need 308 clifford head

[Deleted User]

Is there anyone out there willing to sell a 308 clifford head? I called Clifford and they are out for the time being. Clifford said they would be remaking them but not until next year.

Unknown

I lhave a new one never used, take 850, I believe they list at 875 and they may never make themthey only talk about the products but most are out of stock

[Deleted User]

I have one on my 308 in my 50 Pacemaker right now that is leaking like a sive.

It is seeping from the sprues in the top, down in the recess areas that

are between the re-inforcement ribs.

It's not leaking from the gasket area at all. I did talk to Larry and he said that

I could send it back but that means the engine needs to be pulled out to get

it off because of the way the engine is recessed into the firewall.



Do any of you guys that run the Clifford head experience this seeping problem?



I have tried Bar'sLeak and it has not corrected the problem.

Also by the response from Larry leads me to believe that they have none in

stock at this time.

My feeling is that I should have kept the stock head since it was not causing

any problems at all.

PaceRacer50

Jay_G

I have had a clifford head for three years and no problems and no leaks. I would echo what Bill said and that is don't hold your breath for Clifford!! Chances are they will never make them again now that Jack is gone.



Jay

50C8DAN

Speaking of Clifford performance gear. Anyone know where I can find one of the Clifford Weber (3X2) sidedraft manifolds?

dave s

PaceRacer50 wrote:

I have one on my 308 in my 50 Pacemaker right now that is leaking like a sive.

It is seeping from the sprues in the top, down in the recess areas that

are between the re-inforcement ribs.

It's not leaking from the gasket area at all. I did talk to Larry and he said that

I could send it back but that means the engine needs to be pulled out to get

it off because of the way the engine is recessed into the firewall.



Do any of you guys that run the Clifford head experience this seeping problem?



I have tried Bar'sLeak and it has not corrected the problem.

Also by the response from Larry leads me to believe that they have none in

stock at this time.

My feeling is that I should have kept the stock head since it was not causing

any problems at all.

PaceRacer50

Just a thought, did you spray 6 to 8 heavy coats of silver paint on each side of gasket before you installed it?

Unknown

one of the guys in our chapter had a Clifford head that did that... He called Jack, and Jack told him to put a tube of alum-a-seal in it... No more leak.



Dany

Unknown

There was a complete Weber setup (brand new) for sale at the Reno national

[Deleted User]

DaveS,

The head gasket on my 50 Pacemaker is not leaking at all.

Its bone dry at the gasket surface.

The aluminum on the top of the Clifford head is pourious.

Its leaking right out of the aluminum casting itself!

Dany,

I have tried the aluminum seal called Bar'sLeak and it did

slow it down some. I am going to add 1 more can just to

see what happens.

I never made it to the track before they closed for the year

because of this leak.

later,

PaceRacer50

SuperDave

Try liguid glass.. it's called Silica something or other..It's a liquid that you add to the system, then drain it out. Fixed a leaky Ford aluminum V6 head. Seems like a permanent repair. It's been going for about three years now. Check with a auto machine shop, they should know where to get it. My friend with the leaky Ford engine got his at the Wallgreens pharmacy! Sorry about the four letter words.

Dave w. fl

[Deleted User]

I've used liquid glass to seal modified cylinder liners (wet sleeves) in some extremely enlarged engines. It only works with water or alcohol, it won't work with antifreeze.



Meaning, you have to drain the system - fill it with water - run the engine through several heat cycles - then replace the antifreeze. Its best to do this during the summer and forget about it until winter. The longer you run the liquid glass and water, the better result you'll get.



You can get liquid glass at drugstores, not Autozone.



Mark

MikeWA

Isn't it called "waterglass"?

TwinH

My clifford was leaking between #5&#6 and it looked like someone had attempted

a mig weld repair(probably on the car). More cracks were radiating from the welded

area and alumaseal wouldn't touch it. I originally thought it was freeze damage but

once it was off and bead blasted you could see that its a fairly porous casting.

Looked like every sealer known to man had been tried before. More than half of the

water passages on the deck of the head were plugged solid. After I drilled them all out

(block too) the head still had a bunch of junk in it. I taped off all the water passages

with a foil type duct tape and filled the head with a product from the hardware called

rustaid(intended to remove rust stains from your house and driveways caused by

sprinklers) after soaking and rinsing twice the inside water passages looked like a

brand new casting. the only thing it didn't remove were traces of a bright white

substance that I would guess was some kind of ceramic sealer or possibly this

liquid glass/water glass that has been mentioned. Took it to a friend who milled out

the whole affected area and then some including the rib. Amazingly the recessed area

was not much more than about an 1/8" thick. Fired up his high$$ TIG machine and

easily replaced the missing section with aluminum rod. (pretty work). After a skim

cut on the head surface(didn't take much) and flushing out the block,and rodding out

the radiator I reassembled and have no leaks anywhere and it will idle all day @ 190* on a 90* day.

[Deleted User]

I would rather return the head for a full refund and put my stock head back on than go thru all that.

My goal is to have one made in two pieces like Kong heads were made for the flathead ford V8. There is a local guy I work with that can do it but as Dany knows CNC machining can cost plenty in $$$ and time.

After using this head I know that several improvements in air flow can be easily made as well as water retention.

I tried one more can tonight and have a tube of silver-seal to try tomorrow if that didn't work.

Thanks for all the help and responses. Big thing was I didn't want to hi-jack someone elses thread BUT I would really think twice about using a Clifford head again. I really can't offer my bleasing to anybody on a part that could be questionable.

PaceRacer50

Nevada Hudson

I just talked to someone at Clifford performance (I think it was Larry) and they are concerned. Call them at (951) 471-1161 or E- mail at cliffordperformance.net

Jack's Son in law still runs the company, and I think they care.

[Deleted User]

I have emailed Larry about the problem when it first appeared. There was a lot that happened behind the scenes when I bought this head that I have not talked about and that is driving my decisions about what I am going to do. The reason I brought up the leaks was to see if others had the same problem and it looks like they have.

I want to heat cycle the engine several more times to see if it seals up.

Hopefully by sunday night I will have seen enough to make a decision.



My biggest problem right now is knowing that a replacement head from Clifford is not in stock and having to wait for a few months for one to come in if this head can't be repaired. The engine has to come out to remove or replace the head and there is no way around that. That means I have to find storage room for the engine while I wait.



Bottom line is that its all about the hassle of going thru this.

PaceRacer50