VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 need a replacement head for a 195 engine

Wanted a replacement head for my 195 cu. engine. The engine shop showed me a crack in the water jacket at the radiator hose port. its fixable but would be better to have a head that was not cracked. I am in Oregon and would come get one that was in the Pacific Northwest area. or shipping for a good head.

Please reply if you have one for sale price and where located.
Thanks ewv715@comcast.net

P.S thanks Earl's machine shop for the call will be doing business with you soon.

Since your cylinder head is repairable.....fix it. Finding good cylinder heads that are not cracked for a 194 is almost impossible since those cylinder heads were famous for cracking. The last good, used cylinder head for a 194 that I saw sold for $750, and it is not uncommon to see a new old stock cylinder head (those are really rare!) sell for $1,500 or more.

Crack free heads are not easy to find. If yours is fixable, that is likely the best way to proceed.

i have 3 heads. i was going to send them out to be checked, just have not had the time. if you are interested let me know. i am in NY so shipping may be big bucks.

I suggest that you get the three cylinder heads tested for cracks because you may find that they all are defective. I had 10 cylinder heads for the 194 and every one of them were cracked beyond repair.

I have seven cracked ones sitting in my shop. They are affectionately called "boat anchors"..... But they usually can be fixed by an expert. If you find a good one, treasure it.

All the Best, Chip

My dad had the crack in our '31 194 head repaired in 1962. I've driven the car for 50 years and boiled a few times in July 4th parades here in Texas. It has never leaked. I believe he had it brazed; it was done at a good OTR truck machine shop.

Good Luck and have fun!

a friend had the head on a 1939 mercedes 540K straight eight done at a truck shop. the guy guaranteed it. it involved time in an oven, repair, more oven time to "normalize it" that was the word he used, but i don't know if that was a translation from the dutch or if that is the usual word.

Your working on a 31 if I remember right, you need a 30/31 head, you can't just buy any 194 head.

As to your head, it is best to just have it fixed, I went throught about 5 heads with my uncle trying to find a good one which could be repaired. I have repaird heads on about 3 cars and have had very good luck with them. Also since you live in Oregon you have one of the best cast iron welders right at your back door. Just call centerial cylinder head in Portland and they can set you up. Do not have someone braze your head.

Bruce

Earl's machine shop up in Burien, Washington has a 1930 head that Bob Forest machine shop in Corvallis is going to look at.
Talking to Earl he said that the only difference he could see are the valves are bigger.
The question is with 40 over pistons and bigger valves how much more horse power will i have with a w-1 down draft carburetor?

I have had a 3 VW diesel engines that I used Bars Head gasket repair with real good luck and 1 engine Buick v-6 that started going bad after 100,000 miles that the Bars worked for an other 35,000 miles before head gasket turned loose again. Where the shop my son took it for repair, like the car and bought the car. The cost of repair was more than my son was willing to pay for a 12 year old car. I most likely will use Bars Head gasket repair in my rebuild engine just to fortifie the water system.