VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Chevy '23 - Cylinder Head

Good afternoon,

A short introduction; I am William from The Netherlands, normally restoring Peugeot Classic cars (by example a 403 Cabriolet, the famous model used by Peter Falk in 'Columbo') for our own Collection.

A friend is restoring a Chevrolet '23 engine and is looking for a good Cylinder Head. Underneath a photo from the casting numbers:









Hopefully someone can help us finding such a head.

Many thanks !

William
Holland

Looks to be an after market cylinder head cast by,Campbell,Wyant & Cameron(CWC)who did cylinder head & block castings for Oldsmobile amongst others,on the 12th of January,1923.The genuine Chev cyl head P/No. for a 1923 "490" is: 345453.
And if your friend ever finds a good,non-cracked single port head,NEVER use bronze valve guide sleeves,as the difference in expansion between bronze valve guide sleeves to cast iron sleeves when at running temperature will cause the valves to stick/sieze in the guides.

My 24 has that same casting number but it is on the ridge above the front intake manifold. I would do whatever you can to repair the one you have since it is very rare to find one that is not cracked.

Dave

Thank you guys for the information, didn't know these engines/ heads were so rare to find, although almost 100 years of age.

As a lot of parts are made new for the American -classic- cars, certainly in comparison with the European car brands, I hoped that someone and/or company made these Chevy heads.

The head is not cracked and I will mention to my friend to check the possibility to repair the head (and perhaps someone finds one in a old shed somewhere, you never know)


Thanks again !

William
Holland

Does anyone know if a cylinder head (with cast no.: 346886) from a '27 engine can fit on a '23 engine ?

We have seen that it has another valve size and are there other details to look at ?





Is the flat iron strip on the top (in the red outline) original ?



William
Holland

There are 2 cylinder heads for a 1927 Chev.The 1st is P/No.: 345543 and uses the 1 1/2" diameter valve heads(the same as the '23 head uses),the 2nd cylinder head is P/No.: 346886 and uses the larger 1 21/32" diameter valve heads which are the same valves as a 1928 Chev(also 1 21/32" in head diameter).It will bolt straight on to the 1923 cylinder block,and the piece of the '27 cyl head casting circled in red is original for a '27 head.Your '23 inlet manifold will bolt straight on and you'll have to use the '23 exhaust elbow,though the '27 one may also fit.
If you use the original carburettor,a Zenith T-4X and manifold,it will lack a bit of power,as the late '27 head used a Carter carburetor model RAJXO,to improve the performance.If you can't find either a Zenith T-4X carburetor,or a Carter RAJXO,you could always look for a Carter RXO and use it to get you out of trouble.

Thank you CJP for the comprehensive and clear information !

We now know that it is possible to use a '27 head, but a date correct head is of course preferable.


Thanks again !


William
Holland

Hello William,
my name is Otto from Austria.
I am facing a similar problem.
We are working on a 1927 Chevrolet Capitol AA in my workshop. The car belongs to a friend of mine.
The cylinder head is cracked. Definitely irreparable.

Therefore I am in need of a good / not cracked cylinder head which fits the engine. I will provide pictures of the casting numbers later on.

During my search I came across your thread.
I noticed you do have a 1927 head.
Did you use the head for the 1923 engine? If not, would you sell it?
Did you find any other sources where to buy a cylinder head?

Thank you for your support!

Otto

G'Day,
I'm prefacing this post to acknowledge that I have no experience using this product and am not in anyway invested in the sale of this product, However it was recommended to me a couple years back by a machine shop in Hamilton Ontario Canada by the proprietor who in addition to doing general engine machining,
works on high performance heads. Here is the link: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/sealall/. SEAL-LOCK International P.O. BOX 1050 Trenton, Mi. 48183.
The advertising for this product claims that it impregnates cast iron or cast aluminum cylinder heads and motor blocks. Seals porosity, pin holes and fine cracks.
Cross links with metallic oxides (rust) inside water jackets to form a tough flexible lining that stops leaks and contains cooling system pressures.
Not affected by water or coolant. Seals porosity in welds, prevents rust and corrosion. Conducts heat evenly through castings without insulation, improves water flow, with stands engine temperatures. "Makes all ceramic engine sealers obsolete".
There is a fairly involved process to follow in using the product which I suppose anyone interested can investigate on the company web site.

I would be curious to know if anyone had any actual personal experience using this product or knows of a situation where it was actually used.
……….TKS...…...Joe.

Hello Joe,

thank you for the information.
I will have a look and check if this might work.
I will start a separate thread looking for a fitting cylinder head in parallel.

Greetings from overseas,
Otto

Sodium silicate or "water glass" has been used to seal heads and head gaskets for one hundred years. Its sealing properties are the same as described for "Angel fire". I haven't used any in many years but have others that have over the years and in many cases solved the problem. If the cracks continue to grow or are too large it might not work satisfactorily. Auto supply and heavy equipment part dealers should have a sealer. Just look on the label to see if it contains sodium silicate.

Interesting. Was hoping you'd have some background info on this Chipper.