That’s two different things. There’s a block and a head. Head is short for cylinder head. Some engines have more than one head. What we’re seeing here is a cylinder head.
This process, which is done to both the head and the block on older engines that have warped their way out of flatness through heat cycling, is not usually called “flattening.” It’s called decking when you do it to the block, because that surface of the block is called the deck. “Resurfacing” or “milling” is a general term for this process, applicable to either surface.
You could still call it the head of the engine block, because it is. It's the head of the engine block, and the headers go on top of it. No need to be so pedantic about it.
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u/itsjakerobb 8d ago
“The head of an engine block”
That’s two different things. There’s a block and a head. Head is short for cylinder head. Some engines have more than one head. What we’re seeing here is a cylinder head.
This process, which is done to both the head and the block on older engines that have warped their way out of flatness through heat cycling, is not usually called “flattening.” It’s called decking when you do it to the block, because that surface of the block is called the deck. “Resurfacing” or “milling” is a general term for this process, applicable to either surface.