mine off, which turns out to be in excellent condition. Willing to sell the kit and head together if interested. Just give me a shout (pm). I live in Texas.
John

 

[Lotuswins]

Hi Chuck,

Welding the head shouldn't be a big deal, I had a 38 Olds block welded with nickel rod a number of years ago by a old, experienced welder. It worked okay, but the problem is that it didn't seal 100%, and weeped a little. He said to use radiator stop leak and all would be fine, which it was. But this is an old school fix. Perhaps a better one is to drill out the hole and install a threaded plug, if the location of the leak will facilitate that?

Good Luck.

 

[BOBBYR]

Hi Guy's
Reading this post really has me confused. Being a mechanic for the last 45 years , I thought I saw it all. In all the years, I have never seen a cast iron cylinder head or block rusted thru as stated . I've seen broken crank , cam and rod damage and thousands of cracked blocks due to freezing and overheats, but never seen a rusted thru casting. If you have a picture of this, I would love to see it . I also would get a different mechanic and would not let anyone use a welder on that cylinder head or block. Sorry if I sound aggressive, but this post really hit a nerve .
Bobby R

 

[Michael Oritt]

Bobby--

I agree and doubt his problem really was rust. Usually the issue is leakage caused by cracks/corrosion at the spots where there is little metal between the oil and water passages.

 

[John Turney]

I'm also confused. I thought the leak was in the head, but the suggested remedies seem to be for a well-known weakness in the block. Where's the leak again?

 

[BOBBYR]

Hi Mike, I did look at your posts on the tube installation . They were pretty good. Next month I want to get the cylinder head on my 65 reworked , so I'll take a real good at the drained oil and anti-freeze for any contamination . I don't think I have that problem. Anyway, I enjoyed your post and hope you have a great holiday.
Bobby R

 

[JAV]

I had a head at my machinist that turned out to have a hole in one of the intake runners. Probably due to sloppy casting at the factory years ago. I had another head, but a DW AL head is a viable option.

 

[bob hughes]

I did find SC Parts sells a an Oil Gallery Repair Kit with part numbers 306279 and 344716 selling for 250lbs and 112lbs respectively. Does anyone have any experience with these?

This is for a potential problem in the oil way from the engine sump up to the cylinder head, the walls of the vertical oil way can get thin due to the fact that it passes through the water jacket of the engine. I have had mine done by Bill Rawles. There are two prices from SC Parts because the lower price is for the tube and mandrel and the higher price includes for the special drill bit required to bore out the oil way, it is a bit like re-sleeving the cylinders.

If your problem is in the head, then that is a different thing.



Bob

 

[Chuck9482912]

Oops, I forgot to include the pictures. To fix it, the shop used a tapered threaded plug. The plug is slightly softer metal. They ground it off and then peened it. They then pressure tested the cooling system with air. They did not find anything leaking in the block, thankfully.

I guess I’m not surprised there was a rust hole. The radiator hose was off the car for many years, so there were plenty of chances to get water (and air) into the head. I purposely bought my car all rusted out as I had it all along I was getting a new Kilmartin frame. I also have an extremely talented, patient club member who has put the car back together when it should have been crushed a long time ago. He has truly resurrected the car and built something better than brand new.

 

[Chuck9482912]

.

 

[Chuck9482912]

I appreciate the posts of with links. It was exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Chuck9482912]

Here are pictures of the engine when I bought the car. It didn't even have enough oil to keep away the rust.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Here are pictures of the engine when I bought the car. It didn't even have enough oil to keep away the rust.

Of course not! It was all on the driveway.

 

[bob hughes]

[h=2][/h]

I just got my engine back from the machine shop all assembled and found a rust hole in the head! I've talked to the machinist and he'll take it apart without charging me and weld it. My question is whether there are other areas to check for rust as well?

It would be bad to miss something now and end up with oil in my coolant or coolant in my oil. (Two things that don't go great together- Actually that could be another thread as I've heard of oil being put into the cooling system...anyway I digress) In talking to the machinist, he said he could pressure check the cooling system with air. Any other ideas?

I did find SC Parts sells a an Oil Gallery Repair Kit with part numbers 306279 and 344716 selling for 250lbs and 112lbs respectively. Does anyone have any experience with these?
​

Hi, I bought the system less drill bit for mine back in 2013, Bill Rawles advised me to do it as an investment as that oilway can be perforated and after shelling out mega bucks on the rebuild ( and that is me doing the rebuild) I do not want all my hard work to come unravelled with a leak there. Bill had a vertical milling machine and he carried out the work for me.
Cheers

Bob