I have the head off my engine at the moment, and in a fit of stupidity I managed to drop a tool onto its upturned surface. I've done some damage. Can people with knowledge of cylinder heads and gasket seals take a look at these photos and tell me if I should be worried?

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

You can see that it hit in the squish band area of the cylinder. It only just missed the gasket seal area, and I'm wondering whether this irregularity will cause head gasket issues in future.

Thanks,

Clayton

 

I think you cleared the O'ring compression area by just a tad bit. I would take it to a competent shop and get it welded and resurfaced. The little indentation will cause excessive pressure in that area and will test your head gasket.
You are better off doing it now than taking it all apart again. The cost of another headgaket and the time involved should be enough to justify fixing it now.
Raj

 

Thanks for your comment, Raj.

What sort of alloy is the head made of? Alusil or something less exotic? Can any shop familiar with head repairs do the sort of welding required?

I'll take the head to a race mechanic I know and trust his opinion too. If it's easy and low cost to tidy up then I'll get it attended to when I have the head serviced. I guess a few thou will come off it too, so that'll make the dent even smaller.

I broke a cam on a race Toyota engine once. It poked the valves so deep in one cylinder that they bent 90 degrees and sliced up the head severely. I couldn't believe the pristine condition the head was returned to me in after the shop I sent it to fixed it. I'll be using those guys again if there's nothing too exotic about the material this head is made of.

Clayton

 

The material to be used is something they are familiar with. Too many times you get water pits on the head surface that can only be fixed by filling the pits bu welding them and then finally surfacing the head.
Darn long sentence.
Raj

 

My mechanic says the dent is too small to worry about, especially after I get a few thou taken off the mating surface, which will reduce the size of the dent. I'm going to trust him. Will I regret it? Time will tell.

Clayton