[NoVa-Corvairs] Noob May Need a Good Used Head

[63redbrier at cox.net]

Hey, Dan!  Did you have the Ranch repair the loose head stud and worn valve guide while they were in there?  Seems like it would have been a great opportunity...  Greg

---- Dan Weiss via Novacc-list <novacc-list at corvair.org> wrote: 
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> Hi. I'm Dan Weiss, live in Herndon and have owned a 69 vert for about 5 years.
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> This is my first post to the group I think.  I may have done so four or five years ago, but fell out of touch.  Recently attended last month's meeting at Ron's, and got back in touch with a few of the group's patriarchs as I was seeking some advice and opinions on work that had been done to the car.  Little did I know how much I would be in need of the group's expertise in the very near future.
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> Done a fair amount of work on cars peripheral to engines, and the current condition of the car will take me into new territory.
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> Recently the Ranch found a loose head stud under the intake rocker arm of the number 2 cylinder.  It had a significant lose of power in lower RPM range, rough idle and blew blue smoke.  Here is a pic of what they found:.  
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> Jeff mentioned the valve guide was very worn.
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> Car ran great.  A couple of the club members synced the carbs at Ron's meeting last month.  Can ran even better.
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> Then one day last week while driving in second at about 40 MPH, a knock started with loss of power and smoothness.  Bryan Blackwell suggest a leak down test; Bob Marshall suggested a compression test. 
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> Pulling one plug wire at a time, removing the wire for #2 Cyl produced no difference, so it seemed the problem was the same cylinder the Ranch found in need of some attention.
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> Compression test was done on each cylinder.  First test was without having throttle open (forgot about that); second test was with throttle open for each cylinder.  Open throttle produced a range of 2 to 7 additional PSI of compression.
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> Here are readings:
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> CYLINDER			FIRST TEST			SECOND TEST
> 	2					0					0
> 	4					143					145
> 	6					150					157
> 	1					140					143
> 	3					157					164			
> 	5					151					156
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> Onto the leak down test.
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> Did the best I could to get cyl #2 to TDC by aligning the rotor under the cap with the #2 contact.  First attempts read close to 100%.  Further adjustment seemed to tighten things up and tests consistently read right on the yellow and red section divider at about 71% cylinder leakage. I made sure to turn the regulator so the gauge read 0% before connecting it to the cylinder. The gauge immediately read 71% leakage and stayed right there.  I turned the regulator clockwise to allow for airflow from the compressor, and the air was flowing out the exhaust pipe.  What surprised me was that if I did achieve TDC, with the air leaking out the exhaust, I thought the rocker arm in the pic would have been with the exhaust valve, but as you all already know, that is the intake valve.
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> Does it seem that the leak down test was done correctly?  
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> Obviously, regardless of the leak down test, the head has to come off to be replaced or repaired.   I plan to pull the valve cover off to see what may be going on under there tomorrow or Saturday..
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> A couple of the Clarks techs suggested a dropped valve seat given the symptoms.  Given that and the worn valve guide identified by Jeff, it seems that the best strategy might be to get hold of a good used head for a 110 and get my hands dirty with with the help of a few more knowledgeable if anyone is so inclined.
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> Any thoughts or suggestions from anyone in the group would be greatly appreciated.
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> Thanks.
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> Dan
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