Head surface question

Thank you to all that answered. Thom

He mentions 35-36 in the above post. You are right about the 31-33 CI heads.

Thom has the 31-33 Auburn with the iron head; not a problem with them that I know of.
Pete

I would suggest a new head, they are available. The original heads were junk when they were new and they are still junk.

I was talking to Sandy at Olson's about milling my head .023 and he mentioned the problem with the tapored water passages on the 1935 and 36 engines that increased in diameter as the head was milled. I used the word fix, maybe incorrectly, meaning that they became aware of the problem and the car owners were able to address it so that the new gasket would not leak. I am sorry for any misunderstanding. I am gathering information, at this point, before I proceed with work on my head. Trying to avoid any surprises. Thom

It is my experience that 31-32 heads are cast iron and 35 36 are all aluminum.
All were cast flat.

Who did you talk to at Olson's? Have not heard of that issue.
CORDiallyMike

Olson gaskets advised me of problems milling 1935 and 1936 Auburn heads because of tapored water ports that the new gasket would not seal after the milling was done. He said a fix was found and corrected for that. Does anyone know if this been a concern on the 1931, 32, 32 engine when milling it?

Thanke for all the replies. Thay have been helpful.

Here are specs. from 1931 when copper asbestos gaskets were used. Block flatness Good .003, Fair .007, recondition .010. I have usually found that block flatness is usually good. .020 on head is too much.
CORDiallyMike

I took the head to the machine shop. On his flat surface, he was able to slide a .020 feeler gauge under the center at the distributor hole but not .025. .023 would slide under also. Both ends were flat to the table. Closest straight edge I had at home was the square. I will ask to borrow his straight edge to check the block. My main concern is the .023-.025 space.

All this sounds terrible but... How have you determined these dimensions? Personally I WOULD NOT take that much off the head or the block. As to answering the question of using a straight edge on the block. I suggest you use ONLY a true machinist straight edge. Any other straight piece of any level or edge is going to be "close" but not straight. Hopefully you will find these 25 thousands mearurements are untrue because of how you measured them. Everything in my personal shop is the Starratt brand micrometers, calipers and depth gauges. They are expensive but you get what you pay for. Nothing less like some of the other cheaper brands made overseas or worse.


Gary Parsons

I would do the head. Your machine should be able to calculate how much it’ll raise the compression ratio but these are fairly low compression cars anyway. If you can borrow a machinist straight edge and check the block by sliding feeler gauges under it.Those copper asbestos head gaskets are pretty forgiving.

Seeking advice for 1933 8101A Auburn concerning reinstalling the head. I have taken the head to a machine shop and found out that at the distributer shaft area of it, it has a gap of .023 . This gap tapers in both directions for about 6 inches. I do not have the resources to remove the engine to have the block checked or machined. If I put a 2 foot square across the block, I can see light between the block and the square. Here are my questions: 1) Will a new head gasket fill in the gaps when torqued? 2) Is it wise to take .025 off the head to true it up or is that too great an amount? 3) Since the block will not be machined, is it worth correcting the head surface? 4) How forgiving are these great old engines? Any advice will be truely appreciated. Thom