Well I've never had a CI head and am not a race car driver or an
engineer, but nearly every R16 I've owned has experienced head warpage,
and they all had aluminum heads.
My first RL411 warped after I owned it for six months, although there
had been symptoms for about a month before that. My first Roadster
warped when I put the engine back in after replacing the clutch, then
again when I moved the engine from one car to another. I'm assuming it
was due to too much air in the cooling system that I didn't "burp"
properly each time.
My last one had very minor warpage around some water passages that may
or may not have contributed to the head gasket/overheating problem.
My question isn't which is better, but has anyone with CI heads had
head warpage? I thought it was nearly impossible...
--- Christopher Coker <cfcoker@home.com> wrote:
> I have to agree here. Aluminum's heat dissipation qualities are
> preferred
> over those of cast iron. You save a significant amount of weight
> too. Make
> sure the cooling system is up to the task of the increased hp, and
> warping
> shouldn't be a problem.
>
> I have a cast iron head on my race car right now, but only because
> that's
> the way the car came. I have three bare aluminum cylinder heads as
> spares.
> When I build up the three-main motor over the winter, it will have an
> aluminum head on it. Right now I'm hoping to get 140-160 horsepower,
> and
> will go up from there.
> > From: "Henry Bahn" <hbahn@home.com>
> > Reply-To: "Henry Bahn" <hbahn@home.com>
> > Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 15:17:13 -0400
> > To: <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
> > Subject: iron head
> >
> > We had this discussion about a year ago, and Joe Hauser pretty much
> put it
> > to rest. The alum.head has better heat dissipation, not worse,
> than the
> > cast iron head, and is not more likely to warp. Claims of
> increased HP from
> > the iron head just ain't so. I don't think anyone is using CI
> heads for
> > competition roadsters.
>
> Happy roadstering,
> --
> Chris Coker
> 69 1600 SPL311-24529
> <http://members.home.net/cfcoker/roadster.html>
> 6? 1600 GP Race Car
> <http://members.home.net/cfcoker/racecar.html>
> Royal Oak, MI
=====
Adam
'70 1600 SPL311-28181
http://www.picturetrail.com/abend
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