TR2/3/3A Standard Vanguard cylinder head on their Triumph

[sp53]

Anyone here have any experience will putting a Standard Vanguard cylinder head on their Triumph? I have found a low port Vanguard head that fits on a tr2 or tr3. There is a small modification that needs to be made. The head bolts on a Vanguard are 7/16 and not ½ inch like the Triumph, and the exhaust ports are round and not rectangular like a Triumh, but that is supposed not to be a problem. Other than that my understanding is you cannot tell the difference when everything is hooked up on the engine.

Thank steve

 

[sp53]

Here is a picture of the Vanguard head. I wanted to put this head on a tr3 engine, but I am not sure of the effect the head would have on performance. I do not mind a small lack of power the setup would have, my main concern would be the fouling out of spark plugs. I have a set of H4 carbs for it. Anyways perhaps someone would know if a low compression head would create a problem in general.

There are probably low port heads for a tr2 out there under some ones work bench. I am not sure where to find a tr2 crew. I did meet a guy on the East coast who is restoring a tr2, but no one is letting go of any parts.

Thanks steve

 

[CJD]

I assume you have already checked with Marv?

 

[sp53]

Thanks for chiming in John, I did check with Marv and his comment was long gone on the tr2 heads. The one I found is in UK and it is the Vanguard motor. I posted some stuff on the UK forum and the guys where kinda helpful, but one guy said I need a Triumph specialist because his concerns are the complexity of combustion chambers. I do not mind a little less power; I want to make sure the fuel burns.

One thing I learned is the original tr2 exhaust manifold is the same as the tr3 and tr4. At least that is how Moss list its. The guy I found back East restoring a tr2 knew some other restorers, but I could tell they are not really interested in selling stuff which is cool. I am usually a buyer and not a seller.

The cost of getting a cylinder head out of UK is probably way too expensive. The guy I am talking to over their wants a commitment before he does more research. I will keep looking for the tr2 head for a while. However, part of me thinks the Vanguard head would work fine once the bolt holes are made larger from 7/16 to ½.

I do have some tr3 heads, but I want the H4 carburetor originality look.

Tanks Steve

 

[CJD]

I understand completely. I held onto my cracked TR2 head for 10 years, but finally had to make room for 2 household moves. It's funny how I found it not cost affective to fix 15 years ago, but now it would likely be worth it. The problem is that once the high port heads came out and were a bolt on retrofit for the TR2's, I think many of them were swapped out and tossed in the 1960's.

I don't think anything combustion chamber related will be an issue for you. The pistons are flat, so they do not need to match a particular chamber shape, like many performance set-ups. At most they may have a slightly lower compression ratio...but I would even doubt that, as the TR2/3 were relatively low, at 8 to 1 anyway.

I'll look through my old pictures and see if I have any of the TR2 head pics that might help you decide if the Vanguard is close enough.

 

[Sarastro]

Steve, do you need a TR2 head? If so, I have a rebuilt low-port head here you might want. If so, please contact me off-line at steve(at)nonlintec(dot)c0m.

 

[groupdeville]

TR2 Trivia:
The TR2 exhaust manifold is actually just a little bit different from the TR3/TR4 (not 4A!) exhaust manifold, but hardly enough to notice, even if you're looking at the two side by side. The difference is that just a little more metal was added around the center exhaust ports to make it less likely to blow out manifold gaskets. The TR3 manifold is the one to use, and both are identical when installed on the engine.