Well, i watched them magnaflux the suspected head and it is cracked
between the intake and exhaust valves.

I had a few questions:

1. Can the head be fixed somehow. The machine shop said they dont do
that work.

2. Where is the cheapest place to find a head if I need to do that.
(3.9 v6 magnum)

3. If I have to buy a rebuilt head, is there a problem having one
"new" head and an old head? What if the rebuilt head was milled and
the old one was not? Wouldnt their hights be different?

I appreciate your help!

stryped writes:

Well, i watched them magnaflux the suspected head and it is cracked
between the intake and exhaust valves.

I had a few questions:

1. Can the head be fixed somehow. The machine shop said they dont do
that work.

You'll need to find a shop that does, and ask them. I had a Mitsubishi
(the infamous 2.6L) with a cracked head, and it wasn't possible on that
one; on others, it is.

2. Where is the cheapest place to find a head if I need to do that.
(3.9 v6 magnum)

Local wrecking yard. Second cheapest is distant wrecking yard willing
to pull and ship for you. I've actually had pretty good luck getting
parts for my '78 Newport from wrecking yards when needed. For something
like a cylinder head, that would be my first choice, planning to have it
R&Red before using it (in the case of the Mitsu I mentioned above, they
used a different, incompatible head casting for my year than for any
other, and every one that turned up in a wrecking yard had, you guessed
it, a crack right where mine did).

3. If I have to buy a rebuilt head, is there a problem having one
"new" head and an old head? What if the rebuilt head was milled and
the old one was not? Wouldnt their hights be different?

I think if I'd dug as deeply into the engine as you have, I'd probably
have the other head R&Red too, on general principles. The compression
ratio will be slightly different as you suspect; I wouldn't expect it to
matter (this isn't a race engine, after all), but you could either have
them milled to match or use a shim on the one that's milled more.

"Joe Pfeiffer" wrote in message
...
stryped writes:

Well, i watched them magnaflux the suspected head and it is cracked
between the intake and exhaust valves.

I had a few questions:

1. Can the head be fixed somehow. The machine shop said they dont do
that work.

You'll need to find a shop that does, and ask them. I had a Mitsubishi
(the infamous 2.6L) with a cracked head, and it wasn't possible on that
one; on others, it is.

2. Where is the cheapest place to find a head if I need to do that.
(3.9 v6 magnum)

Local wrecking yard. Second cheapest is distant wrecking yard willing
to pull and ship for you. I've actually had pretty good luck getting
parts for my '78 Newport from wrecking yards when needed. For something
like a cylinder head, that would be my first choice, planning to have it
R&Red before using it (in the case of the Mitsu I mentioned above, they
used a different, incompatible head casting for my year than for any
other, and every one that turned up in a wrecking yard had, you guessed
it, a crack right where mine did).

3. If I have to buy a rebuilt head, is there a problem having one
"new" head and an old head? What if the rebuilt head was milled and
the old one was not? Wouldnt their hights be different?

I think if I'd dug as deeply into the engine as you have, I'd probably
have the other head R&Red too, on general principles. The compression
ratio will be slightly different as you suspect; I wouldn't expect it to
matter (this isn't a race engine, after all), but you could either have
them milled to match or use a shim on the one that's milled more.

Get a wrecking yard head or a rebuilt head. The difference in height is
negligible, and welding of cast-iron heads is problematic at best.

On Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:29:03 -0700 (PDT), stryped wrote:

3. If I have to buy a rebuilt head, is there a problem having one
"new" head and an old head? What if the rebuilt head was milled and
the old one was not? Wouldnt their hights be different?

Some years ago I needed to change one cylinder head on my wife's car - a
3.8L V-6. When I went to pick up a refurbished head from the local auto
salvage guys, I was surprised to see that the refurbished head had a
somewhat different shape to the chamber than the old head. I decided
not to chance whether the difference would have a significant effect,
and had them get me two heads of the same style.

Bill
--
Email address is a Spam trap.

But is that the source of the coolant leak? Many head designs crack
between the valve seats with no lomg term ill effects or the crack
extending into the water jacket. It's not necessarily bad. Depends on
the width of the crack, it's depth, and whether or not it can, or has
extended deeper. The history of the particular head design is also
significant. Any blogs on Dodge heads of your style doing this and
causing your problem? Did they pressure test the head to see if it was
leaking there?
JR
Dweller in the cellar

stryped wrote:
Well, i watched them magnaflux the suspected head and it is cracked
between the intake and exhaust valves.

I had a few questions:

1. Can the head be fixed somehow. The machine shop said they dont do
that work.

2. Where is the cheapest place to find a head if I need to do that.
(3.9 v6 magnum)

3. If I have to buy a rebuilt head, is there a problem having one
"new" head and an old head? What if the rebuilt head was milled and
the old one was not? Wouldnt their hights be different?

I appreciate your help!


--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

On Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:29:03 -0700 (PDT), stryped
wrote:

Well, i watched them magnaflux the suspected head and it is cracked
between the intake and exhaust valves.

I had a few questions:

1. Can the head be fixed somehow. The machine shop said they dont do
that work.

2. Where is the cheapest place to find a head if I need to do that.
(3.9 v6 magnum)

3. If I have to buy a rebuilt head, is there a problem having one
"new" head and an old head? What if the rebuilt head was milled and
the old one was not? Wouldnt their hights be different?

I appreciate your help!
Check your local scrappies - they are bound to have an engine in the
same condition as yours - you buy the GOOD head.

On Apr 17, 11:29*pm, stryped wrote:
Well, i watched them magnaflux the suspected head and it is cracked
between the intake and exhaust valves.

I had a few questions:

1. Can the head be fixed somehow. The machine shop said they dont do
that work.

2. Where is the cheapest place to find a head if I need to do that.
(3.9 v6 magnum)

3. If I have to buy a rebuilt head, is there a problem having one
"new" head and an old head? What if the rebuilt head was milled and
the old one was not? Wouldnt their hights be different?

I appreciate your help!

Easiest to simply find a whole good running engine and swap it in. If
you'd started doing that when you first asked about all this, you'd be
done by now. Even now, it's the easiest way to guarantee that you
have a running truck when you're done.