Cracked Willy's L134 Head

1941 - 1945, Willys MB & Ford GPW jeeps, NO EBAY, Craigslist or COMMERCIAL SALES.
Post Reply
User avatar
VetMec
G-Corporal
G-Corporal
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:50 am
Location:

Cracked Willy's L134 Head

Post by VetMec » Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:34 am

Is there any value to a cracked Willy's L134 head? It's leaking water into the oil but not sure where the crack is. I did try replacing the head gasket before replacing the head and it still leaked.
42 GPW
SGT, USAR MAINT.
WL-9, AMSA 154G


Fabrizio
G-Colonel
G-Colonel
Posts: 1481
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:14 pm
Location: Chartres, FR

Re: Cracked Willy's L134 Head

Post by Fabrizio » Fri Nov 23, 2018 9:49 am

Hi, there is no oil in the head, the leak must come from somewhere else.

A cracked head could blow gases into the coolant, or coolant into the cylinders.
GPW #3606 “LIBBY”
"Jeep is America's only real sports car." - Enzo Ferrari

Adam
G-Lieutenant General
G-Lieutenant General
Posts: 4526
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2003 6:03 pm
Location: Little Meadows PA

Re: Cracked Willy's L134 Head

Post by Adam » Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:15 am

If you are sure the head is cracked, toss it, you can buy a run of the mill used one for a hundred bucks.

look over the head with a magnifier, it should be clean if you tried a new gasket on it, look for a fine crack or get it magna fluxed, $50 at least plus any cleaning or sand blasting of it. Maybe if it is an early head somebody might take a chance on it. Need numbers and pics.

I dont know how it would leak water into the oil, leak would have to go through the cylinders and cylinder rings or through the valve guides and there would of been evidence of rust or hydro lock.

There could be other reasons it leaked too, that we dont know about, like maybe the second time you used sealant on the head bolts or studs and didnt the first time, or maybe the engine sat for months the first time you did it and the gasket seeped, or ????????

Adam

User avatar
VetMec
G-Corporal
G-Corporal
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:50 am
Location:

Re: Cracked Willy's L134 Head

Post by VetMec » Tue Nov 27, 2018 3:54 pm

I'll have to call a Mulligan on that one. Darn I hate working on something and then having to leave it alone for months. So there's no path for oil in the head? That would mean even if the head gasket were to blow that the only place water would have to go is into the cylinders. Well it was something obvious then that I can't remember now, so may be that head is still good. Whatever is was I either fixed it on purpose or by mistake because I haven't had an issue with water in the oil since.
Last edited by VetMec on Thu Nov 29, 2018 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
42 GPW
SGT, USAR MAINT.
WL-9, AMSA 154G

Joe Gopan
Jeep Heaven
Posts: 49841
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 12:37 pm
Location: Proving Ground

Re: Cracked Willy's L134 Head

Post by Joe Gopan » Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:54 am

Cracked Jeep heads will allow coolant to leak into the cylinder and down into the base. Fling it and get a good head. Have it Magnafluxed to confirm the suspected crack.
2011 MVPA PIONEER AWARD - MVPA #1064
HONOR GRAD-WHEELED VEHICLE MECHANIC SCHOOL 1960 - US ARMY ORDNANCE SCHOOL(MACHINIST) ABERDEEN PG 1962 - O-1 BIRD DOG CREWCHIEF - 300,000+TROUBLE FREE M-38A1 MILES
LIFE MEMBER AM LEGION-40/8-DAV
7 MIL SPEC MAINTAINED MV'S
COL. BRUNO BROOKS (ARMY MOTORS) IS MY HERO

Brian Wolf
G-Major
G-Major
Posts: 901
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2002 8:16 pm
Location: Columbus, OH

Re: Cracked Willy's L134 Head

Post by Brian Wolf » Sun Dec 02, 2018 4:09 am

FWIW,
I knew of several people making art ( lamps etc) out of Willy’s heads. Try to sell it cheap before you scrap it.
Brian


Post Reply

Return to “Willys MB & Ford GPW, For Sale Section”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: TonyC and 53 guests