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MG MGA - Unusual MGA Cylinder Head

A fellow MGA owner found an unusual head on his 1500 block; casting marks are as follows:

MOWOG (Morris Wolseley Garage)
1G2881 (Cylinder head #)
14F4 (casting date/foundry i.d. ??)
565394 (patent #)

There is also a "W" cast within a rhombus which refers to the Wellingborough Foundry, owned by Morris Garage, which supplied blocks & cylinder heads from about 1947-1980?? Do note that the usual "15" cast onto MGA heads is not present.

There are limited references for this head #1G2881: one was installed on a Nash 1200 block, and another talked about a Nash Metropolitan 1500, but that's it.

Does anyone have any information as to which model of BMC vehicle(s) head #1G2881 may belong to?

Nick Kopernik

I received a response from a Metropolitan specialist who identified this cylinder head #1G2881 as belonging to a 1200-A series motor for an early Metropolitan. This 1200cc engine was sourced from the Austin A-40, and modified for the Metropolitan with 4 ring pistons vs. the original 3; no info on single or dual valve springs however. The 14F4 indicates the date of production:
14 February 1954. Metropolitan's had four different series of engines: 1200-A; 1200-B; 1500 low comp. and a 1500 high comp. Seems there may be a few MGA's running with this head out there.
Nick Kopernik

This thread was discussed between 09/04/2023 and 12/04/2023

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.