When did Wolverhampton take over casting cylinder heads? I have an RH10 head that has no markings. I have verified that it is indeed an 850 bolt pattern and has 30mm intake ports. As cast, it's pretty rough. It may have been a second for all I know. I know there was mention here before about drawings and revisions but don't remember seeing anything else. Enlighten me!
Wolverhampton Cylinder Heads
- Thread starter bmepkid
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As far as I'm aware no casting was done at the Norton factory (if that's what you mean) as castings were bought from outside suppliers such as BIRCO so probably Birmingham.
norton heavy twins heads
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Matchless
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The roughest heads I've seen are the type fitted to the first Commando's. Most of the aluminium parts on the Plumstead built bikes were cast at Stones in Charlton, who were known for quality. Because of that I think the heads probably came from Birmingham.
As for your RH 10, you might be correct in your thinking regarding it being a second.
As for your RH 10, you might be correct in your thinking regarding it being a second.
Fast Eddie
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There was a very large batch of unfinished heads on the market not so long ago. Cheap too. They were all castings that had been rejected and should have been scrapped.
Even if you found one with minimal visible defects, goodness knows how you’d go about ensuring it was correctly heat treated etc…
Even if you found one with minimal visible defects, goodness knows how you’d go about ensuring it was correctly heat treated etc…
marshg246
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Is it just a casting or has it been machine finished?
It was machine finished and used for a time before it came to me. I thought I read that Villiers took over casting heads around the time that the 850's were introduced.
marshg246
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Is it possible it was skimmed like a Combat head to raise the compression, and the maker mark was skimmed off? I've seen BIRCO heads for Combats that you could not read the BIRCO due to the skimming.
Here is a picture of my RH10 cylinder head. The BIRCO casting mark is visible (note oval), although the letters have vanished, probably by head skimming at the factory.
- Knut
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