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Head problem or what do I have

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70herald

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I brought the Heralds head over to be worked on a few weeks ago, and was told I need new valves and guides. No big deal right??? Well the machinist called to tell me something is wrong since the are different.
I got it all back today and here is what I can figure out:

New valves / guides are correct for a 1300cc herald, and need a "figure 8" valve collar

Old valves: the intake valve is larger (Spit IV) 1.431" vs 1.306"
exhaust is the same diameter as old, but both of them need collars with cotters.

The head has 516261 stamped into it and what might end with 871 (or B71?) cast into it (under the Stanpart name)

Any idea exactly what type of head I have and what should I do to solve this???

Does the larger intake valve make enough of a difference (in extra power) that it is worth mucking around vs trying to find a different head?
 
70herald said:
it is worth mucking around vs trying to find a different head?
Click to expand...

Indeed it is, Yisrael!!! Get a different head!!!!!

Here's one I've used myself!!

dale


Yorick.jpg
 
DNK said:
cool
Click to expand...

Ok guys, I glad your amused, but my car isn't going anywhere without a head on the engine.

Anyone know exactly what types of valve seat inserts to order or what is need to fix this mess??

How about a list of different casting #'s so that I can at least figure out what Triumph meant this head to be used on.
 
Is anyone familiar with this engine going to help Yisrael out??
 
After ALLOT of searching on the internet, I think I know what I have. It appears to be either a MKIV Spitfire head or much more likely a 1500cc Front Wheel Drive ( all right be honest how many of you knew that Triumph had a 1500cc FWD car???) head. Since the 1500 FWD was very common here way back when that is probably what I have.
Now I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing. The head had bigger intake valves which is probably good, at least for a bit of extra power. On the other hand I have no idea if the combination itself works "well" Of course since I was driving around with this head at 70mph, it cant be to bad.
 
70herald said:
After ALLOT of searching on the internet, I think I know what I have. It appears to be either a MKIV Spitfire head or much more likely a 1500cc Front Wheel Drive ( all right be honest how many of you knew that Triumph had a 1500cc FWD car???) head. Since the 1500 FWD was very common here way back when that is probably what I have....
Click to expand...
Seems plausible enough, although I didn't find the part number you quoted in my 1500 spare parts catalogue...and I don't seem to have a catalogue for the MkIV. Thing is, there were so many variations of these heads across not only models but by market specification (low compression and/or emissions controls, etc.) I can't imagine any reason you can't use the head you have if a: the head itself is ok and b: you can get the correct valves and associated gear for it.
 
Yisrael,

I don't know anything about your engine. But you had serious cooling problems. Now you are unsure of the head. I wonder if it might be worth making a template of the holes in the block and then using the template to check if the holes in the head match?
 
Hi Tom
I actually compared both the head and block to the gasket to see how things line up. All the water passages are accounted for.
Fortunately, despite there being lots of varieties of heads the differences are in the valve sizes, combustion chamber sizes and if they were designed for emissions equipment.

Since the engine felt nice and strong with this head I think I will stick with it as long as I can find someone who will do the machining work that I want (hardened inserts on all the valve seats) the local guy was not willing to do this. Getting the correct valves shouldn't be a problem since they are the same size as the MKIV spits.

As for the heating I am pretty sure that it was a result of the head gasket and probably wasn't helped by valves which were starting to leak.
 
Yisrael,
Southern Triumphs in the UK are very helpful and knowledgeable. You could e-mail them with the numbers you have mentioned and I am sure they would be able to identify the head and supply parts for you.
https://www.southerntriumph.co.uk/
Email: mark@southerntriumph.freeserve.co.uk
I would have thought that you only need to fit hardened inserts to the exhaust valves. The inlet don't tend to be a problem.
Nick
 
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