Subject: Re: [Healeys] Alloy Head

From: Larry Varley <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 06:44:17 +1100

Hi Ray, my personal opinion is that unless there is a problem with your 
iron head don't bother. You probably won't see any noticeable 
performance increase and any small weight saving or improvement in heat 
dissipation really would not be worth the money. The original Weslake 
design works very well, and modifications to the original ports and 
combustion chamber design can easily lead to no improvement or worse 
performance at lower speeds.
Stay away from Webcon in the UK at this stage as they were making an 
Austin A70 commercial head thinking it was Healey. I don't know if they 
have changed it yet. The A70 commercial head had smaller and deeper 
combustion chambers and with the Healey sized valves they were fitting 
had shocking valve masking. I would not be paying extra for a Denis 
Welch head for a road car, so any supplier that can supply a faithful 
reproduction of the original should be ok.
As a matter of interest "Head Stud Developments" here in Australia are 
also in the process of making a 4 cylinder alloy head, but I think they 
are not quite ready for sale yet.
Regards
Larry Varley
BN1
BT7
Nash Healey Lemans Coupe x 2 :)

I am thinking about an alloy head for my 100. This is a request for list 
wisdom on several issues. I'm thinking "fast road" as I have a 3/4 cam. 
What make / supplier, about what price, what has been your experience 
with one, what else should I be aware of? Are there any pros or cons 
involved here. Thanks Ray Juncal 
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From: Michael Oritt <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2014 16:22:28 -0400

Hi Ray--

I replaced the iron head on my 100 abouyt ten years ago with a DW "Fast
Road" version after it developed several cracks.  I also got the matching
tubular header.  The headers required a bit of fitting as does most
everything but otherwise it was a matter of turning nuts and bolts, etc.

I have had no problems and performance is very good.

Best--Michael Oritt
1954 100 LeMans

On Sat, Nov 1, 2014 at 3:44 PM, Larry Varley <[email-masked]> wrote:

> iron head don't bother. You probably won't see any noticeable performance
> increase and any small weight saving or improvement in heat dissipation
> really would not be worth the money. The original Weslake design works very
> well, and modifications to the original ports and combustion chamber design
> can easily lead to no improvement or worse performance at lower speeds.
> combustion chambers and with the Healey sized valves they were fitting had
> shocking valve masking. I would not be paying extra for a Denis Welch head
> for a road car, so any supplier that can supply a faithful reproduction of
> the original should be ok.
> also in the process of making a 4 cylinder alloy head, but I think they are
> not quite ready for sale yet.
> Regards
> Larry Varley
> BN1
> BT7
> What make / supplier, about what price, what has been your experience with
> one, what else should I be aware of? Are there any pros or cons involved
> here. Thanks Ray Juncal _______________________________________________
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From: David Porter <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 14:28:23 -0600

pros are they don't leak coolant and they don't crack. Cons they are 
expensive and what Larry said.
IMO. Dave   and oh, they they lighten the front end:-)
On 11/1/2014 11:09 AM, Ray Juncal wrote:
> List
>
>      I am thinking about an alloy head for my 100.  This is a request for list wisdom on several issues. I'm thinking "fast road" as I have a 3/4 cam.  What make  / supplier, about what price,  what has been your experience with one, what else should I be aware of?  Are there any pros or cons involved here.  Thanks
> Ray Juncal
> Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/[email-masked]
>
>
>

-- 
Dave Porter Porter Custom Bicycles 2909 Arno St. NE Albuquerque, NM 
87107 505-352-1378 Go HERE: my world www.porterbikes.com/
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From: Curtis Arndt <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2014 13:51:34 -0700

Larry,

With all due respect, I'm going to totally differ with your statement.

Some years ago Mark Lambert, Healey restorer in Nashville, TN and technical
adviser/expert for the club did an extensive evaluation on the original
Aluminum head developed and sold by SC in England.  The original cast iron
Westlake head is constrained by porting that is too small (intake and
exhaust ports on the same side) . SC redesigned the porting on the head and
substantially increased the airflow, almost doubling it in the process.
This is the standard head SC originally developed, and not the upgraded
ones that Denis Welch did a few years later, using the same basic casting
from the same foundry.

Lambert's testing is essence said that where the old stock engine had a
power band of 2500 to 3500 RPM, an otherwise stock engine with the aluminum
head now had an effective power band of 2200 to 4200 RPM, effectively
double.  He also went on to say that a stock 100 with an aluminum head
would easily out perform a stock modified 100M.  And you don't need the 1
3/4" H6 carburetors of the 100M/Le Mans.  The H4s work great since now that
you have sufficient airflow, it's the higher velocity provided by the
smaller diameter 1 1/2" H4s that make it perform even better... Basically
"Bernoulli 101".

Plus no cracking issues.  I have four 100 engines and 7 heads, and 6 of
those heads are "boat anchors"...  Too cracked to repair.

The another benefit is that since the heads are identical in all respects
down to the original "Westlake" casting numbers, you won't loose any points
in Concours.

So why put good money after bad with a cast iron head that will eventually
crack, or crack again if repaired (ask me how I know this) when you can
have superior performance, reliability, and originality, all in one package.

I will try and find what issue this was written up in for anyone that's
interested.

Cheers,

Curt Arndt
AH Concours Registry Chairman

On Sat, Nov 1, 2014 at 12:44 PM, Larry Varley <[email-masked]> wrote:

> options/healeys/[email-masked]

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From: Larry Varley <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:02:38 +1100

Hi Guys, all interesting stuff, I absolutely agree if the head is 
cracked, it's a boat anchor even though the six cylinder heads out 
perform the 100 heads in that regard. I would not throw money at 
attempting to repair a Healey iron head. In regards to fitting I prefer 
the modern composite head gaskets with steel rings around the combustion 
chambers. You can also use a very light smear of gasket sealant along 
the spark plug side edge water galleries to prevent weeping from the 
galleries close to the edge.
Cheers
Larry

On 2/11/2014 7:51 AM, Curtis Arndt wrote:
> Some years ago Mark Lambert, Healey restorer in Nashville, TN and 
> technical adviser/expert for the club did an extensive evaluation on 
> the original Aluminum head developed and sold by SC in England. The 
> original cast iron Westlake head is constrained by porting that is too 
> small (intake and exhaust ports on the same side) . SC redesigned the 
> porting on the head and substantially increased the airflow, almost 
> doubling it in the process. This is the standard head SC originally 
> developed, and not the upgraded ones that Denis Welch did a few years 
> later, using the same basic casting from the same foundry.
>
> Lambert's testing is essence said that where the old stock engine had 
> a power band of 2500 to 3500 RPM, an otherwise stock engine with the 
> aluminum head now had an effective power band of 2200 to 4200 RPM, 
> effectively double.  He also went on to say that a stock 100 with an 
> aluminum head would easily out perform a stock modified 100M.  And you 
> don't need the 1 3/4" H6 carburetors of the 100M/Le Mans.  The H4s 
> work great since now that you have sufficient airflow, it's the higher 
> velocity provided by the smaller diameter 1 1/2" H4s that make it 
> perform even better... Basically "Bernoulli 101".
>
> Plus no cracking issues.  I have four 100 engines and 7 heads, and 6 
> of those heads are "boat anchors"...  Too cracked to repair.
>
> The another benefit is that since the heads are identical in all 
> respects down to the original "Westlake" casting numbers, you won't 
> loose any points in Concours.
>
> So why put good money after bad with a cast iron head that will 
> eventually crack, or crack again if repaired (ask me how I know this) 
> when you can have superior performance, reliability, and originality, 
> all in one package.
>
> I will try and find what issue this was written up in for anyone 
> that's interested.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Curt Arndt
> On Sat, Nov 1, 2014 at 12:44 PM, Larry Varley <[email-masked] 
>
>     Hi Ray, my personal opinion is that unless there is a problem with
>     your iron head don't bother. You probably won't see any noticeable
>     performance increase and any small weight saving or improvement in
>     heat dissipation really would not be worth the money. The original
>     Weslake design works very well, and modifications to the original
>     ports and combustion chamber design can easily lead to no
>     improvement or worse performance at lower speeds.
>     Stay away from Webcon in the UK at this stage as they were making
>     an Austin A70 commercial head thinking it was Healey. I don't know
>     if they have changed it yet. The A70 commercial head had smaller
>     and deeper combustion chambers and with the Healey sized valves
>     they were fitting had shocking valve masking. I would not be
>     paying extra for a Denis Welch head for a road car, so any
>     supplier that can supply a faithful reproduction of the original
>     should be ok.
>     As a matter of interest "Head Stud Developments" here in Australia
>     are also in the process of making a 4 cylinder alloy head, but I
>     think they are not quite ready for sale yet.
>     Regards
>     Larry Varley
>     BN1
>     BT7
>     I am thinking about an alloy head for my 100. This is a request
>     for list wisdom on several issues. I'm thinking "fast road" as I
>     have a 3/4 cam. What make / supplier, about what price, what has
>     been your experience with one, what else should I be aware of? Are
>     there any pros or cons involved here. Thanks Ray Juncal
>     Unsubscribe/Manage:
>     http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/[email-masked]
>
>
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From: Curtis Arndt <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2014 16:21:03 -0700

Larry,

I have one perfect 100 head that's never been cracked or repaired, and
never skimmed.

I do agree with your comments on the choice of head gaskets.  A friend and
mechanic of mine *highly recommend* spending the money (they aren't cheap)
on the *Denis Welch head gasket* to make my original head last as long as
possible.  Fellow List member Roland W. and I both purchased them for our
good heads.

Denis Welch supposedly took the original SC design and modified/improved it
and added a "Fast Road" and a "Full Race" head.  Of course if you want to
add bigger carburetors, and mess with the cam, ignition etc... you can get
more performance.  But really why, when the average owner can take a stock
BN1/2 and by just adding the head get better than 100M performance?  Check
out the cost of adding 100M carburetors, pistons, cam shaft, distributor
and the cost of the aluminum head does seem all that bad.  Of course I
remember the days when they cost $2K USD not the $4K they are now

I have always stated that there are two types of original heads for the
100s, those that have cracked and those that will crack.  Therefore it's
nice to have some alternatives.

I'd Like like to see what kind of head you Aussies come up with for the 100.

Cheers,

Curt

On Sat, Nov 1, 2014 at 2:02 PM, Larry Varley <[email-masked]> wrote:

> cracked, it's a boat anchor even though the six cylinder heads out perform
> the 100 heads in that regard. I would not throw money at attempting to
> repair a Healey iron head. In regards to fitting I prefer the modern
> composite head gaskets with steel rings around the combustion chambers. You
> can also use a very light smear of gasket sealant along the spark plug side
> edge water galleries to prevent weeping from the galleries close to the
> edge.
> Cheers
> Larry

[email-masked]