Need Very small Torch

I have some repairs to do inside the valve pocket on a pair of aluminum cylinder heads. Ive seen some very very small tig torches CK-24 or such. Does Everlast offer a torch this size ? What do you guys recommend ?

http://www.weldcraft.com/products/wp-series/wp-125/

I doubt any of them will come cheap.

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Originally Posted by TD2593

I have some repairs to do inside the valve pocket on a pair of aluminum cylinder heads. Ive seen some very very small tig torches CK-24 or such. Does Everlast offer a torch this size ? What do you guys recommend ?

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Yes, you can purchase any CK torch and dinse through Everlast, plug and play for your machine, just call sales.

The problem with WP-24 and more so with the wp-125 micro torch mentioned, is the limited power. Head castings suck the heat, and even with pre-heat it often takes some power to get the job done. Helium mix can help with that, too.

Are these Batten heads, by any chance?

With the right hardware you'd be surprised at how much you can get into with a wp-20 and can then have 250 amps on tap, if needed. There are also some tricks like grinding the end of the cup to make the arc turn a corner. Another issue is contamination in the crack, so you often end up milling or grinding away a lot of material, then you can also mill in some better access at the same time. Then weld up from the inside out, building up as you go. Sometimes you can even take the torch apart then feed it through the port and put it together inside the valve pocket. Of course it helps if the heads are big.

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Originally Posted by Rambozo

The problem with WP-24 and more so with the wp-125 micro torch mentioned, is the limited power. Head castings suck the heat, and even with pre-heat it often takes some power to get the job done. Helium mix can help with that, too.

Are these Batten heads, by any chance?

With the right hardware you'd be surprised at how much you can get into with a wp-20 and can then have 250 amps on tap, if needed. There are also some tricks like grinding the end of the cup to make the arc turn a corner. Another issue is contamination in the crack, so you often end up milling or grinding away a lot of material, then you can also mill in some better access at the same time. Then weld up from the inside out, building up as you go. Sometimes you can even take the torch apart then feed it through the port and put it together inside the valve pocket. Of course it helps if the heads are big.

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Well it is Olds heads but not Battens, but I have had my personal Battens welded between the seats down in the bowls before I got a welder big enough to do it myself. Battens are some pretty nasty castings, fairly soft and somewhat dirty aluminum. The heads are new FCR castings. The bowls are fairly large, ( 2.250 intake valve ) the hole is on the side of the short side radius. It was cut during the CNC process due to some core shift. Ill take a pic of the hole and the area it is and post it up. Im really supprised that you mentioned Battens LOL not many folks know about those unless you are into Oldsmobiles. Thanks for the tips

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Originally Posted by TD2593

Well it is Olds heads but not Battens, but I have had my personal Battens welded between the seats down in the bowls before I got a welder big enough to do it myself. Battens are some pretty nasty castings, fairly soft and somewhat dirty aluminum. The heads are new FCR castings. The bowls are fairly large, ( 2.250 intake valve ) the hole is on the side of the short side radius. It was cut during the CNC process due to some core shift. Ill take a pic of the hole and the area it is and post it up. Im really supprised that you mentioned Battens LOL not many folks know about those unless you are into Oldsmobiles. Thanks for the tips

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I've welded a lot of Battens and you're right they seem to be cast from what gets swept up off the foundry floor. That's why I guessed you might be welding up a set. I bet some of our old race heads were more weld than original casting. I remember one where the whole corner of the head broke out through a chamber and exhaust port to a couple of head bolt holes. I basically had to rebuild up the entire corner with a few chunks of new material and pounds and pounds of welding rod.

That is a tough location to weld in. But with the guides pressed out you do have some room, and you can work from both sides, by putting the torch through the intake port. You can make up a flush back cap to get a lil more room, and there is a super short reverse collet body, too. Since it sounds like the area is thin, the low power of a 24 torch will probably be fine, too. That is one advantage of hand porting over CNC, you can hear how thick the walls are by the sound.

I used to work for Dave Smith back in the day when we had the worlds quickest Olds Pro Stock with the national record and AHRA world title.

Batten did some Mopar stuff too. An aluminum copy of the W2 head, as well as some W5 production IIRC.

All crap. Mopar has always had issues with getting decent castings, I don't know why they don't go with Brodix like Koffel did with the B-1's. S/F....Ken M

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Originally Posted by Rambozo

I've welded a lot of Battens and you're right they seem to be cast from what gets swept up off the foundry floor. That's why I guessed you might be welding up a set. I bet some of our old race heads were more weld than original casting. I remember one where the whole corner of the head broke out through a chamber and exhaust port to a couple of head bolt holes. I basically had to rebuild up the entire corner with a few chunks of new material and pounds and pounds of welding rod.

That is a tough location to weld in. But with the guides pressed out you do have some room, and you can work from both sides, by putting the torch through the intake port. You can make up a flush back cap to get a lil more room, and there is a super short reverse collet body, too. Since it sounds like the area is thin, the low power of a 24 torch will probably be fine, too. That is one advantage of hand porting over CNC, you can hear how thick the walls are by the sound.

I used to work for Dave Smith back in the day when we had the worlds quickest Olds Pro Stock with the national record and AHRA world title.

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Havnt heard the Dave Smith name in many moons !! He did some pretty amazing stuff with the Olds. We are running all small block stuff using the Olds NasCar blocks. I one in the works for a friend out of Sweden, 427" with twin 76mm turbos in a NasCar block going into a 25.1E 68 Cutlass looking for 2100-2200 HP out of this one.
I think I will get a 24 torch and give it a shot.

Ha Ha I thought it was me alone that noticed the different sound (thin metal sound) when porting by hand which means stop and check wall thickness measurements before you blow a hole and have to go and patch up that porting job.