I've just bought an MGA 1600 for vintage racing. It is fitted with a
>cross-flow head that the previous owner says is an "original Derrington"
>head. The only identifying marks on the head are the initials HRG cast into
>the top on the right front. Can anyone shed any light on this accessory --
>when it might have been used originally and if there is any way of verifying
>its originality?
With the HRG on it, it should be a real Derrington head. There should also be
a large 'HRG' cast onto the top of the head facing the exhaust side, and
there will be a serial number facing the back of the engine, stamped on the
back horizontal face of the head just outside the valve cover. It will
indicate the serial number of the head, (and that's all, on the very late
ones) and a build date (one of my spares shows 1164, the other one 862), and
often the suffix '22' (no idea what that means).
I do not have the serial number breaks for Mk 1,2,3 and 4, although Mk4 is
very rare and has only the serial number, usually over 1000 or so.
Nice find! Maybe you can offer it to a vintage racer in exchange for a brand
new alloy crossflow from Moss, as I believe they may be able to race with
originals, but maybe not with repro units.
Bill S.
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