I just read an old article about some headwork options. Adding quench zones was briefly mentioned. Has anyone ever had their quench zones increased? I guess this would work by welding aluminum into the combustion chamber, grinding away the part that blocks the valves, then milling the head to smooth it out.

It seems like this might compromise the head's reliability because that aluminum weld probably doesn't have as strong of a chemical bond with the rest of the head, which was bonded from casting. The article said that increasing the quench zones reduces the chance of detonation, so in that respect I guess it could make the engine more reliable.

 

we have done some quench area welding if you are working with a dseries look into a d16y8 head they square chambers with no quench areas. Something to consider instead of welding up a different head

 

Hmm, I'm not seriously thinking about it at this point. I was asking to see what peoples' experiences were with it. I'm curious about how much it'd cost, and I guess part of me also wants to ask if I could do most of such a job myself i.e. do the welding and combustion chamber shaping myself with a welder and a die grinder, then get it milled at a shop.

 

how good are you at porting with a die grinder if your pretty good and have a ccing tool to make sure all your cylinders are within volume spec i dont see why you couldnt just be careful not to weld onto a valve seat

 

Actually I don't know how to weld...yet I'm just asking to see what kind of options are available. I do want to learn how to weld and do some of my own basic headwork eventually. I've toyed with the idea of getting a flow bench for myself, but I'm not planning on doing anything until I've done more research and maybe practiced on some junk heads/valves. This'd just be something that I could do for fun and get some cheap performance from my car (granted, it'd take a lot of time, but if it's fun then that won't be so bad).