Re: [Amc-list] 195.6 head cracking

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

The problem is more likely continued abuse. You guys have just been 
lucky enough to get cars that have been taken reasonably good care of! 
Most of mine have been abused or neglected (actually more neglect than 
intentional abuse). If the head has been retorqued every 2-3 years, or 
at least at some point in its lifetime, and it hasn't been run hot due 
to a leaking head gasket several times, its not likely to crack... at 
least until it has been run really hot (boiling over) with head bolts 
not torqued down properly once or twice. If someone is interested in 
keeping the car they would at least check into why it blew the head 
gasket the first time. As soon as they found out it needed retorquing 
every 2-3 years (can get by with more years if not driven much) and did 
it there would be no problems. My 195.6 OHV American was purchased new 
and driven by a woman. The family sold it to a friend 3-4 years later, 
and that woman drove it for a while. It was then handed down to a 
daughter. It had a blown head gasket when I bought it, but would run. 
The mechanic father didn't want to fix it AGAIN. That was the third time 
it had been run hot and blew a head gasket in the 12 years or so he'd 
owned it. I had the owners manual for my old 61 flat-head car (the 61 
and 62 Americans I had before that one were high mile L-heads), and knew 
about the re-torque interval. The 61 owners manual has ALL routine 
maintenance procedures in it, unlike the 62 and 63. Apparently he never 
figured out (or found out) that the head needed retorquing, and the 
women didn't realize anything was wrong until steam was pouring out the 
radiator, and then had to get somewhere safe to stop. This was way out 
in Jerome, Idaho, right next to middle-of-nowhere. This isn't a 
statement on women drivers in general, there are a few who know there 
way around a car, but the majority... Anyway, about every 4-5 years (20K 
miles or so, I'm guessing) he had to replace a head gasket. At #3 he was 
tired of it! Of course the whole story didn't come out until a couple 
weeks after I bought it. I was rebuilding the trans, which decided it 
only had first and reverse suddenly (I figured a dried out seal 
somewhere, but it was a bad valve body). I got worried when the clutches 
I was taking out looked about like the ones I was putting in! Rode out 
to the shop, and discovered it had been rebuilt just 3-4 months before 
the car was parked (sat two years until I rode buy and said "hey, you 
wanna sell the Rambler?"). Then he told me "the rest of the story". Of 
course he did tell me it had a leaking head gasket that needed fixing 
when I bought it (but drove it home!). I told him WHY it had blown, then 
he told me about the three times. So that's why the head needed to be 
milled to seal again, and why it suddenly cracked in all six cylinders 
on a long hard trip three years later, and why it had a "roving skip" at 
warm idle. Never could isolate the skip to one cylinder, because it took 
a while to leak enough water in each cylinder to cause on "blip" every 
2-3 seconds -- took about 10-15 seconds for each cylinder, and they took 
turns! Lost about a quart of water every six weeks, but it is so dry in 
southern Idaho I though I had a minor leak somewhere that was 
evaporating as fast as it came out. It was, but INSIDE. That was a 
severe case, but I've seen several that are cracked, all showing other 
signs of neglect (like frozen trunnions due to no grease, really greasy 
engine compartment, etc.). Like anything else, take care of it and it 
will last a long time. ------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 
21:40:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008, JOE FULTON wrote:
> least I have seen it listed a number of times.  but
> despite all the cautions from Frank S. and others, I
> haven't seen a cracked 195.6 head head though (knock
> on particle board) so I haven't felt compelled to bid.


My experience is of course very limited -- this 195.6 ohv in
the car, and the head I got off the junkyard '63 classic.

But both had been "recently" rebuilt, which makes sense for
a 45-year-old motor "recently" on the road. Not many engines
last 45 years without at least a valve job!

So maybe the heads cracked when the cars were more normal
end-of-life (5 - 15 years old?) got replaced, then the cars sat
before we got 'em.  The running-then-sat-out-back thing seems
common enough!

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)

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