TOPIC:

Sorry ,,,,,,,,
But ,,,,,,,,
Start looking for a good used head ,
They ARE NOT small cracks.
If they dont go all the way through now , they will sooner or later.

you could probably have that welded if the cracks arent deep, grind some metal down, and build it back up again. heck, build it up farther and get a longer plug for that hole if you want to make it really strong
Scott

Thats the same thing I said earlier 77KZ650, but we all have to do it the hard way. The cracks might not go as deep as you think

The engine is already out, so that at least will make disassembly easier. How difficult is it to keep the cams and such in alignment after having taken them out?

On another note, this will allow us to check for possible problems in the valves on cylinder 1. It seems there might have been some blow back, partially melting one of the air tubes to the carb.

Is this blow back only on no.1 cylinder? If on 4 also the ignition timing could be off, but if only no.1, the valve either isnt closing properly due to valve clearances or something on the valve or in the cylinder causing preignition. However I dont know if this burn of the intakes is a constant running problem or just a one time thing so I cant be exact. I never really checked alignment on my chain but I will next time...HA HA!