8 replies to this topic

[MiniLandy]

Hi all, at MITP's autojumble yesterday, i bought this head:









Now, it's obviously a 12G940, and an old one, as the metal around the thermostat housing is on deck level.

The tuning marks of "WST" and "S/1" however, baffle me.

Can anyone tell me who might have produced this head, and an idea of it's specs??

Oh, and as for how i know they're tuning marks, here's a photo of one of the exhaust ports:



Cheers in advance for any help, Paul.

[Ethel]

It's defo been worked & an 11 studder so Mk3 S or early 1275GT unless they were added too.

Pure guesses ST/1 for stage one?

The WST looks a bit arty so maybe a "signature" by the engineer or machine shop. Works Special Tuning, perhaps?

[mk1leg]

If I were you I would get it referbed and keep it in some waxed brown paper that they use for wrapping metal and this will keep the moisture out..........

[MiniLandy]

It's defo been worked & an 11 studder so Mk3 S or early 1275GT unless they were added too.

Pure guesses ST/1 for stage one?

The WST looks a bit arty so maybe a "signature" by the engineer or machine shop. Works Special Tuning, perhaps?

Yeah, that's what i thought about the S/1, but when you compare it to a standard port, quite a lot's been shaved!

I thought all 'S's had funky casting numbers, did mk3s use modified 12G940's??

As for Works Special Tuning, that does fit quite nicely... I'm hopeful

If I were you I would get it referbed and keep it in some waxed brown paper that they use for wrapping metal and this will keep the moisture out..........

This is the condition it came from the autojumble, i'll take all the surface rust off, repaint it, renew the valve seals, relap the valves, and bolt it to my engine

Cheers for the input, guys, much appreciated!

Paul.

[Ethel]

The very last "S"es used 940's, but then so did a lot of other 1275's. Hope that's not a crack by the valve springs below the 12g 940, might just be from the casting and not critical even if it is.

[MiniLandy]

The very last "S"es used 940's, but then so did a lot of other 1275's. Hope that's not a crack by the valve springs below the 12g 940, might just be from the casting and not critical even if it is.

That's a hair, my dog came out to inspect my goodies from MITP when i was unloading them from the mini

Thanks for your help chap, i'm gonna ring my man in the know tomorrow, who owns an S, and has worked on millions more, see what he says. I'll post up the result

[Cooperman]

Paul, that looks a good head. It's certainly an 'S' head and I wonder if the WST is 'Will Sparrow Tuning'. Will was a famous Mini driver from the late 60's-early 70's - he won the Welsh International Rally in a Mini in 1970 - and did all his own work. If you wish, I can contact him as he is an old friend of mine and ask the question.

[MiniLandy]

Pete, is that you??

Reading your profile on here, you're the only one know that's a member of HAMOC, and who's grandson's restored a Mayfair!

I was going to ring you about this head, I also picked up an MD266 camshaft and a set of HS4 twins at MITP

It's Paul Landy by the way, the one you sold the engine out of that crashed mini. It's still running rather well

If you could confirm that this head is a Will Sparrow one, and find out the spec of it, i'd be very grateful!

[Cooperman]

I'll ask Will if it's one of his. If it is, then it'll be very good. He was/is a very thorough engineer. Glad to hear that the engine is going well.