Howdy. Let me apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge. I am a carpenter, not a mechanic. I have a '65 coupe, 6 cyl, 200. The headis cracked at the bolt closest to the passenger cab, where the exhaust manifold bolts to the head. It is on the outside of the bolt. This is resulting in unpleasent noise and I would assume loss of performance. My question: Is this something that can be welded? Do I have to replace the head?
thanks, E

 

The head is cracked or the manifold is cracked?

 

It can be welded but have a machine shop do it its tricky and will need to be completely checked out.

 

Welcome to the forum Nails!!


As MustangLover said, it can be fixed, but you may find it cheaper and more convenient to have another Head fixed up and just swap it out.

Those heads can be had cheap if you shop around... I think I may have a good rebuildable core, I will let you have it for shipping if I can find it....

(Last part I gave away on hereI have not been able to find,,, so if you want it let me know and bear with me...)

Frankly, you can probably find a good core or even a good used head locally cheaper than I can ship the one I think I have..

 

There's prolly a bazillion I6 200 heads laying around junkyards and various other places.

 

Thanks for the input. I will try to get some photos of the crack up on Monday. That is if my tech(daughter) is available.

E

 

I'm sure the noise is an exhaust leak. So this should be fixed so toxic fumes don't get inside the car. But I don't think you will see much of a performance difference. The head and intake are apiece cast part. The part should be replaced and not repaired. You also should update to a newer head like late 70's or early 80's. They have bigger valves and hardened exhaust valve seats. They also are making an aluminum head for these sixes now, for more performance. Check out www.fordsix.com. The other thing you need to know if you remove and repair/replace the head the old thin metal "Ford" head gaskets are not available. So using one of todays head gaskets, will changethe compression ratio and if you don't make changes to get this ratio correct this will cause you to have even less power then now. Don't know the exact amount but most people have the replacement head machined down like .060 to .080 to compensate for the thicker head gasket. Like I said check out the website. Good luck!
Lowell

 

Just in case anyone is interested,herearephotos of the cracked head. Thanks for the advice. Any further info will help. Please and Thanks!
-E.

 

I would see if you could pull the manifold off, change the gasket and see if you can use a nut and bolt with some washers. It don't look that serious to me.

 

Here are some more photos with the bolt removed. Hope to replace the manifold gasket this weekend. Will keep ya posted. Please and thanks once again.
-E.