Well, I think someone replaced my motor's head with a cheap crappy common Chevy head - the 'steam holes' are in the block but not in the head gasket or head:
(above pic is NOT my head gasket, but a correct 261 head gasket)
What do you think?
Thanks, Dave
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1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod
The block and head surface have three pair of matching small "steam holes" that allow any steam hot pockets to vent away from the open water cooled areas between the cylinders that are not solid metal. Of course, this means the 261 must have its own specialized head gasket.
Dave a machinist at a local machine shop told me the 235 head can be drilled out to create the steam holes using a 261 head gasket as a template. He was a very well respected man who for years raced bored and stroked flat head ford engines. His name is Jack George but he has passed away. He also told me the best head to use on a 261 was a 1962 261 head because of a smaller combustion chamber which created a slightly higher compression ratio. This head used the same size valves. He also informed me of countlesss times a 235 head was used on a 261 without creating steam holes and with the wrong head gasket and the overheating and blown head gaskets problem occuring. This was in his words job security for him. If they would of brought it here in the first place they would not of had to do it twice! He is still talked about today and is a legend in dirt track racing in our parts.
If not, is there any information about what direction to drill the holes? I would use the gasket as a guide to location, but - drill straight up? or at an angle somehow?
(I have a copy of that article and it doesn't give specifics about how the holes are drilled in the head.)
Thanks, Dave
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1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod
Yah well that old piece of heavy cast iron is now long gone, soon to be replaced by REAL power, which will (with aluminum heads) be lighter - 595 pounds versus 630 for the 261 - and that does not even include the lighter aluminum intake manifold and water pump, eh?
Dave
__________________
1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod
1956 Pontiac Pathfinder 2dr sedan, 496 - dyno'd 545 hp, stick shift, 4.11 posi - Hot Rod