What are the chances of Cracked Heads?

[mongo]

I called the machinist last night and told him I thought the head was cracked. He said he didn't believe that since he saw no evidence of it. He said he would look at it again Monday if I wanted and pressure test but he thought it was a waste of time. I told him what the dye test showed and he said that is why he doesn't dye test anymore, too many false positives. He said that if I hit the area with a wire brush, the dye test would probably come back clean.

So last night I put a soft wire brush on my dremel, polished the area, and re-tested. The dye test came back clean. I left the developer on there all night and this morning I got an extremely faint indication again. It was very faint and it took all night to show. I think I might polish it up a bit more and try again.

I have probably been making a mountain out of a mole hill but I DON'T want to have to do this job again!

[mongo]

So I re-tested with the same result. I found a nearby machinist who is open on Saturdays and has a good rep. I went to show him the head and he said not to worry about it. He offered to take my $50 but said he sees that all the time and it won't show up on the pressure test and it won't leak on the car.

So I headed out on a quest for an inch pound torque wrench. Sears didn't have one. I went to Auto Zone and told them I don't like the clickers since they often fail but I didn't have much choice. I took one of theirs off the shelf to test it for consistency. I rigged it up with another wrench and set it for 120 inch lbs. It clicked ONCE. After that it was just a regular ratchet. I went to a rental center... no dice. I headed to the most trusted (and often most expensive) parts store in town and they "rented" me theirs for $5. It's still a clicker but at least its a good one!

Off to put these heads back on!