My head did not require the heli-coils. I put those in as preventive maint.
They only cost me about $75 and now I don't have to worry about the soft AL.
The holes would have worked great, but I didn't want to risk messing it up and
then having to pull the head to fix it.
The head not being flat I cannot explain. When I took it to the machine shop
they said that most of the brand new heads they see are not flat, and require
at least some milling. They suggested that perhaps storage at the facility
could cause warping, but I don't really think that would happen.
I did reuse my rocker assembly and everthing else. I bought an AL valve cover
at the same time (because it looks really nice!) and replaced my heater value.
If you do the AL head, you will want to clean up the rest of your engine bay if
it is unsightly. (damaged by break fluid etc.) The engine will look very
nice, and you will want to make the rest of it match.
The problem with the cast-iron I think is it can crack. (I had to replace my
old head because it was cracked.) After spending all of the money to make the
head what you want and then have it crack would really suck!
I was VERY happy with the quality of the head. I would do it again and buy it
from the same place. I can't explain the warping, but the machine shop said it
was common on new AL heads, and it was cheap to fix since I was putting in the
heli-coils anyway.
> these heads were cast from a middle year vintage head, hence the smaller
> valves, etc.
>
> I have an 18v, with a Weber, actually if you have a spare used Weber with a
> electric or hot water choke you want to sell or trade for one with a manual
> choke let me know.
>
> did you use your existing rocker assembly , etc ?
>
> I am wondering if it is easier just to find a good cast iron head and
> machine it with all the mods, get it ported and use that.
>
> what do you think ?
>
> thanks, Ted
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andrew B. Lundgren" <Lundgren@iname.com>
> To: "Ted Stowe" <cessna@speakeasy.org>
> Cc: <mgs@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 9:30 AM
> Subject: Re: aluminum head for mgb
>
>
> > I put on a standard replacement AL head in Jan. Works great. I have an
> 18GD. I took it in and had heli-coils installed in the maniford stud holes,
> spark plug holes, and the rocker arm assembly holes. I also hard them
> verify that it was flat. It was not. They milled it flat. I put it on
> using the standard non-copper gasket and have had no leaks so far (still
> less than 500 miles on the new head.)
> >
> > I went with the standard for the same reasons you mentioned. The head cost
> $699 assembled (NW Import) the additional work was under $100 to prep it,
> and I was up and running again. Since then I bought a parts car with a
> weber and performance header so I am glad I didn't go with the cross flow.
> I am sure others have gone with the cross flow and been just as happy. I
> didn't really want to mess with re-running the throttle, choke and then
> having my spark plugs covered. All of that would have meant spending an
> extra $200-400 on just the head not to mention a new manifold.
> >
> > Now I am not sure how to pull the engine, but I will figure that out when
> I go to put the OD in.
> >
> >
> > On Tue, 28 Mar 2000, Ted Stowe wrote:
> >
> > > question for the group. what is the consensious on the crossflow head or
> the
> > > replacment aluminum head, (standard design)
> > >
> > > for a '77 mgb.
> > >
> > > I am under the impression that neither head would precisely match my
> > > existing one, (latter changes, etc.), and would have to be milled to get
> a
> > > proper compression ratio, etc. also the horsepower gains from the
> crossflow
> > > head are slight compared to the costs, new manifolds etc.
> > >
> > > I know there is a lot of info in the archives, but I was wondering if
> any of
> > > the sources of these heads have changed their specs lately.
> > >
> > > thanks, Ted
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
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