I've been struggling with finding 3800 heads that are not cracked. I went to the local U-Pull it a little bit ago, and I found 2 3800 supercharged heads already off the car. Don't know the year. I brought them home and cleaned them up only to find that both heads were cracked between the intake and exhaust valve on one of the cylinders specifically the exact same place in the casting on both. The crack is a hairline that goes from just inside one port, across the combustion chamber into the other just a bit. I took out my borescope and took a look at the crack from the water jacket side, It was pretty obvious that it did go through the casting and into the water jacket. It definitely leaked. I could easily see that there was a white stripe in the center of the orangy walls inside the head.
I brought the heads back and got store credit
I went back for another set, I tore apart a virgin 3800. 04 Buick. I figured that would be about the least abused, and the newest series 2 I could find anyway. It didn't take too long to get a head off of it, but it is a bit of work. I checked that head for cracks, and sure enough it had the one in the exact same place. I also found a 3800 NA head kicking around on the ground. Also cracked.
I'm stunned by the frequency of finding these cracked heads, later model or not.
I'm sure I can get my dad to ship me a pair of heads from one of his, but he doesn't yet know if they are cracked. Hopefully he can figure it out.
Anyone else have this problem? I've read that it does happen, but it seems like a good core is actually a bit difficult to come by. However, I can't bring myself to put a pair of heads on that are at best, flawed.
