which cylinder head??

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I have no experience of the new ones - someone will though.

FWIW - I always phone John on: tel:0115 922 4926

[Michael D]

For what it's worth I tried quite a few heads in the past and the Speedex was the one I kept on the car. Ultimately though I felt the compression ratio was rather high, so I reverted to the standard '37 type, which is a good all-round head for road use. Aluminium heads are more prone to warping / distortion, worth considering too.

I am aware of the fact that some people fear warping of an aluminium head but then again AlfaRomeos's had alloy heads as had the great Hillman Imp..... its a matter of treating them right methinks. Torqueing (or is it torquing?) them down properly (not meaning ham fisted) and allowing block and head to warm up..   which is not the same as 'water temperature at 80 degrees centigrade'.  I'm used to that. And I'll be carrying a head gasket in case things do go pear shaped....

[Chris KC]

For what it's worth I tried quite a few heads in the past and the Speedex was the one I kept on the car. Ultimately though I felt the compression ratio was rather high, so I reverted to the standard '37 type, which is a good all-round head for road use. Aluminium heads are more prone to warping / distortion, worth considering too.

I am aware of the fact that some people fear warping of an aluminium head but then again AlfaRomeos's had alloy heads as had the great Hillman Imp..... its a matter of treating them right methinks. Torqueing (or is it torquing?) them down properly (not meaning ham fisted) and allowing block and head to warm up..   which is not the same as 'water temperature at 80 degrees centigrade'.  I'm used to that. And I'll be carrying a head gasket in case things do go pear shaped....

Side valve heads are more vulnerable to warping as they have little torsional stiffness. But yes careful management of torque and temperature is appropriate. It depends what you plan to do with the car Michael; I warped an alloy head when I burst two radiator hoses going over the Petit St. Bernard pass, and had to get home with water weeing into the cylinders every time I stopped the engine. This was inconvenient and since then I have stuck to cast iron, for trips further afield at least.

[JonE]

Would be good to see the underside of the W.H. repros. I had missed those on John Barlow's list. 
This is a repro Ricardo, which I outrageously bought on the justification of simplifying the number of gaskets and joins in the cooling system... 

[Chris KC]

Would be good to see the underside of the W.H. repros. I had missed those on John Barlow's list. 
This is a repro Ricardo, which I outrageously bought on the justification of simplifying the number of gaskets and joins in the cooling system... 

The downside of that flimsy justification Jon is that once the water outlet is corroded the head is scrap... Should be good for few years no doubt but I'd use a corrosion inhibitor!

[Steve Jones]

Would be good to see the underside of the W.H. repros. I had missed those on John Barlow's list. 
This is a repro Ricardo, which I outrageously bought on the justification of simplifying the number of gaskets and joins in the cooling system... 

The downside of that flimsy justification Jon is that once the water outlet is corroded the head is scrap... Should be good for few years no doubt but I'd use a corrosion inhibitor!

The Ricardo is probably the best repro head you can buy and, like any aluminium head, if you use anti-freeze all year round it'll be fine. The quality of the material and casting is so much better than some of those 1950's efforts made out of melted down Merlin crankcases!! I've these on three engines the first being over 10 years old and they're superb. There again what would you expect from something made by a very skilled A7 engineer who knows what he's doing and is a regular on this forum as well

Steve

[Chris KC]

Would be good to see the underside of the W.H. repros. I had missed those on John Barlow's list. 
This is a repro Ricardo, which I outrageously bought on the justification of simplifying the number of gaskets and joins in the cooling system... 

The downside of that flimsy justification Jon is that once the water outlet is corroded the head is scrap... Should be good for few years no doubt but I'd use a corrosion inhibitor!

The Ricardo is probably the best repro head you can buy and, like any aluminium head, if you use anti-freeze all year round it'll be fine. The quality of the material and casting is so much better than some of those 1950's efforts made out of melted down Merlin crankcases!! I've these on three engines the first being over 10 years old and they're superb. There again what would you expect from something made by a very skilled A7 engineer who knows what he's doing and is a regular on this forum as well

Steve

Not knocking the head Steve, just suggesting it's in the owner's interests to make sure it doesn't rot through. By no means every A7 owner uses anti-freeze.

[JonE]

I think Fernox is widely advocated?

[Chris KC]

I think Fernox is widely advocated?

It's a fairly regular discussion topic Jon. Anti-freeze is not the way to go if cooling is marginal, as it makes your engine run hotter. Some advocate Fernox as an inhibitor. I'm currently trying out Penrite's classic car coolant, which is doubtless much the same thing, but claims to be formulated for cars.

[Michael D]

For what it's worth I tried quite a few heads in the past and the Speedex was the one I kept on the car. Ultimately though I felt the compression ratio was rather high, so I reverted to the standard '37 type, which is a good all-round head for road use. Aluminium heads are more prone to warping / distortion, worth considering too.

I am aware of the fact that some people fear warping of an aluminium head but then again AlfaRomeos's had alloy heads as had the great Hillman Imp..... its a matter of treating them right methinks. Torqueing (or is it torquing?) them down properly (not meaning ham fisted) and allowing block and head to warm up..   which is not the same as 'water temperature at 80 degrees centigrade'.  I'm used to that. And I'll be carrying a head gasket in case things do go pear shaped....

Side valve heads are more vulnerable to warping as they have little torsional stiffness. But yes careful management of torque and temperature is appropriate. It depends what you plan to do with the car Michael; I warped an alloy head when I burst two radiator hoses going over the Petit St. Bernard pass, and had to get home with water weeing into the cylinders every time I stopped the engine. This was inconvenient and since then I have stuck to cast iron, for trips further afield at least.

Well Chris....I was not planning bursting two radiator hoses.. the pressure in your cooling system must  have had risen way beyond normal levels .....and as the engine was presumably overheating... in such an obviously quite extreme situation it's hardly fair to dismiss the alloy cylinder head as being 'prone to warping'....  nevertheless.. your posts gives me cause to consider fitting something of a catch / expansion tank and / or a radiator cap that wil allow exces pressure to pop off.....