JEEP HEAD
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10-30-2011, 07:21 PM
#8
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Year: 1995
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6 4.0L
get a jy head, check it for cracks, and get a head and valve job on it and it would be good to go
10-30-2011, 08:06 PM
#11
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Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: AMC242
"Steel" is generally not use for structural engine castings, and most production engines don't use it for crankshafts either.
You have a cast iron head, unless it's been replaced. However, the simple tests are most effective - try to stick a magnet on the head casting. If it sticks, it's iron. If it doesn't, it's aluminum (and not OEM - the AMC I6 never left the factory with an aluminum head!)
Cracked heads can be welded - it requires a special technique, since you are working with cast metal (amourphous grain structure - require pre- and post-heating. Also requires a high-nickel filler alloy, "gouging" of the crack, stop-drilling and plugging at the ends, and post-weld machine work to get the deck surface nice and flat again. Aluminum is even more difficult.) Without a machine shop with experience in head welding, you're better off replacing it - just have the new head Magnafluxed or at least dye-checked to make sure you're getting a good one. Magnaflux makes a pocket-size dye check kit, and most dedicated welding supply houses carry regular-size aerosol cans for dye-checking in the field that will fit into a toolbox or tool bag.
If it's the #0331 head that's cracked up top, you don't have to do the machine work (since you're not repairing a ground surface.) However, the rest applies.
You have a cast iron head, unless it's been replaced. However, the simple tests are most effective - try to stick a magnet on the head casting. If it sticks, it's iron. If it doesn't, it's aluminum (and not OEM - the AMC I6 never left the factory with an aluminum head!)
Cracked heads can be welded - it requires a special technique, since you are working with cast metal (amourphous grain structure - require pre- and post-heating. Also requires a high-nickel filler alloy, "gouging" of the crack, stop-drilling and plugging at the ends, and post-weld machine work to get the deck surface nice and flat again. Aluminum is even more difficult.) Without a machine shop with experience in head welding, you're better off replacing it - just have the new head Magnafluxed or at least dye-checked to make sure you're getting a good one. Magnaflux makes a pocket-size dye check kit, and most dedicated welding supply houses carry regular-size aerosol cans for dye-checking in the field that will fit into a toolbox or tool bag.
If it's the #0331 head that's cracked up top, you don't have to do the machine work (since you're not repairing a ground surface.) However, the rest applies.
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