To FullAuto owners, needed a file before mounting?

NKN said:

Just received # 164 FullAuto,

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I have head # 170 which cost $3300 + post.
The casting itself looks OK.
As yours the threads are poorly formed to say the least, the three that take the 3/8" studs are very flat and will have minimal engagement. (That might explain new FA heads that have had inserts fitted )
I suggest you have a close look at the valve seats, all on the one I have are average, the worst bit, some idiot at Harrop Engineering has had a burr in the exhaust ports and I hazard a guess the shaft of whatever was used has contacted the transition from the throat of the seat to the valve seat to leave five crescent shaped marks.

That is, where the valve seals to the valve seat has been compromised on a brand new cylinder head, it is obvious there is no quality control of any sort.
Contacting the seller about it resulted in being fobbed off.
One thing is for sure I will not be buying anything from Australia again, only exception is Road and Race in Victoria.

If you are buying one of these heads I suggest you see it in person and take a jewelers eye glass with you to check it over.

Danno said:

If you have to rethread, use Time-Serts rather than helicoils.

http://www.time-sert.com

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+1
JUG

Time Warp said:

NKN said:

Just received # 164 FullAuto,

Click to expand...

I have head # 170 which cost $3300 + post.
The casting itself looks OK.
As yours the threads are poorly formed to say the least, the three that take the 3/8" studs are very flat and will have minimal engagement. (That might explain new FA heads that have had inserts fitted )
I suggest you have a close look at the valve seats, all on the one I have are average, the worst bit, some idiot at Harrop Engineering has had a burr in the exhaust ports and I hazard a guess the shaft of whatever was used has contacted the transition from the throat of the seat to the valve seat to leave five crescent shaped marks.

That is, where the valve seals to the valve seat has been compromised on a brand new cylinder head, it is obvious there is no quality control of any sort.
Contacting the seller about it resulted in being fobbed off.
One thing is for sure I will not be buying anything from Australia again, only exception is Road and Race in Victoria.

If you are buying one of these heads I suggest you see it in person and take a jewelers eye glass with you to check it over.

Click to expand...

If I don't know about a problem, then I can't fix it. Send me a photo of your damaged valve seat and I shall organise for it to be returned for repair. PM me and I will give you my phone number.

OK. PM me your phone number and I will call you.

Time Warp said:

........ (That might explain new FA heads that have had inserts fitted ).......

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No I don't think that is the explanation at all. The Fullauto is designed as a replacement road head so uses the thread form used by Norton for the 3 studs. Kenny rightly reminds us that his product was designed in this way, I am not the only one who is impressed by what he has achieved.

The widely held wisdom today is that the thread form selected by Norton can be improved with a coarser thread, which can also be combined with improved studs. The original thread form fails in use, particularly as engines are stripped and rebuilt over time, it wasn't particularly prevelant in the 1970s, but has become more so. This revision will obviously be good in any head, but several Fullauto users are building high performance engines which by nature willl be stripped more often than a road engine, and of course several are just darned pernickety! (to use a transatlantic colloquialism!)

I have an earlier Fullauto than yours, I have not fitted inserts, but I have the ARP bolts and do want to do this, do I need to? No, not at the moment.

Some builders will just do the mod as a matter of course, to prevent a possible failure, not rectify a manufacturing fault, Comnoz being one highly respected example. I amm sure Comnoz willl tell us that he started doing these inserts on original Norton heads, but continues it with Fullauto heads, because he can, and because the original thread form is used.

I am sure Fullauto could use a revised thread form, but even then the material of the head would not necessarily be as robust as the insert method (I don't know). And Fullauto would have to supply non-standard studs and nuts with each head in a similar way to Steve Maney, who supplies mounting hardware with his barrels. Of course there will be some concours enthusiast out there who would not want that! It is probably a no win for Fullauto, and those who want (need!) can fit inserts.

Doubt if concours owners will use the heads Steve!
I think the issue with the heads was the perceived condition of the threads from new, not damage caused by repeated use.
The correct redress is with the supplier/ manufacturer, who I'm sure will sort the issue in a flash, if they are told about it and indeed if they are faulty!
I would have thought with a racing motor inserts would be a good idea anyway as they will have different stresses/ wear due to repeated strip downs.
Long may the manufacturers/ suppliers of new and improved parts continue, that way we all have a choice.
Me, I don't have the money available so will carry on with standard parts, probably!