W2 stroker build - head break through fix - how about this?

Everyone,

Well, I thought I was ready for most of the challenges I might encounter while porting the W2 heads for my stroker build, and for the most part things went pretty well.

Here are the results of the MP porting template based work, a pure DIY effort, and keep in mind I am not trying to achieve some sky-high flow numbers, rather I simply wanted to remove the factory extra material to optmize the air flow. I have yet to bring these to a shop to do a test flow, and am in fact curious how they'll compare to my previous DIY effort on factory '596 castings.

Anyways, a few pics:

1)

2)

...and then this happened:

3)

Sooo...alright, not ideal, but I've ran into this issue before, albeit a different spot (I broke through on my '596 castings on the intake port roof right into the head bolt recess) patched up with epoxy, ran for 10 yrs never a problem.

I think what helps here is that this is probably the coolest part of the port (being right at the intake and exposed to cool incoming air. So I've got my J-B Weld tubes here, was going to mix the stuff and patch it up, but then an idea poped into my head: maybe I could epoxy in a half-shell of a copper tube on the other side to give the actual port epoxy a bit of "back-end" support?

Let me explain further, in essence I'm thinking of cutting open a copper tube and using a half-shell to epoxy it in on the pushrod hole side of the port. Since there is no real mechanical stress there I think this should hold just fine. The benefit here would be that the actual intake port fix (on the inside) can be pretty thin, basically just enough to smooth things over.

I'm curious though what you guys make of that idea? Asking for more trouble than worth it?

Oh, and when I said above "...I thought I was ready...", I literally used a sonic thickness checker on each port, this only happened once I put a sand roll on the port to finish up the walls. Quite possible I either spent a little too much time in that one spot, or maybe applied too much pressure.

The roll did NOT initially go right through but left a discolouration...as soon as I spotted it I could indent the metal with my finger, it was onion skin thin in that spot...LOL, so I removed all that excess thin material, which of course make the overall hole larger.

Pictures won't show for me

Tesar Race Engine tubed the pushrod holes with thin stainless tubing. They bedded them with loctite sleeve retainer sealant. I realize the hole would have to be reamed, but it’s a pretty good solution.

I wish I could that something like that, but before I started my porting I had the machine shop do a clearance cut on the pushrode hole to give me room to run a 3/8" pushrod, which means that the hole is now actually oblong, no longer a nice circle. I figured that in order to put a sleeve like you suggest, the machine shop would have to re-cut that hole much bigger and it honestly doesn't look like there is that much room left in there.

If a tube isn't an option, an epoxy like Zspar or even JB Weld might be your easiest option. Apply it from both sides and clean up what is in the port.

i like and use Marine Tex for work like you need to do

I like the idea of a metal backer on the outside like you mentioned, whether it is copper, brass, or steel. I might try to use steel but the others are a little easier to form. Rough the crap out of it so the epoxy gets a good bite on the head and the insert.

Truth be told “the pinch” isn’t the issue on W2 heads like it is on stock, Edelbrock, Speedmaster, and other copies. The shortside is where the needed work is. Better off leaving that area alone.