44 replies to this topic

[ANON]

my nan could do a better job than that and she died 20 years ago!!

i'd be asking for another head to replace that one and be naming whoever did it, £300 to ruin a head is a bit excessive.
good luck with it.

[Goacher65]

I am not willing to name the engine builder at this time. I will give him a chance to redeem himself. I believe it was him that did the work, not funnelled off to anyone else.

[ANON]

has he actually returned the head to you as completed?

[Goacher65]

I have the head to lap valves in then was taking it back with the block to do final cc checks. But im assuming from some previous comments, no more work will be done to the ports.

[mini-luke]

If anybody's interested - I ruin head's for free, save yourself a few hundred quid.

[Goacher65]

If anybody's interested - I ruin head's for free, save yourself a few hundred quid.

If mine is scrap I could part with it so you have a pattern.

[Cooperman]

my nan could do a better job than that and she died 20 years ago!!

i'd be asking for another head to replace that one and be naming whoever did it, £300 to ruin a head is a bit excessive.
good luck with it.

It's not so much ruined, as not completed. The basic profiling looks reasonable for the initial rough-cutting, but it simply has not been finished. What the throats are like where the radius should be blended to create smooth flow can't be seen and one might well be suspicious that more improvement could be necessary there.
The OP is in a bit of a difficult position as if he takes it back it may still not be done well, but if he takes it elsewhere for finishing there'll be a lot of aggrevation with the original company.
Best thing might be to go back and tell the guy what you expect him to do and why, using the help provided on here as supporting info. Tell him that he will not be paid until it is correct and that included removing the guides and replacing them when the gas-flowing is finished. If he refuses, take it to another professional and pay him to do the work, then deduct his bill from what the first party is expecting to receive.

[Goacher65]

This is what I was planning to do. When he gave me the price he said he was doing it to a similar spec as the MED heads, which clearly it isn't. But thought if I have backup from people on here then I have more of a leg to stand on.

[Goacher65]

Thankyou for comments so far. I will get on the phone to him Monday when I get back from Germany. Hopefully it will get sorted. I will update when I have an outcome from him.

[mini 4o]

Hi
I would agree with Cooperman,
Looks like he has roughed out the ports ready for the finial polish
But I do not understand why the valve stems have been fitted at this stage
As when he finishes the polish they will get damaged.
So far I would say around 3 hours work and a least 3-4 more to polish
Plus remove the damaged steem and replace with a new one
Who suppling the valves and fitting them?

Something as important is the match between the manifolds and head
Place the inlet manifold rings, and match the exhaust gasket to the ports
Then place on the exhaust manifold the air needs to flow free with no step
If not this can cost you a few hp.

What hp are you looking for? Which bore / pistons will you be using
John

[Goacher65]

[/What hp are you looking for? Which bore / pistons will you be using
John

Pistons are mega 73.5mm with 7cc dish, so 1380. Stainless race valves double valve springs, roller tip 1.5 rockers, 300 cam. He reckoned about 115/120bhp.
He also reckoned that was 3 days work! I'm starting to wonder if he had it mixed up with another of many heads he was working on.

[racingbob]

its definitly your head you got back ?

my race heads i have had done looked nothing like that

and with a 300 cam it needs to be good

[Goacher65]

Thats why I need to get back in contact with him. The first thing I thought was that it looked unfinished.

[ANON]

i've got a fiver on him saying that anyone who's commented on it doesn't know what they are talking about

[Goacher65]

Well I have found pictures of other heads that are at the same spec and there is an obvious difference!