How bad is it?

If you still have the broken piece set it back in place and have it tack welded on the inside of the head to hold it in place. pencil grind a 3/16 inch chamfer in the crack from inside the cam end journal all the way to the other end. this gives you a fill groove that means greater integrity for the weld. you can then use a Dremel with the sanding drum to contour the cam end radius. A flat file can dress off the top gasket surface. A tig weld will be the only thing that works on that. The trick to welding cast aluminum engine parts is getting them super clean.

if you bevel the edges before welding back on,do not use a sanding drum!you will contaminate the weld area use a carbide or file any time you use a grinding stone or sandpaper to clean up a piece of metal you are forcing little pieces of it down into the metal.its not a major deal most of the time but in the case of aluminum it tends to cause more problems!goodluck,happy wrenching!

wiredgeorge wrote:

Jay, I have used your billet cam end plugs and never had much luck with getting them to fit properly in the head. You mentioned you epoxy them in place? It would be helpful if you could say a few words on how you folks install the billet cam end plugs... do you shape them with a file to fit flush? What kind of epoxy? Thanks...

I have not heard this before. When we make these we hold the radius to less than .001 on an inch, then when the flat is milled, that dimension is also held very close. We have a head in the shop that we chech the fit with when we are making them.

Most guys just use silicon in the groove and install them

Jay

Samwell,

If I were you, I would take the head and the broken piece (I assume it broke off cleanly) to the nearest boat prop repair shop. We have, or had a shop here in Austin and their main business was to repair broken aluminum boat props. The guys would re-weld the broken parts, and most times would free weld new aluminum to the prop. They would then reshape the prop with grinders and sanders, and in the end it would look brand new. And of course, there was plenty of strength in the prop after the weld repair to propel the boat.

And I’ve known people to take broken automotive parts like yours to them as well. Your repair should not be a problem from the perspective of strength, oil leakage, or even getting the cam end plug surface realigned.

Good luck.

Billt

Hey Jay,

I tried a set of the cam plugs as well and I could not get them to seal either. I think that sizes of the cam plug journals may vary a little from head to head. Mine I think was a little to tall for the head I could filed it down but didn't want to mess it up. I would like to try another set though. They are very appealing to the eyes.

I've found a good welder who has plenty of experience welding aluminum cyclinder heads. He's pretty confident that he can put it back together.

I'll post a pic of the repair whe it comes back.

Sam

billt711 wrote:

Samwell,

If I were you, I would take the head and the broken piece (I assume it broke off cleanly) to the nearest boat prop repair shop. We have, or had a shop here in Austin and their main business was to repair broken aluminum boat props. The guys would re-weld the broken parts, and most times would free weld new aluminum to the prop. They would then reshape the prop with grinders and sanders, and in the end it would look brand new. And of course, there was plenty of strength in the prop after the weld repair to propel the boat.

And I’ve known people to take broken automotive parts like yours to them as well. Your repair should not be a problem from the perspective of strength, oil leakage, or even getting the cam end plug surface realigned.

Good luck.

Billt