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MG TD TF 1500 - Cylinder head machining in USA

Dear all looking for a qualified machining servive in USA to convert my TD cylinder head into a leadfree version as offered from Peter Burges in the advertisers section of this pages.
Any sugestion ?
Guenter
GK Guenter

Just about any machine shop that deals with hotrods...
gblawson - TD#27667

Any local machne shop that does good work whould be ble to do the work. Find your local hot rod club and ask them, they are always knowledgable about where the good machine shops are.

That said, let me ask why your re looking at making the conversion to the head in your car? If the engine is running correctly now and is not stumbling or giving you any drivability problems, it woulld be a good idea to leave well enough alone. Any early, on lead free engine will run fine on unleaded fuel for many, many miles on unleaded fuel without needing any work done on them. It is a very expensive task to convert a head to lead free and if the valves and valve seats are not in need of work, it is a wast of money to do anything to them until such a time as it is needed. Once the valves and seats are worn enough to start causing a problem (low compression, poor running, etc.) and in in need of a valve job anyway, then is the time to do the conversion. In over 30 years of driving our TD, initially as an everyday driver an having put over 80,000 miles on it (including two 5000+ mile trips through the Western US, running mostly at 4200 RPM), it still hasn't needed to be converted to a lead free head. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Hay Gordon - I hate to break this to you, but you may be guilty of a hit and run. It looks like you hit the that kid that used to advertize Coke Cola - his head and a bottle of Coke are still stuck in your grill in the avatar you are using. ;) Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Hehe...reminds of the time my roomate hit the goldfinch...perfect dead center...and the little feet were sticking out of the grille!!!!!
gblawson - TD#27667

Guenter,
Walker Auto Parts on Six Forks Rd in Raleigh can do it. Dave Jones is familiar with XPAG heads and knows what to do....

Are you having problems or just doing it because it seems like a good idea? If the latter, I would recommend not bothering until (or if) you start seeing valve recession.

HTH!
Rob Edwards

According to my friends in Southern California, some extra thirty years or lead fuel have immunized the valve seats against recession.

Denis
Denis L Baggi

That's what I was hinting at above -- despite the fears back when the phase-out of leaded fuel occurred, valve seat recession has not been a common problem....
Rob Edwards

I have recorded this unfortunate saga before on this BB.

I encountered a lady with a TF who complained of a loss of power. Pulling the head clearly showed chewed-up exhaust valve seats.

And, she said she never had this problem before they stopped putting lead in the fuel.

Caveat Emptor! (translated - "ya can pay me now, or pay me later")

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.



Gordon A. Clark

Well, since the fix for recessed seats is the same as the unleaded conversion -- new seats -- I still don't think it makes sense to do anything until there is a problem.... :-)

Cheers!
Rob Edwards

Is there a service that cleans, decarbonizes and inspects XPAG cylinder heads? I'm in Idaho and not confident that anyone can do an MGTD head. I'll send it out, does John Twist or any of the well known MG suppliers clean & test TD cylinder heads. I'll take recommendations...is a cylinder head a cylinder head, by that I mean any shop that specializes in cylinder heads (there are some in Boise) can do a TD head or should I make sure to send to an mg specialist?
R Dougherty

R Dougherty
ARe you in North Idaho? If you are Jones Automotive in Spokane will do MG heads. They can be slow though.
Anyone had the inlet ports machined? I heard it can add a lot of power.
Russ Oakley

A cylinder had is a cylinder head, but a machine shop is not always a machine shop.
You do not have to send it to a MG specialist, but that would be good.
The shop should have been around awhile, and not just mass processing modern aluminum heads. They should be able, and willing to hone and fit valve guides. The MG head actually has 30 degree angle valve seats, but you will probably have to settle for the modern three angle seat insert, as that will be what their equipment is set up for.
As others have said, ask the local old car hobbyist and they can steer you to local shop, and steer you away from the wrong ones.

Dallas


D C Congleton

Rob,
in a previous link I have explained my actual problem.

http://www2.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgbbs&mode=thread&access=&subject=8&source=T&thread=2007102302424617436

It could be that some of my valves are burned. Therefore I ask for a Machining shop in the USA just in case.
I hope I will get an compression test set by today. Then I can check and I will se if it is necessary or not.
At lower rpm the engine runs still bad, at higher rpm it's powerfull but noisy. So I have to see whats happens.
Just in case I have an issue on the valves I will contact Walker Auto Parts to discuss this project.

Cheers,
Guenter
GK Guenter

Our local antique Sports Car Guru, who rebuilds vintage race cars, has found that hardend seats are unnecessary with our unleaded gasoline and actually a source of trouble (they sometimes come loose with bad results)
Most bad valve resession has come from running too lean or faulty timing. He concludes that the "Lead Free Conversion" is an unnecessary expense.

He never has seats installed when rebuilding heads on MG-T to MGB engines.

I just had my engine rebuilt (XPEG, lost a freeze plug at speed on expressway, another story), and the head showed no signs of valve recession after 37,000 miles on lead free gas.
Don Harmer

"Therefore I ask for a Machining shop in the USA"

I am sure there plenty of competent machinists in the US. However, I have sent my heads both to England and to Italy and I have been totally satisfied. No problems sending your head outside of the US.

Denis
Denis L Baggi

Denis, I think the problem would be the cost of the shipping a moderately heavy item, two way - not the quality of machine work ?

Dallas
D C Congleton

Russ Oakley I have done the intake ports on three XPAG/XPEG engines. Each became a completely different thing. More power, better response etc. Now admittedly it is difficult to seperate the port work from the other work done on the engines.

All the engines had the large valves. All had the boss around the bolt reshaped and narrowed. All had the head intake/manifold area opened up and matched. The same was done to the exhaust manifold and the cylinder head ports.

Don't forget to lighten the flywheel while you are at it. This makes such a big difference. If you blip the throttle to 4500 revs and take your foot off right away the tach will still be climbing when the engine is back to idle. ( Obviously you have to have the flywheel rebalanced after you lighten it).

Let us know what you do and how it works out for you.
Cheers,
Bob
R. K. (Bob) Jeffers

"Denis, I think the problem would be the cost of the shipping a moderately heavy item, two way - not the quality of machine work ?"

Dallas, you might be right. It depends on the amount of work. To have some badly damaged aluminum heads rebuilt I spent as much as US$700, thus the shipping was almost negligible.

Denis
Denis L Baggi

Be sure to match the flanges of the intake manifold and gasket to the head as well. There was a very large step or ledge on my car. I recall the head intake port was bigger than the manifold, spent some time smoothing and lining it up. George
George Butz

Hi Guenter,
Any updates?

Cheers!
Rob Edwards

No, I'm sorry.
I have to go to Europe for Business and will be back in December. Please be passioned I will keep you all informed.
Guenter
GK Guenter

"I have to go to Europe for Business and will be back in December."

Have a nice stay. If you go there, take your head with you and have it done in England.

Denis
Denis L Baggi

This thread was discussed between 27/10/2007 and 01/11/2007

MG TD TF 1500 index

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