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Old 01-08-2022, 09:52 AM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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Default IA II Aluminum Block Water Pattern

Question for people running the Aluminum IA II in a "wet deck" format. What size water holes did you drill through the deck on your blocks? Using the Cometic gasket as a template, most of the 14 cooling holes are 3/8" diameter with 2 being 1/4" at the upper corners and 2 being about 1/2" at the lower corners. Centering and drilling those sizes in the 14 locations will intrude into the OD of nearly all the sleeve flanges just a little. Just looking for common practice here before I go to my more exotic, time consuming solution. Smaller holes? Offset holes? How were your blocks drilled? I need maximum cooling for road racing. Dry deck IS NOT an option. Thanks.

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Old 01-08-2022, 10:16 AM
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I do know Cometic can make their gaskets with custom water hole sizes. I think Butler has one they use that is a little different than the run of the mill. Let me know what you come up with as the same thing is in my future.

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Old 01-08-2022, 10:43 AM
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X2

I had Cometic make a custom gasket for my current iron IA2 based on water hole locations and sizes Pontiac Dude used years ago on his applications.
And at one time they had a part number for a gasket for smaller size water holes.


.

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Last edited by Steve C.; 01-08-2022 at 10:52 AM.
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Old 01-08-2022, 04:23 PM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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Just got off the phone with Frank @ All Pontiac. He also said Cometic had a specific gasket for this that may or may not be the same as the one I have. I will call Cometic and verify Monday.

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Old 01-08-2022, 08:55 PM
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Wonder if it has the "421" hole in it too?

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Old 01-10-2022, 07:43 PM
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Hi Skip where is the 421 hole ? Did anyone find an advantage to the extra hole? Thank you

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Old 01-11-2022, 09:29 AM
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On my Iron ia2 there really wasn't room with the bigger bore and thicker sleeves. Your pretty much drilling really close or into the sleeve a bit. I used the Cometic gasket from Butler to use as a template for mine.

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Old 01-11-2022, 10:31 AM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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The Cometic gasket I have is a Butler specific gasket Part number :
H1702SPX040 4.250 bore, .040 thickness. HGICTC water spec. Those are all the numbers on the gasket sticker . As mentioned, there are 14 water holes. 10 are 3/8" the two upper ones on the ends are 1/4" The two lower ones on the ends are just over 1/2". I can make this gasket work. Probably going to reduce all the holes 1/32" and "cheat" them away from the sleeve flanges. I will post some pics as this progresses. Not sure I can get the block in my smallish mill to drill these. I have a friend with a mill that has a 5" riser on it. I may have to take it there and drill it next week. Thanks.

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Old 01-11-2022, 10:35 AM
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Mike we usually use a magnetic drill press to machine those holes. I agree with "cheating" them away from the bores.

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Old 01-11-2022, 03:45 PM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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Just curious: does a magnetic drill press have enough magnetic grip on the sleeve flanges to drill an aluminum block? I don't have access to one anymore anyway. My last major use of a magnetic drill press was when a student "cleaned the threads" in a SBC deck with a 7/16-20 tap!! Ooops. By the time we caught him he had ruined 14 of the 17 holes on one side. Magnetic drill press and 14 heli-coils later it was fixed. Actually worked fine.

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Old 01-11-2022, 04:20 PM
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Hi Mike, FWIW, I've got a mag drill at our shop and I don't think there would be enough 'ferrous meat' to stick to in just the sleeve. It needs a broad magnetic surface to 'stick' to. Could you make a steel mount plate with clearance holes to do your drilling work so the mag drill could 'stick' and still drill in the correct locations?

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Old 01-11-2022, 05:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgarblik View Post
Just curious: does a magnetic drill press have enough magnetic grip on the sleeve flanges to drill an aluminum block? I don't have access to one anymore anyway. My last major use of a magnetic drill press was when a student "cleaned the threads" in a SBC deck with a 7/16-20 tap!! Ooops. By the time we caught him he had ruined 14 of the 17 holes on one side. Magnetic drill press and 14 heli-coils later it was fixed. Actually worked fine.
Oops! ...... Yes the sleeves provided enough area to hold the drill.

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Old 01-11-2022, 06:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgarblik View Post
Just curious: does a magnetic drill press have enough magnetic grip on the sleeve flanges to drill an aluminum block? I don't have access to one anymore anyway. My last major use of a magnetic drill press was when a student "cleaned the threads" in a SBC deck with a 7/16-20 tap!! Ooops. By the time we caught him he had ruined 14 of the 17 holes on one side. Magnetic drill press and 14 heli-coils later it was fixed. Actually worked fine.
I would take a piece of 3/8-1/2" by 12" or so of flat bar and drill a few holes where head bolts go, countersink 3-4 of them and drill away.
You could put the drill anywhere you want.

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Old 01-16-2022, 08:35 PM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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I have a mill available and am more comfortable just doing it in the mill. BTW, the Cometic Gasket number I gave in post #8 is actually a Kauffman gasket number. Eric informed me the gaskets were purchased from Kauffman with the high port heads. This explains why they are a perfect fit on the heads.

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Old 01-20-2022, 07:57 PM
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Well I spent about 3, 3 1/2 hours trying to set the block up in the mill with typical clamping devices. No luck. My rollover fixture is too tall for this mill and it would be perfect with the mains sitting on a precision puck and bar. I have a friend with a taller mill and a riser. I will check it out next week. I will take some pics if I can ever get it set up nice. My set-up with regular clamps would be no better than a hand drill, probably worse. More later.

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Old 01-20-2022, 10:48 PM
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You can rent a drill press with a magnetic base and take the easy way out.... just saying.

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Old 01-20-2022, 11:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PAUL K View Post
You can rent a drill press with a magnetic base and take the easy way out.... just saying.
Is aluminum magnetic?

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Old 01-21-2022, 08:58 AM
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Quote:
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Is aluminum magnetic?
No, why?

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Old 01-21-2022, 09:28 AM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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Quote:
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You can rent a drill press with a magnetic base and take the easy way out.... just saying.
Yes, that would be the easy way to do it. Glutton for punishment I guess. Doing this on my own time. Nobody is paying for my extra effort on this one. Agree the wide sleeve flange would hold a magnetic drill. I would like to use a mill because I would like to put a bunch of the holes in with an end mill. I don't think a magnetic drill will have the spindle speed to use anything other than a twist drill. On a drag race engine I would just put all small holes in the block, like 5/16" and 1/4". But for road racing I want maximum water flow to the heads where the heat will be generated. A dry deck is not an option for this one. He wants as little outside plumbing and extra crap under the hood as possible.

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Old 01-21-2022, 10:29 AM
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We wouldn't be Pontiac guys if we took the easy route. I have in the past taken a small carbide burr (double cut) and shaped the water holes to match the half moon shape in the Edelbrock and Hi-port heads after initially drilling a round hole. A mill will be helpful if you are going to machine the extra "421" water passage. I've never done one on an aluminum block, but the iron blocks need it drilled on a slight angle leading the drill bit end towards the water jacket.

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