To those who have milled their heads...

[burnoutstang1]

How did you do it? I'd prefer to leave the head on the car for as little downtime as possible. What tools did you use to get the base flat and widen the hole? How did you fill in the lowspots? JB weld?

 

[mach1 mark]

Take it to a machine shop. About $100.

 

[burnoutstang1]

Will a machine shop do it with the head in the car?

 

[Crosley]

I can only guess you do not know what "milling the head" means.

You need the head off the engine. The surface of the head that bolts down to the engine block has material removed by a machine designed for that.

Or are you talking about a different mill the head program?

You can not mill the log intake with it on the car either and have a smooth surface.

 

[drag-200stang]

I used a file, on my home made tri power but it was off the car. I saved the money on something I could do and spent the money on pistons I couldn't do. That's how I went as fast as a V8 for less.

I've since accumulated power tools, but that's how I started out.

 

[burnoutstang1]

Sorry, to clarify I mean milling it for a 2v carb. Milling the log. (Is there a better term for that : ) And just a standard metal file? Bet that took a while.

 

[drag-200stang]

Yes, it took awhile. The file was sharp. I think it was a bastard (OK, monitors that was the proper name of the style). But on the tri power, less material needs to be removed than the direct mount 2 barrel. You'd be surprised how much material you can remove with a sharp file. It would be a lot faster to rough it in first using an industrial right angle grinder if you had access to one. If I can do it myself, I do it. I've had a lot of bad experiences having others do it. I can mess it up for free and in less time.

 

[burnoutstang1]

Okay cool. I have a grinder so that might be good to get it started with. How did you get the additional holes drilled?

 

[drag-200stang]

Hand drill and a hole saw for the large holes. And just a hand drill, the right size drill bit and a hand tap - of course you have to have a good eye and a steady hand. We're not building the shuttle, here. It's only a carb mounting. The trick on hole saws on thicker metal is you have to remove the chips or it will just wear the teeth down. You can use either a vacuum, air pressure or a couple small holes and let the chips fall through.

The best plan is to carefully evaluate how to go about it, go slow and make sure you're doing what you think you're doing. Just keep checking your work as you do it. It's a lot harder to put material on than to take it off. Practice on some scrap. Even wood is useful.

This may not be for you, I just like being handy.

 

[Crosley]

ah , that clears up stuff. Mill the top of the log head for another carb.

You need the head off if you are cutting holes in the log intake... to keep metal shavings out of the engine

 

['68falconohio]

On my D7 head, I didn't have to build up any low spots. I used a vertical mill for the direct mount and did all of the port grinding I wanted to do before I gave the head to the real machinist to do the valve job / mill for combustion chamber size. All of this was with the head off. As Crosley stated, you do not want chips/shavings/grinding dust in the engine.

What head are you looking to work on? If down time's an issue. Strongly consider buying a later junkyard head to work on while you're still driving your car. I've only seen a C8 and a D7 head in person and the round top of the log on the C8 would seem to be a royal pain for a direct mount. I could be wrong though.

 

[Lazy JW]

I used a file, on my home made tri power but it was off the car. I saved the money on something I could do and spent the money on pistons I couldn't do. That's how I went as fast as a V8 for less.

I've since accumulated power tools, but that's how I started out.

Oh, I LOVE it!