Warped Cylinder Head Straighten Resurface in the GARAGE DIY

Just as good as a machine shop to within .0005in with basic shop tools!

WHAT TOOLS ARE A MUST?

PROCESS:
First, your metal high school ruler is NOT straight and should not be used( I tested around 20 that I had with some .010 out over a foot). Buy a precision straight edge for $20, it will come in handy over the years. Use the straight edge to measure the top and bottom of the cylinder head. If you have a cam that inserts vs lays on top like mine you will just be able to measure the valve cover mounting surface but this will give you a great idea of how straight your cam journals are. You can use a shop press instead of bolting it down but be careful as a shop press can easily over bend it. Even if your block is warped, you're better off using it and a bunch of shims to compensate(read below about warped block). Heat and check. Just do a little at a time until it's straight on top. Now, use this straight edge to find a flat surface for sanding/resurfacing. I prefer the engine block but that is not always an option. Just an FYI glass is rarely flatter than .002-.005 over a 18" spread and it is also super flexible and will contour to whatever you put it on. The flattest surface I have found is 3/4in MDF and Melamine(plastic coated MDF). Yes a woodworking plywood type product. Cut it and make it double or triple thick so it doesn't deflect. If you have a cast iron block it is likely straight enough to use like I did. I started with 120grit and you should use this until it just touches the lowest spot/depression. Then I went to 220 and that should suffice, but I finished with 320. You could also start your first passes with 60 or 80 grit if you have .004+ to take off. Wet sand paper is not needed.

What if my block is warped as well?
Does it match the head with the same contour? If both have a .003 bend the exact same way you could likely just slap them back together and be happy unless you are pulling them apart due to a blown head gasket, then something needs to be straightened. First straighten your cyl head like I discuss above. Then you can use sand paper on your head to flatten your block. Or if you used a MDF block you can also cut it down to fit inside your engine bay and do your engine block. Word of caution: plug all your oil ports and cylinders with towels and grease the edges of the cyl walls to catch any sanding grit from falling in. The grease allows easy wipe up/cleaning. You don't want sand in your engine.

STAY UP TO DATE BETWEEN PROJECTS on Social media

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL?
I'm not asking for people to send me anything, but people are awesome and asking how they can support the channel:

OR support the SHOP DOG

[thecommentary]

You know, Ive been doing this for almost 50 years. And Ive never seen another shop do this kind of straightening. In fact, numerous shops years back outright attacked me for doing it. Screaming and crying why the head needed machining. Ive seen the same kind of people on youtube. When you mill a head, IT DOESNT REMOVE THE FREAKING WARP!

Not only will the camshaft will be off, but now you have thin and heavy areas of the head AT THE WATER JACKET! AND you have combustion chambers that will be smaller where more material was removed and larger chambers where material wasnt, which will cause additional tuning and performance imbalance. You will raise the compression ratio in 2 of the cylinders where the most material was removed. The list of issues immediate and long term are too long to list. All because of milling a warped head.

[butaketsulancer]

Omg a guy that actually fixes things instead of replacing. Well done sir!

[WhiskeyRiverRifleman]

I used this method tonight on a 2.4 Ecotec engine and it worked great the head was out .013 I cannot fit a .003 feeler gauge under the straight edge now!!! Thank you for helping me get the wife's cylinder head back within factory specs!

[svedas]

Thumbs up for adding metric measurements.

[kai]

Never thought about measuring the camshaft and that the whole head is bent! This is brilliant! Also the explanation why it bends makes totally sense! Thanks a lot!

[iwontbebeat]

LOL I'm proud of him . whoever taught him that tech must be super old school . 👍

[BasementBen]

This is remarkable skill for a DIY head calibration job, I enjoyed this! Learned quite a bit

[notfastuc]

I like seeing Old School Backyard on the Farm Machining

[brucewilliams]

You do some great work with very basic tools. My dad helped me grind a crank using a pack of over-sized bearings and valve grinding compound. We were 30 though out of round and I didn't have the money for the machine work. The guys in the shop (on a military base) said it wouldn't work but the crank came in true with only about 200 turns of the connecting rod on the journal. Put it together and I drove it for about 15K miles before I sold it. Keep up the great work.

[gerardjones]

People think it can't be done without huge machines, but lathe beds on the very best lathes are scraped flat by hand with a scraper and dye.

[garethmcgregor]

I've never seen anything like that before. Brilliant. 👍

[LatinDanceVideos]

I’m impressed. I’m sure a machine shop foreman will shake his head. Obviously this method needs care to detect and avoid lateral warping. Well done.

[Dancing_Alone_wRentals]

I came back to this video to watch it again. We are lucky to have your channel !

[jimmysblacksmithing]

A good day, thanks for sharing that God-given genius of yours with us. Way old-school . Did not know they made that special sanding paper. Going to have to obtain some! No Shop should be without it after seeing this. You are the man!!! have always expressed the more you do it the more you learn. Thanks again have a beautiful day look forward to more. Jim

[mrmerhtin]

this is why I sub! alternative DIY methods to crazy expensive regular tasks

[bkp]

I've been wrenching for 20 years and I've never seen this.

Thank you for very educational video.

[ROADKING]

Nicely done Bud!! It don't get any better than that!!☺

[DFWJon]

I am 43 and I had a classmate in my auto-mechanics shop class in high school who had a 4 cylinder Mustang and he warped the head when he overheated the engine. Well, he brought the head to school and was outside one day on the concrete driveway sliding this cast iron head back and forth. In amazement, I asked what he was doing, to which he replied, “I’m shaving the head because it was warped”. I don't know just how warped it was or just how straight he got it in the end but I do know that he ended up putting it back on the engine and it ran fine. As far as I know he never did take it to a machine shop.

[jeffs]

Very educational on entire job. I learned so much and love when all jobs can be done in house.Thank you!

[dentmastersofnymichael]

That was excellent tutorial on straightening the head. So many are done wrong. That’s the correct way and easy. Nice!