Cylinder Head, Repair or Replace?

I have a crack in the cylinder head of my 1983 KZ1100A3. It starts at the outer valve cover bolt hole and then extends about 1" horizontally across the cam enclosure area. It is well away from the combustion chamber and valve guides.

I have tried several times, unsuccessfully, to repair the crack with JBWeld and a Helicoil in the bolt hole. The repair works for a while, but after a couple of rides the heat/cool cycle causes the JBWeld to break away from the aluminum and then it leaks oil like mad.

I'm debating between the following repairs:

1. Removing the head, valves, & guides and then finding a shop to weld the crack & weld, drill, & tap the bolt hole.

2. Buying a used head. As of last night there are none currently on e-bay, but I belive they do occasionally come up.

3. Trying again with the JBWeld and/or ???. Any suggestions on how to get it to "stick"? (Yes, I did clean the area thoroughly with paint thinner and roughed up the surface with a dental pick).

Which way would you guys go? I'm a little leary of aluminum weld repairs. However, I'm also leary of a buying a used head and then finding that it has even more problems with stripped bolt holes, cracks, broken fins, broken exhaust studs, etc... My current head is in perfect shape except for this one issue. I have good compression, little wear on the cam bearings, and not a single bolt hole is stripped (except for the one at the crack location).

Also...Does anyone here have a good used head for sale???

Here's a diagram of the crack location...

I would vote for another head, since the weld area look large enough from pic you have, it probably will change the align bore for the cams causing it to be tight,
I think for the money and effort you can find another head in good shape

I spoke with a local shop called "Cylinder Head Repair" yesterday. I described my problem to them and they are confident that they can weld the crack and bolt hole without issue. When I asked about potential warping and issues with the weld heat expansion being different he said that this won't be a problem. They successfully weld thousands of heads each year with very few complaints, everything from small engines to large tractors to racing heads. Their "cover page" project is a big block chevy head that had cracked down the middle into two pieces. They welded it back together and it has been running for nearly 100,000 miles since then (and still going).

As for a "site unseen" cost guesstimate, he said around $50-$75 to repair the crack and bolt hole. Or they could do a complete rebuild including the crack repair, surface planing, valve lapping, new valve seals, carbon removal, and cleaning for about $250.

So, right now I think that will be my plan of attack. I think I'll go for the complete rebuild as the cost of a valve spring compressor tool (from z1enterprises) is $150 itself. For the price of this tool I can let them do all the work! While I have the head off I'll replace the cam chain guides (I did have a loud noise that sounded like the cam chain a couple years ago but then it stopped after a couple days. It's posssible that one of the guides is broken. If not, they are 25 years old and likely brittle).

I'll keep you updated and try to get some pics if I can.

Give them a cam and the caps from that side, so they can bolt it in when they are done and see if it still turns.

If not; check here;
forums.dragbike.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9868&PN=1

Jay