It doesn't look structural.
I had a head aluminium welded when I snapped a tap in the exhaust stud hole.
the guy spark eroded it out and rebuilt the hole up with aluminium weld
totallyconfused wrote:Hey - thats great news!....:DNow just got to get on with stripping the rest down and cleaning up all the mess!!Cheers - Christian
Well if nothing is leaking out of it - gas, water or oil - and it don't look fresh chances are it has been sitting there benignly for ages. I have to say that the comparitively hard circular inner seal together with the softer rubber outer seal (in the case of the water cooled unit) does induce a fulcrum effect which could cause that kind of crack without disabling the motor or causing leaks. You man could maybe weld it for you and you could check for overall distortion with a steel rule applied across the underside. I had a head cracked between the valve inserts and was told by the chap who sold the van to me that this was causing my loss of coolant. I changed the head and still had he problem. I believe a small crack is acceptable in the spec. Turns out it was a slight leak in the pressure cap which cost a fiver from G&S. Good luck anyway.
Cheers
Ken
Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.
"A quiet shy boy who took little part in games or sport"
88 High top 2.1 WBX
The crack is at the same level as the stud/nut so it shouldn't cause any problems and the head is also held in place above the crack inside the rocker chamber by the other studs/bolts.
If need be this cracks are easy to get repaired as they are not near/it's not on any critically flat/machined areas
It is by will alone that I set my 'van' in motion!
Thanks for your comments/reassurance. I will get the machine shop to have a look and see what they say. I have no idea about leaks etc. as I bought the engine already out of the van. However, the guy I bought it off said it was running o.k. before it was taken out - so fingers crossed.
Cheers - Christian.
1981 - Aircooled 1600 Fire Bus.
Not a camper, Not a pop top, Not Nato Green, its a German Firebus!