[SEL] Fairbanks Morse ZD Head Repair Information Needed

[FRM8198 at aol.com]

Hi List,
When I told you that the Fairbanks Morse ZD was running, I didn't  tell you 
that it was running without water in the hopper.  After  filling the hopper 
with water, I noticed that  I was getting bubbles  when cranking the engine.  
This told me that a leak existed between the  combustion chamber and the water 
jacket.  Since this was the same  engine on which I had to change out the head 
gasket because of blown  section, I thought that another gasket had failed.  
After removing the  head, I noticed that it had  some surface damage around the 
water  ports.  I replaced the head with another one that I had refurbished and 
a  new head gasket.  Engine now starts with the crank and no visible leaks or 
 bubbles are present.
After glass beading the removed head, I started to  JB Weld the deteriorated 
surface areas when I noticed a small hole (1/32" x  3/16") in the combustion 
chamber going into the water jacket.  My question  is what procedure should I 
use to repair this head?  The  area around hole is very thin (about 1/32").  I 
thought that I could  possibly drill and tap this area for a pipe plug.  I 
disregarded this fix  as there is insufficient material in the head for threads.  
Another  possible fix is to weld it but, this area is thin.  Perhaps, it 
could be  brazed by starting to fill the hole from the outside working towards to 
the  center.  I don't think that JB Weld can be used in the combustion  area 
because of the temperature.
Has anyone faced this type of problem?  If so, how did you  attack the 
problem? 
 
 
Francis  Maciel
Santa Maria, CA