Resurfacing Ford 1710 head

[Machtfarm]

I have a mid 80s Ford 1710 with the uncommon shibaura 3cylinder diesel. It has always used some coolant but this past weekend the headgasket finally completely went and was putting so much water into one of the cylinders that it would no longer fire. I pulled the head and was planning on getting it resurfaced but now I’m questioning if that’s possible. At the bottom of the injector hole there is a cone shaped feature with 4 holes in it. That cone is almost perfectly flush with the surface of the head. If the head gets surfaced it is going to shave that cone and the hole coming out of it down. It doesn’t look removable from what I can see. It also looks like the head may have been surfaced before as there is a plug next to one of the exhaust valves that I’m guessing was put in to address a crack. My experience has always been with gas motors so not sure if this cone shaped feature is normal on a diesel or if it is something that can be worked around when surfacing the head. A replacement head is out of the question as they are almost impossible to find and when you do they cost about what the tractor is worth. I attached a picture to try and help clarify what I’m talking about with the cone. Has anyone else run into something similar? Any suggestions? Do these heads typically warp or is it with risking the $100 and just slapping a new head gasket on?

 

[Duner Wi]

I could be wrong but I think I see a crack in the photo. Sorry I can't answer your questions.

 

[Bern]

I have a mid 80s Ford 1710 with the uncommon shibaura 3cylinder diesel. It has always used some coolant but this past weekend the headgasket finally completely went and was putting so much water into one of the cylinders that it would no longer fire. I pulled the head and was planning on getting it resurfaced but now I’m questioning if that’s possible. At the bottom of the injector hole there is a cone shaped feature with 4 holes in it. That cone is almost perfectly flush with the surface of the head. If the head gets surfaced it is going to shave that cone and the hole coming out of it down. It doesn’t look removable from what I can see. It also looks like the head may have been surfaced before as there is a plug next to one of the exhaust valves that I’m guessing was put in to address a crack. My experience has always been with gas motors so not sure if this cone shaped feature is normal on a diesel or if it is something that can be worked around when surfacing the head. A replacement head is out of the question as they are almost impossible to find and when you do they cost about what the tractor is worth. I attached a picture to try and help clarify what I’m talking about with the cone. Has anyone else run into something similar? Any suggestions? Do these heads typically warp or is it with risking the $100 and just slapping a new head gasket on?

How much needs to be taken off the head to clean it up? If it's only a few thousandths, I wouldn't be afraid to skim the cone a little. Have you even laid a straightedge over it? You might not need to take anything off.

Also, when looking for a used head, don't limit your search to just Ford tractors. Other OEMs used that engine as well. Caterpillar is one example.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Just let the machine shop worry about it. It probably comes out the top through the injector hole. If it needs to come out they will remove it.
Besides, they need to put the crack detector on it and see how bad that crack is.
Did you actually see were the head gasket failed ? If that crack goes all the way through, that will let plenty of water in.

 

[Eman85]

Bring it to an experienced machinist. If they don't know anything about the head when you bring it in take it back out and keep looking. Crack check is what I'd worry about before any machine work or you might be machining a paperweight.

 

[Keith Williams]

I could be wrong but I think I see a crack in the photo. Sorry I can't answer your questions.

YEP!

 

[Tom in Mo.]

If you are looking for a head for that Shibaura try Weavers Compact Tractor Parts. You'll have to google it as I don't have that info in front of me.

 

[Machtfarm]

Head is cracked. It goes all the way through to the water jacket. Waiting to talk to the machine shop to see if there is any possibility of plugging or welding it. Replacement heads are pretty much non existent. I called a few places that said they may have one but none are in stock. Tractor may end up in the scrap pile.

 

[Bern]

Head is cracked. It goes all the way through to the water jacket. Waiting to talk to the machine shop to see if there is any possibility of plugging or welding it. Replacement heads are pretty much non existent. I called a few places that said they may have one but none are in stock. Tractor may end up in the scrap pile.

There are guys out there who do a pretty fair job of welding cast iron. I had a set of cracked SB Chev heads welded a while back with no problems. For those of you wondering why I would do that instead of finding good used heads, I wanted the engine I was working on to be numbers matching, and the engine was a 1957 model.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

You should talk to a few machine shops before you give up. There is a process that I don’t know the name of where they mill the crack wide open and spray filler metal in there with a special torch.
My machine shop is right next to a Ford dealer when, in the late 90s, Ford had a problem with iron V6 heads cracking…. So much so that PC Automotive bought this special apparatus solely for these heads.
Don’t know where you’re at, you’ll have to determine if it’s worth shipping your head to Oberlin, Ohio.

 

[ford blue]

Before I gave up see if someone will tig braze the crack. You need to use an aluminum bronze filler rod on the cast iron. You want the cast to melt and flow in with the bronze ie it mixes then cool it slow. I have a 3600 trans case that froze and will get this treatment if I cant find one.

 

[Machtfarm]

Before I gave up see if someone will tig braze the crack. You need to use an aluminum bronze filler rod on the cast iron. You want the cast to melt and flow in with the bronze ie it mixes then cool it slow. I have a 3600 trans case that froze and will get this treatment if I cant find one.

Thanks. I found 3 cracks after having it magnafluxed. The auto machine shop wasn’t interested in doing the work to fix it but I do have access to a machine shop and was able to fix the crack in the head with irontite plugs since none of the cracks were on a headgasket sealing surface. The head was also able to be surfaced flat without hitting the injector fuel distribution plugs. The irontite plugs were a great solution and fairly simple to install if you take your time but they were not cheap. Just the tap itself was a hundred dollars. The tractor is back up and running and I’m happy to say it is no longer leaking any coolant into the cylinders or overheating anymore.

 

[Eman85]

Good machine shops are few and far between. Might want to share the location and name in case someone needs work done.

 

[Tom in Mo.]

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out.

 

[Texasmark1]

Head is cracked. It goes all the way through to the water jacket. Waiting to talk to the machine shop to see if there is any possibility of plugging or welding it. Replacement heads are pretty much non existent. I called a few places that said they may have one but none are in stock. Tractor may end up in the scrap pile.

Alexander's Ford is a re-ferbishing facility in E. Texas. One of the things they do is to fix cracked heads. Years ago I had a 4 cyl. 4000 and the head was cracked. They said that was a problem with those heads. I toured their machine shop, quite large, and was impressed with their quality of work and thoroughness in fixing problems. They drill numerous adjacent holes in the head and then drive in lead (as I recall) pins all in a row, touching (interference fit) in the head then mill it off flat. They have lots of Ford parts too.

 

[Tom in Mo.]

That's called stitching the crack around here. Had that done on propane heads.