The crack between valves was not visible to the naked eye (I called back to double check on that), but as smoked as the rear intermediate main bearing was-- I would not doubt if it was in the same area as your '53, John. Mine was not leaking water YET, but it would be soon after the cleaning.
I'm not quite out of the woods yet as far as having a replacement head to install (almost though- VERY fortunate Hotrod is close by- THANKS x10!), but the scarcity of good cyl heads we all need for these Stovebolts brings up the question:
What is our plan going forward to maintain their availability/maintain the hobby? It is a pretty doggone essential part of the engine, and I'm just curious what ideas are out there to pass the hobby on... Who's stepping up to be the go-to guy if repair is the only option? I saw some aluminum milled heads for 235s, but they had 'race' and HiPo adjectives listed in their descriptions. The casting operations I looked at that could prototype would be astronomical expensive... Can a Stovebolt cylinder head even be made- trademark/patent-wise? I know somebody here has thought about it- maybe even made one.
I hope I'm not bothering everybody being curious- this is probably not the last Stovebolt I'll be owning- so it'll come up again I'm sure.
Brad
