Driving home from work the other day, I noticed a bit more valve
noise than I was used to and a miss at idle after things were good
and hot. After dinner, I did a little diagnostic work and came up
with the very good possibility that I was looking at a sticking
valve. I still should do a vacuum test to confirm it, but it got me
thinking about what to do if I was right. I have never had this head
off, and don't know what the valve seats are made of, nor the guides.
Haven't magnifluxed it, either. There's always the possibility of
putting a lot of work into it, and having it crack...
After a lot of debate with myself and a chat with my Significant
Other re: finances, I came to the decision to go for an aluminum
replacement head, non-cross flow type. Since I'm not doing a full
rebuild, and it's a three main engine, I decided not to go the
serious Rimflow valve route, and would probably be getting a complete
early head with standard valves. A look at the usual catalogs was a
bit disappointing, in that we're getting into serious money. Even
the late iron head at VB was over $700 complete. The APS hot street
heads with Rimflows were over $1000.
I called up Pierce Manifolds (408-842-6667) in Gilroy, CA, the
manufacturer of the alum siamese and crossflow heads that a number of
catalogs sell. They quoted a price about $150 under what VB wants.
I'm hoping to get out there (I live about 30 miles away) in the next
week to pick one up (yeh, I could have it shipped, but it's a fun
drive).
Anyone have any stories, good or bad, about aluminum B heads?
Chris Attias
'64 MGB
'84 Alfa Romeo GTV-6
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