Metal spraying an aluminium cylinder head

[Nick Lettington]

To cut a potentially long story short,  a little while ago  (ahem) I contacted a chap in the Birmingham area about a Speedex cylinder head for my Silverstone.  Several events worked against me, culminating in me cracking the screen in my (company) phone and losing the details in text messages and call history. A short while later bought another. It has issues and was not expensive as a result.  The biggest issue is that it will need a clean up, or a good layer of goo to get any kind of seal. It has been skimmed before, and looks like someone tried once again and gave up...  


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The second issue is that the stud holes have been opened up somewhat. Unfortunately they aren't concentric around the studs in a block, so my first thought of getting some top hat washers made up is a little complicated by the need to offset the holes.

Three questions...

Does anyone have experience of metal spraying to restore  a head? I read a little about it,  but don't want to waste time and effort. 

To avoid reinventing the wheel, does anyone have a tried and tested method for fixing the big hole issue? 

Or finally does anyone have a Speedex head they could part with that
1. Hasn't been ground off flat to hide its identity (part of another story)
2. Doesn't need a lot of rework to make serviceable (a bit is to be expected)
3. They aren't looking to achieve Ebay peak prices for... I have a good late Ruby head to (part) exchange, but can't bring myself to mortgage the house for a head that reportedly not as good as the late Ruby one.

[Reckless Rat]

A probable cheaper solution would just be to buy a Ricardo.

[Nick Lettington]

A probable cheaper solution would just be to buy a Ricardo.

Yup... this much I know... or simply use the late Ruby one. The problem I have is that I have spent the last few years trying to find all of the parts to reconstruct my "SPEEDEX" Silverstone... I have wheels, exhaust, front IFS, shock absorber frame, rev counter, tappet chest cover... the list goes on... but the head is more visible than bits like the chromed cam shaft. I am aware that you could build it up with bits of anything back in the day. It's probably worth more sold as parts than as a whole, but we all need a project!

[leaf200]

Watch the episode on car SOS on the 6R4 they rebuild the sump using a spray aluminium weld. I suspect it would cost more than a new head but still interesting.