So, you've just acquired a set of heads from the swap meet and you want to send them out. The physical condition of the heads is unknown though. It could have come from a running car, or it could have come from a field car, but you're not sure. Well here's a simple way to test your heads before sending them out. The portion of the head we're interested in is the water jackets. These circulate the water around the head and keep the heads cool. They can also harbor standing water, which over a number of freeze and thaw cycles through the years(meaning going through the four seasons of the year up here around Chicago), the water, if it's straight water in particular, may expand and contract, possibly damaging the head. The water jackets act like containers when the car is running, so it's more than possible that they can behave like bowls if inverted.
So what an individual can do is, flip the head over, and put them over someplace where the water can run out. A pair of sawhorses in the driveway, or in my case, a pair of buckets, like so:
Plug the water pump and temp sender holes so that the water will not run out. I used some overly large Kim Wipes we have here, but rags should also work. Basically something to keep the water from escaping.
Fill the jackets up with water using a cup. Be careful which hole you fill, because some are oil holes, and some are water jackets. The large hole in the center over the exhaust port will suffice. The water will spread out and fill up the areas around the intake and exhaust passages. Fill the head until the water is flush with the top of the hole.
This is the crucial step. After this, take a flashlight and look down all of the intake and exhaust ports for any seepage. If there is none, the head is still usable. If water starts streaming out one of the intake or exhaust passages, the head needs to be repaired or replaced.
So what an individual can do is, flip the head over, and put them over someplace where the water can run out. A pair of sawhorses in the driveway, or in my case, a pair of buckets, like so:
Plug the water pump and temp sender holes so that the water will not run out. I used some overly large Kim Wipes we have here, but rags should also work. Basically something to keep the water from escaping.
Fill the jackets up with water using a cup. Be careful which hole you fill, because some are oil holes, and some are water jackets. The large hole in the center over the exhaust port will suffice. The water will spread out and fill up the areas around the intake and exhaust passages. Fill the head until the water is flush with the top of the hole.
This is the crucial step. After this, take a flashlight and look down all of the intake and exhaust ports for any seepage. If there is none, the head is still usable. If water starts streaming out one of the intake or exhaust passages, the head needs to be repaired or replaced.
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