If there's anyone in forum that's familiar with Ka heads would you mind taking a look at these pics, and tell me if they look stock to you. I need a set of heads to rebuild and these are available to purchase. Thanks for any information you might have.
Mike

 

They look like good cores to me. I would rebuild and use. Not sure if you have these or looking to buy them? If buying whats the price? Ka are good heads. I use to buy and sell parts, never had a hard time selling any off them.

 

Thanks 442Harv. The seller wants $500 I'm inclined to do it because I'm tired of looking. What do you think of the price?

 

Mike,

They look like they have had machine work done to them. If you look around the od of the valves there is a fresh machined looking area. They have either had seats put in them or the seats have been machined. It does not look like they have been surfaced ? The heads are also "clean" so they have probably been hot tanked or shot blasted in the past which also tells me they have prnobably had work done to them.

There is also a suspicious looking spot on one of them. Looks like bad pitting and maybe like the head gasket had bee leaking between the two cylinders. I attached a picture of the area in question. Might just be the light in his picture.

Is the seller near you ? Will he guarantee that they are not cracked ? Other than cracks most anything else can easily be repaired but at what cost ? I am not familiar enough with Olds head prices to advise you on that part.

 

Bill, Thank you very much for your thoughts. Unfortunately the seller is two hours away. I haven't asked him if he would guarantee them to be crack free, but I believe he will. I'll ask before I go any further. I was a little puzzled when I looked at the pictures. It was my understanding that the Olds heads with hardened seats were induction hardened. To me the heads look like they have inserts. I see the area where your concerned about, I blew the picture up but couldn't really see anything clear enough to tell anything.
Mike

 

Mike, they may be a fine set of heads to rebuild. But if your driving 2 hours and paying $500 I'm certain one of us here could sell and ship you a set for less. If you want to explore that I have several sets of Ka's plus many other castings. I also have some rebuilt heads on the shelf. Send me a PM if you want to discuss it more and see some photos. John

 

I sold a couple sets of Ka some time ago, and I never came close to getting $500. $200-250, was hard for me to get, sold some less than $200.

 

John, I'll have a PM headed your way this afternoon. Thanks for the opinion and the offer.
Mike

 

Thank you for that information. That's really helpful.
Mike

 

Its very hard to tell from the picture if there are seat inserts or if the shiny area is from the seats being machined with a Serdi type cutter. Depending on what condition the heads were in before machining they might have sunk the valves too much. Plays havoc with a non adjustable valvetrain. Ask him if he will send you a close up picture that is in focus.

Personally I think I would pass. There must be a set of heads available that have not been messed with. The only other option is find a machine shop close to the seller and see if he will take them there for them to look at ? Offer to pay the machine shops bill for check out.

 

x2, $500 is too high.
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Bill, Thank you again for your thoughts on this. With the information you guys have given me and the distance I would need to travel I'm going to pass.

 

Thank you for the help.

 

PM sent.

 

$500 and then rebuild? By time you’re done you’re close to or more than new aluminum heads.

 

I'm not sure how that would work out for me. With tax that's almost $2500. Then they would need to go to a machine shop to be disassembled and inspected and repairs made if needed.

 

Do you have your heart set on the KA heads ? I have a customer that has a pretty big stash of older Olds stuff. Ill try to remember to ask him tomorrow.

 

Bill, the only reason I was looking at the Ka heads was because they were new enough to have hardened exhaust seats. The car is going to my brother and I didn't want him to have any trouble with the car down the road. I really couldn't tell which of the other heads might have hardened seats. It's only a reliability issue as far as the heads go because the engine is a low to mid rpm torque engine.

 

Mike,
I dont think that is really an issue with Oldsmobile heads like it is with some makes. And it is rarely an issue on any engine that is a hobby driven type vehicle. What engine are they going on ? If you are really concerned with it you could have hardened exhaust seats put in any head.

 

it’s an old wives tale that Olds heads need hardened seat inserts to run on unleaded.

you don’t even need the so called induction hardened seats which all have retainers that rotate the valve.

you can use any head, if they came with rotators, chuck them in the garbage if you feel like it. They are horrible for keeping the the spring from walking all over the place and chewing up the guide.

I’ve seen more heads screwed up by shops installing seats that didn’t need them in the first place

 

You may want to check machine shop prices inc. parts vs. new. JMHO

 

Mike,
What is wrong with the heads that are on the car now ??

 

Bill I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. The heads were reworked years ago, and when I picked them up you could see the different heights of the valves in the head. I decided to just add adjustable rocker arms rather than deal with the problem at the time. With what you and others here have told me about not needed hardened exhaust seats I've decided to have a set of C heads that I have reworked by a much better machine shop that I have access to now. Thank you again for taking the time to help me with this.
Mike

 

Thank you to everyone that offered their help I do appreciate it.
Mike