I just pulled the head off my '54 3600, and found a good 2" crack on the #6 and a 1" crack on #4. Both cylinders had low compression, one in the 90's and the other 60. The engine had run ok, just smelled a little gassy in the exhaust and I think maybe the occasional steam. The local machine shop guy that magnafluxed it said he'd seen alot of these heads and this was a common problem. My head Number is 3835913 and the date d264 - which he told me is april 4, 1954.
My questions are; Are some casting numbers better than others for crack resistance (I've seen 848's recommended in past posts as a good head) or are they all just a crap shoot? Also any tips when looking at them, short of making the machine shop guy rich magnafluxing all the 235 heads in the country to find a good one?
Finally, I'm going to go ahead and do a re-ring on the block. What are the the telltale signs to look for to determine if any anti-freeze got to the bearings? (ie: what would they look like?)
Any help would be appreciated, as I am hoping to back on the road in the spring with out going broke. :rolleyes:
