I have a cylinder head which was removed from my car at approximately 75,000 miles. It has slight/moderate warping. Is the head worth anything other than scrap?

 

It could be reground and used with a slightly thicker head gasket and be fine, some scientists believe.

 

so it's milled, not ground. But weather it can be fixed depends on the degree of warpage. If it's too much, then the combustion chamber volume varies too much.....

Anyway, a good automotive machine shop should be able to evaluate it. If it's toast, you can always just cut it with a band saw to see the intake and exhaust port shapes and make some door stops.

Matt

 

Aluminum is currently worth .73/lb at the scrap yard.

 

There is a difference between milled and ground?

 

grinding uses an abrasive wheel, and aluminum plugs it up and makes a mess. A head is typically milled with a fly cutter (like a lathe bit) that cuts the surface with a sharp edge.

There is something done with ferrous metals called "surface grinding" that can make very, very flat surfaces. This uses a grinding wheel and a table that goes back and forth underneeth it.

Matt

 

Haaaa, .... I'm thinking that you have Mini head door stops in your home.

 

Zackley.. a good machine shop will /can make the decision on the repair!! Give one a call if you havent all ready!! Yes??

Just me............................

Thumper

 

I've been lucky twice. With an old Fiat I bought with a warped head it could be fixed, and when my Mini overheated and blew a head gasket I escaped warpage. I've just always liked the cut heads I saw in autoshop and in a bunch of shops I've been to.

Matt

 

Thanks for the responses.

 

oh come on guys you can get more creative then door stops. Im thinking im going to use my old head as a table some how.

 

Top Gear has a glass table on top of a V8 block....

You could put a light in each valve hole and make a wicked desk lamp though!

Matt

 

With a bunch of well placed magnets = the ultimate refrigerator door magnet & who has 1 of those?