tapered plugs

[fixerupper]

I am going to try my hand at plug repairing a cracked cylinder head. The crack is between the valves and does not appear to go past the valve seats. I watched a U tube video and it looks fairly easy. This guy used a tapered tap and corresponding tapered plugs to screw into the holes. My question is where do I get the tapered tap and plugs for this job? Thanks, Jim

 

[BigPapa53]

Pipe thread is tapered.

-Scott

 

[SVcummins]

Lock n stitch
Untitled URL Link

 

[Steve@Advance]

What kind of head is this?

Unless it's something rare and near impossible to replace, I would only use this method as a last resort.

 

[jm.]

I am 75 years old and have seen a bunch of folks try it and I will say this if you can watch a u tube video and do it right the first time you are one smart man. Most of the folks making these repairs successfully have years of experience. Good luck and please post a photo for the finished repair.

 

[fixerupper]

This head is common as dirt, SC Case but I'd like to try this. I'm trying to get by real cheap with this thing. If this doesn't work all I'm out is a gasket set. If it does work The only expense I will have is a gasket set. I'm willing to take the chance. I watched a lock-n-stitch video but I got the idea this particular Lock-n-stitch didn't seal the crack. Maybe I'm wrong on this. I watched another video showing the guy winging it free hand. It looked like the tapered pins he used had a square head for turning them in and he used a corresponding tapered tap. Maybe he was using the lock-n-stitch tap and pins without using the guide block I saw in the video.

 

[rustred]

It is not the easiest thing to be drilling 2 different metals freehand trying to catch 1/2 of each metal. pretty well need a drill press and have the head anchored down. those goofs on u tube make a fool of themselves and most should not even show there stupidity. plus they spend more time talking than working also!

 

[fixerupper]

Rustred you pretty much hit the nail on the head. This guy I watched on You Tube showed a video of him drilling, tapping and screwing the pin into the two ends of the crack but there was nothing showing him drilling the middle overlapping holes. When the video ended the stubs of pins were still sticking out without being ground down and one of the pins was sticking out over the valve seat. I sent an email to Lock-n-stitch to see what they want for the tools and supplies. If it's too outrageous for price I might not try it. Time will tell. It's Friday so I don't suppose I will hear back from them till Monday at the soonest.

 

[johndeere720GA]

The last thing you want is tapered holes, as you tighten them up they will spread the crack wider. What you need are specially designed bolts that have a weird sloped thread that as it is tightened it
actually draws the parts together. I am going to attempt a picture of one that i found. The head of the bolt is designed to shear off at the desired torque.

 

[jm.]

How do you plan on surfacing the head once you have the plugs in place? By the time you buy your supplies and pay for the surfacing looks like you would be better off just taking it to the shop. Just wondering and as I said I hope you can pull it off.

 

[johndeere720GA]

somehow that little picture got huge.

 

[SVcummins]

The price of the lock n stitch kits is usually more
than a new part unless it?s a head for say an Essex
tri directional . I however like trying to repair
something especially after the yt department of no
you can?t do it says it can?t be done

 

[fixerupper]

Thanks John Deere. I did question using tapered bolts that might spread the crack when I saw the video. Where do I get bolts like the one you show?

 

[SVcummins]

This guy seems to know what he?s doing
Untitled URL Link

 

[jon f mn]

Some use standard pipe taps and plugs.
I have several case heads that my head
repair guy has used loc-n-stitch on and
they are working well. To do it
yourself with pipe plugs you drill and
tap a series of holes with shirt spaces
between, then grind those down and
drill another set between filling the
gaps. It's supposed to work, but I
haven't done it. The guy that does mine
usually charges me about $100-150 per
head to fix, machine, and retest the
head. Valve and seat work is extra.

 

[John Achmann]

Here?s the kit I acquired from my uncle. It?s from Goodson out
of Winona Minnesota. Everything is in there that you need to
Stich cracks. Good luck.

 

[fixerupper]

(quoted from post at 20:34:31 02/08/19) How do you plan on surfacing the head once you have the plugs in place? By the time you buy your supplies and pay for the surfacing looks like you would be better off just taking it to the shop. Just wondering and as I said I hope you can pull it off.

I hope I can pull it off too. The area I am working with is recessed up in the head away from the deck. My biggest concern is getting the grinder in that recess to grind the pins off smooth.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Hmmm, if the head is as common as dirt then they must be relatively easy to find and probably not too pricey. But some guys
like to inflict pain on themselves ..... ha! Hopefully the fix works and you don't end up buying a fix-it kit and then go
hunting for a decent used one.

 

[fixerupper]

Crazy horse I have the same thoughts going around in my mind. I don’t know what the tools cost, lock-n-stitch seems to be tight lipped about that on their website but if the tools get up around the $100 mark I might call it off.

Then there is the adventurist side of me that tells me I need to try this for the challenge. We will never learn if we don’t challenge ourselves. Sometimes we fail, sometimes we luck out and win but we won’t know that if we don’t stick our neck out sometimes.

 

[Brian G. NY]

(quoted from post at 07:59:33 02/09/19) This guy seems to know what he?s doing
Untitled URL Link

I watched the whole series of videos including the installation of the thread insert for the bolt hole.
You are right....he really knows what he is doing.
However, I would guess all of those specialty tools would cost way more than having someone do the job for you.
I guess the simpler overlapping stud system grandpa used would probably work if done perfectly.
I can understand why someone would take on the challenge just for the experience and "fun" of it.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Good point Fixer ..... on the other hand, while my neighbor (sheet metal worker) knows more medicine than any doctors I have
ever met, I still opt to visit the clinic for a second opinon .... LOL !!!

 

[fixerupper]

The apprehension I have had all along is finding and sealing each end of the crack. The crack seems to end at the valve seat on each end. Getting those end pins in right up against the valve seat is what bothers me, not the pins in the middle. I'll have to wait and see what the tools cost. I really do want to tackle this, I'm fiercely independent, but money talks.

 

[fixerupper]

(quoted from post at 04:48:56 02/09/19) Some use standard pipe taps and plugs.
I have several case heads that my head
repair guy has used loc-n-stitch on and
they are working well. To do it
yourself with pipe plugs you drill and
tap a series of holes with shirt spaces
between, then grind those down and
drill another set between filling the
gaps. It's supposed to work, but I
haven't done it. The guy that does mine
usually charges me about $100-150 per
head to fix, machine, and retest the
head. Valve and seat work is extra.

Jon I finally found a price for a Goodson repair kit. $400! Goodson appears to carry only professional top of the line products. I might take a whack at the pipe plug idea.

 

[RBoots]

I had never stitched anything before, but
when I mentioned to a neighbor that I had
a cracked block that I was pondering
welding, he said he had a stitch kit and
wanted to see if it worked, and told me
to try it out on my block. This block had
a crack about 6" long on the water
jacket. This kit had the bolts that the
head would snap off when it was tight
enough. I used the 5/16" threaded pins. I
eyeballed the holes and puncture wound punched
each one, then drilled them all, then
tapped every hole, and then installed the
pins. Then I roughly ground the remaining
shank down near where I wanted it, then
went through in between each of the pins
and puncture wound punched all the holes for the
second row of pins. Drilled, tapped,
installed the threaded pins. I used
loctite on all the pins when I screwed
them in. Once I had both rows of pins
done, I ground them all down flush with
the block. Then I used a flap wheel on an
angle grinder, smoothed and blended the
whole area together, then ran over the
entire smoothed area with a needle
scaler. It disappeared. You won't find it
no matter how hard you look. I
immediately filled it with coolant and
hooked it to a flail chopper and put it
to work. It was either going to work or
fail right away, so I wanted to find out.
I've done a few more since then, it's
pretty easy. I bought a pack of 75 or a
hundred stitch pins and they will do a
lot of work with that many. Don't
remember where I got them from, somewhere
online. The pins weren't bad, but the
special tap for them was like $25. I
think it was around a hundred bucks for
the tap and however many pins I bought. I
need to figure out where I got them, I
need to do a Case block.

Ross

 

[johndeere720GA]

Sorry for not posting sooner i have been away from the computer for a few days.
SV posted a link to the site Lock-n-stitch.

 

[fixerupper]

RBoots, thanks for the encouraging story. I won’t be able to get to this for awhile, family obligations get in the way and I need a little more time to dig up the tools and supplies. Every time I walk in the shop I see the head laying on the bench, then I glance at the tractor sitting there with no head and I want to dig right into it. Oh well (Sigh)

 

[george md]

Iron tite makes the tapered plugs , lock n stitch makes the hooked
thread ones .
In a head between the seats usually the tapered ones work best as
the head material has already pulled apart.
One a flat surface as in the side of a block , the hook thread work
best as they don't spread the block apart and also don't tend to bow
the block from over tightening as the tapered ones will.

I have both types and use both depending on the job.
A few months ago I laced the valley of a 427 side oiler had hard water.
Used 125 lock n stitch pins ,was cracked in the 3rd section on both
sides.

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Beginning the lock n stitch repair</p>



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</p>

george