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How to Identify Resurfaced Cylinder Heads

 
Because of higher compression ratios and close piston to cylinder head clearances in the listed engines, the removal of excess amounts of material from cylinder heads is not recommended. The following measurements can be made to determine if the head has been resurfaced and the amount of material removed.

BD-220, BD-240, BD-264, BD-282, BD-308

Measure overall height of cylinder head (see figs. 1 and 2). In some instances the manufacturer found it necessary to machine the combustion chambers an additional .005" deep to clean up the chamber. When this was necessary, .005" was also machined from the face of the head. If a cylinder head for one of the engines listed above measures more than .005" below the low limit, it indicates that the head has been resurfaced.

Removal of more than .010" from these heads is not recommended due to the close piston to cylinder head clearances.

NOTE: This condition is more likely to be found on BD-220, BD-240 and BD-64 engines.

The height for new cylinder heads for these engines is listed below and is shown in figs. 1 and 2.

Engine Model Cyl. Head
Height
BD-220, BD-240BD-264 3.464-3.474 Fig. 1
BD-282, BD-308 4.859-4.869 Fig. 2

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BD-220, 240, 264 CYLINDER HEAD FIG. 1

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BD-282, 308 CYLINDER HEAD FIG. 2

RD-372, RD-406, RD-450, RD-501

Because of manufacturing procedure, measuring height of the above heads will not indicate if the head has been resurfaced.

To determine if these heads have been resurfaced, and how much, measure from the face of the head to the machined pad inside the combustion chamber (see fig. 3). This dimension should be .888"-.889".

Removal of up to .025" from the face of the head is permissible. It must be remembered, however, that the compression ratio is increased in relation to the amount of material removed from the face of the head. Because of this, engine timing and carburetion may require adjustment to prevent detonation damage.

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RD-372, 406, 450, 501 CYLINDER HEAD FIG. 3

D-301, D-354

Removal of material from the heads of the above engines is not recommended. The valve seats are machined almost flush with the face of the heads and the heads of the valves are below the face of the cylinder head when the valves are closed.

Although resurfacing these cylinder heads is not recommended, the height of the heads is shown in fig. 4 and listed below.

Engine Model Cyl. Head

Height
D-301 4.250 Fig. 4
D-354 3.250 Fig. 4

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D-301, 354 CYLINDER HEAD FIG. 4

4-152, V-266, V-304, V-345, V-401, V-461, V-549

Measure overall height of the above listed cylinder heads to determine if head has been resurfaced and amount of material removed.

Engine Model Cyl. Head

Height
4-152 3.444-3.448 Fig. 5
V-266, V-304, V-345 3.444-3.448 Fig. 6
V-401, V-461, V-549 4.372-4.378 Fig. 7

If the head measures more than .003" below the low limit, it indicates that the head has been resurfaced.

If the heads of a V-8 engine are to be resurfaced, both heads should measure exactly the same in order to maintain the same compression ratio on each bank.

Material in excess of .010" should not be removed from the heads listed at the heading of this section.

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