I cleaned up this 13b gsl-se iron an saw it was pitted and wondering if I can use it or if I should try and source out another iron.any tips or info on this is appreciated thanks

 

That is very badly pitted. At the top it doesn't matter much as that is a low stress area. But around the spark plug holes it matters greatly.

You can either have the irons lapped at a machine shop to flatten them, or source new ones.

 

Eh. That's about normal for what I see and I've never had an issue.

I had an engine that was way worse than that when I assembled it - the $100 GSL-SE core engine that sat for two decades and all of the water passages were blocked with green Jell-O that used to be coolant. The iron was pitted badly and the aluminum was corroded around and through to water jackets in spots. It went a good long time before it was just plain worn out.

I use Viton cord from McMaster-Carr and Right Stuff instead of Vaseline or Hylomar.

 

i use a little silicon over the water seals, and i have noticed that kevin landers does too, among others.

i've also heard of people using JB weld on badly corroded housings.

lapping isn't a great idea, as it removed the nitriding layer.

 

I personally would not use JB Weld after having some bad experiences with it before with respect to delaminating/leaking under the repair. But, some people say any kind of silicone/urethane sealant on the O-rings is bad, too.

Now, if you want stupid, I'm thinking of trying the side seal repair on a broken coolant land FC side housing, because Turbo II side housings don't grow on trees anymore. It's okay, though, it's all the way at the bottom in the combustion zone...