I turned down the shop's offer for their head as it is not the correct head for my Volvo. I'm not sure why they kept it for so long. Thank you for all of the information concerning that recast head.


Original head returned from the shop.

https://ibb.co/dfrQMc
https://ibb.co/fbNAnH
https://ibb.co/kQ85Mc
https://ibb.co/k4J5Mc

Just updating with the recast head pictures.
"I cannot get the links to show in the post. Links are posted below."

https://ibb.co/g2xshx
https://ibb.co/mYyyNx
https://ibb.co/eHvTNx
https://ibb.co/mxcxFH

your engine is not used by racers so recasting is all but unheard of for that head.

be deeply skeptical of their offer.

you have 2 choice viable choices

find one at a bone yard of which there are many out there

ho here http://car-part.com/ and look around

the other valid thing you can do is go to a good machine shop, have the head skimmed as best they can and then have them order or make a steel shim which is used in addition to the gasket

if it was my car i would used car part and find a head in short order.

if your head has the diz in the back of the head you can STILL look for a good 240 if your car is a non turbo. they are more plentiful and generally cheaper. what you will have to if you get a 240 head is simply switch the cam from your head into the 240 head. that way you can install your head mounted distributor.

Hi Solo,

When I Googled 'recast cylinder head' I found, among other things, a definition by the European Tractor Pulling Committee. I quote...

"Recasting is the process of manufacturing using an alternative mold to the one used in serial production"

It appears that modified heads are made to gain advantage for some engines in competition. They are controversial and very expensive, and I'm not aware of anything like that being made for the B230.

Another usage of 'recasting' is to mean a head that is modified or repaired by welding. One can make the argument that fusion welding is a form of casting, that is true, but I really hope they're not calling it recast to avoid telling you that, "it was cracked, so we got Billy Bob to weld it."

If you're back at the machine shop, please ask for an explanation and let us know. .

Peter

If you don't find a definitive answer here, try TB. John V would answer this I suspect, but you have to thicken your skin to the engine building pecking order.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=340386 <-- just a current example of the above. :)
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.

Don't know how much you trust that machine shop, but I would take the head to another shop for another opinion. Seems a little too convenient that they just happen to have a replacement head for sale. Tom