YUP machine shop called and found about a 1" long crack between an intake and exhaust guide on the top of one of my 69 430 heads. Should I just scrapped the head or he suggested I could have him "cold sew" the crack? Is it worth it? Anyone got a 1231109 casting head for sale? Thanks ANDY
You could pin it and save the head. How much do you have in this head? Bronze Guides, Stage 1 Valves? any porting? Pinning it should be $100 or less, you could even weld it for more. Moroso makes crack repair cement. That stuff is good as gold, and much cheaper. All you do is "V" the crack, and slob it in their. works good. I've heard that the '69 casings are prone to cracking up top. Jim Burek probably has some valueable input:TU: BTW, How did the rims work out? :beer Joe
I just replaced both of my cracked 430 heads with 455 ones on my riviera. I spent a long time looking for a good set of 430 heads until I called TA performance, they informed me that these heads commonly crack. He advised me to put 455 heads on. He also said it helps to raise compression a little back to have the 455 heads shaved .020 It compensates for the slight compression loss. will p.s. You have to change to 455 lifters, push rods, and rockers.
Yep, the 1109's are the most notorious for those cracks, but it is very common on all the 400 /430 heads. Did the crack show up only with magnaflux or was it pressure tested? SOmetimes the cracks will show up when you mag the head, yet they don't actually leak water. You'd probably be better off just having that head fixed as finding another one that is uncracked could be difficult. Jim Burek
Joe, The wheels are what I was looking for, just a good polishing and they will be back to new. Thanks again. Anyway, the crack showed up with the magnafux. I dont have anything in the heads yet. They are there now for stg valves, bronze guides, and hard seats. I'll mention the moroso weld and pinning to him but he said he already didnt want to weld. I used to have a set of 72 heads I ran but one cracked into a water jacket. If the 69 heads need milling to get them square, might as well put the money in a new set of 455 heads and just have them milled to get the compression. Ill talk to him tomorrow and go from there. Thanks, ANDY
