Tim Hunt Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Went for a long weekend in Devon in the 4A last month. The car ran perfectly as usual until I parked at Brixham harbour. After two hours the car re-started on 3 cylinders. I checked for the obvious then tried the engine again and it refused to start. I then called the AA. The patrol man was unable to diagnose the problem though in his opinion the engine had a weak spark. We even swapped the 123 ignition distributor for the original Lucas item I had in the boot - no joy. We were relayed home. I finally got around to checking the car out the other day and a cold compression check revealed 140psi on 1,2 and 3 with nothing on 4. removing the head revealed that the inlet valve insert had dropped out and lassoed the valve head, jamming it open. Luckily this had happened when the car was parked and it had subsequently only run briefly at low revs, resulting in a minor depression in the piston. I yesterday took the head to my local specialist who had done such a good job on it following gasket failure on the 2012 Autoecosse (due to one non-hardened head nut washer -not guilty!). I just got the bad news - testing revealed a 10mm crack down the throat of no 4 inlet valve seat. Whilst the specialist could stitch the head they would not be prepared to guarantee such a repair and did not want to be liable for a wrecked engine should a new insert let go.The long and short is that I need a new head and have nothing restorable as en exchange. My old head was the original, having been converted by SAH in the 70s with larger inlet valves. I fancy something a little better than standard, Can anyone recommend a new uprated cast iron head from Moss or am I better trying to find a NOS (hen's teeth?) or good crack tested used head and have it converted by a specialist? Any suggestions gratefully received! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Sorry to hear that Tim, afraid I can't really offer anything other than sympathy as I don't have any knowledge of any 2nd hand ones at the moment.The repro ones have been around for a few years now so should be a known quantity, not a cheap fix though!Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 That is bad news Tim.I just looked at the new Moss heads, I fell over shortly afterwards!It looks like it might be time to sell your entire family into slavery, well the TR does need fixing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Well you might as well go for an aluminium one ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Bancroft Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Sorry to read this Tim.I have just texted James Shackford to see if he has anything, or can help.Hope he can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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