Engine: 1955 president 259 head crack on intake wall passage

[chrisbouyer7]

Hi All .

I have this 55 president hardtop i bought 8 years ago and now after all this time I am doing a complete frame off restauration .The car was in a barn for 40 years with 45 K original miles .The engine started rigth away and was purring as if it had been stopped the previous week .Then it sat in my garage for the following 7 years until I was ready to commit to it .While the frame is fully refurbised and the body shell is completly stripped down and ready to go to the body shop I started to remove the accessories around the egine to have it repainted , not willing to redo it since it was working so well .Unfortunately when i removed the intake manifold I noticed in the front two left passages on the head , a crack on the wall separating the two intake holes going down about an inch long exactly on the molding seem .My question is , is it safe to leave it like that sice the engie runs well and all components look like they had been greased yesterday .I noticed theat this wall has had a sligth defect at molding and unstead of having a consistant thickness it is sligthly tapered on the top where the crack happened .
With your experience , would you leave it alone or have the head replaced .Thanks for all of the advice/experiences you could share with me
Chris

[Bo Markham]

Chris,

It's been my experience that little problems like this, if left unchecked, become big problems, usually at the worst possible moment. Like 300 miles down the road in the middle of the desert, at the bottom of a wadi, in a torrential rain storm. The engine may continue to run great for a long time, it may not. I think it would be a gamble on your part not to either have it repaired, or find another head. In any event, having a valve job done, replacing the seats with modern ones designed for todays gas, and installing new stem seals is little enough to ensure continued good engine operation.

[Flashback]

If I understand the area right, there is no water here. So, if the end of the small crack can be reached with a drill. I would use the drill and tap method of repair (old K&W mechanical method). I have repaired many heads with this.

[chrisbouyer7]

Thanks for the advice .Can you explain to me what the method is that you are mentioning or where I ca get the info ?

[Mike Van Veghten]

Chris -

If I understand...the crack is in the wall that's about 3/16" or so thick, seperating the two close intake ports..?
While it "could" just be the casting parting line...if it is actally is a crack, it would be diffuicult to drill and plug. And yes, as mentioned, there is NO water anywhere near this area.

I'd say this...what you do depends on how you plan to drive the car.
If it's just gonna be a show car, driven maybe 6000, 8000 miles year....just put it back to gether and drive it as is. This type crack will take years to grow...as long as you don't let the engine overheat too many times. AND...as long as the crack stays at the parting line, it will stop when it gets to the head bolt boss.
Any possible air leak between ports won't harm anything, milage, power, drivability..

But if you plan on driving the car hard, towing, etc. ...look for another head, money to fix this one is money NOT well spent.

I've been inside and all around these heads, not much I haven't seen. Just drive it, have fun, don't worry.

Mike

[chrisbouyer7]

Thanks Mike .
yes the place you describe is right on and it ends on the head bolt boss .it is a crack that happens to be exactly on the casting line probably because of the original weakness caused by the bad mold alignement that makes that wall tapered on the top and not consistent in thickness .I probably will just drive the car around and to shows but that's it .I appreciate your opinion that consolidates my thougths on the matter .I wanted to hear it from someone who knows by experience if this was a well known ever expendaing problem with studebaker heads requiring immediate replacement or a minor proble that I can live with Thanks again for your input .
Chris

[avantilover]

Considering the money to be expended upon a full restoration, get the engine done as well, pretty is nice but no go due to engine issues is not good. Best wishes with the car.

[jimmijim8]

Don't loose any sleep over it. Forget about it. cheers jimmijim

[Skybolt]

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...3-Never-before.

Is it as bad as this?

[chrisbouyer7]

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...3-Never-before.

Is it as bad as this?

Not as bad as what the picture shows .
Similar place, but in my case the crack is limited to the center wall and has a much cleaner cut .
Thanks for giving me the link of a past thread on a similar subject Some members seem to suggest using some epoxy putty .I'd be concerned about that , if it was to get loose and vacuumed in the engine .The fix would then become worse than the problem .Don't you think ?

[Skybolt]

For the most part if you use some metal filler/epoxy then it should be okay as long as you can get it deep into the crack so it has some way of not slipping out. I was more concerned about spending money on the heads only to have hidden under all the work a known crack. I got hold of another head and then went with another pair of heads all together. Just didn't want it nagging at the back of my mind. If it was confined to only the center divider and I was only going to bolt it back on a for a running engine I wouldn't have been so concerned but I wanted a long lasting build without any known issues.

[chrisbouyer7]

I'll try yo post some pictures tomorrow to compare the cracks .

[jimmijim8]

Clean it up with a die grinder with metal burrs. Braze the cracks in and clean up any overexcessive brass with the die grinder metal burr thingy or replace with a good head. cheers jimmijim

[chrisbouyer7]

[Skybolt]

Pic did not post.