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Old 03-24-2013, 01:12 PM
v8volvo v8volvo is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Montana, USA
Vehicle: '86 745, '83 764
Posts: 1,618
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Ouch, that is pretty bad, I pictured just a pulled bearing cap stud but that looks like it is toast. To get that ripped cam bearing put back together at best would be lots of welding and a good line-bore, big bucks if you can find someone to do it, long odds on it being possible at all, and with that crack in addition you're better off starting over. Small cracks between the valve seats are permissible but a long crack in that location is a serious problem, that one's a goner.

On the upside, no question that crack was there before this timing belt episode occurred, and good likelihood it would have caused an issue down the road and condemned the head at that point anyway.... so at least you can reassure yourself that, other than the loss of the cam, having that motor apart would probably have been happening in the near future one way or another and you would be in the position of looking for a head sooner or later. Plus, this way you get to put it together and do the timing belt job only once -- and if it would have broken down later on due to that cracked casting, chances are it would have been in a place a lot less convenient than your own driveway!

How does the bottom end look otherwise, no scored bores or big ridge? If it ran well before this then safe to assume it's healthy but seeing a crack like that suggests it may have gotten hot or experienced a major coolant loss at some point so take a good look, with the crack there but no evidence of a blown HG could indicate it got hot quickly but not for very long which would have protected the bottom end. Sounds like all your rods are OK, given the relatively minimal lifter damage I would expect no problems down below. Those two aren't pushed up too bad.

Given the situation your easiest way forward may be to locate a complete good replacement head, give it whatever attention it needs, and bolt it on. Unfortunately with your cam gone, valvetrain components questionable after impact and the head casting shot, you don't have a lot that is useable there, so you need the whole works. Getting one complete as a package deal is probably easiest way to ensure you end up with everything you need. Might take some searching but they're out there, at least a few of us here may be able to help you out.

Last edited by v8volvo; 03-24-2013 at 04:30 PM.
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