MERRY XMAS TO ALL OUR FELLOW Y BLOCKERS. REGARDS BILL & DAUGHTER MADISON.

Best Wishes ,Merry Christmas .

Lon .

PS . Finally got the Thunderbird registered last Friday .Just need the rain to stop ,so we can drive it .

i think our side of oz needs to invest in scuba gear haha merry christmas to you & lynne

bill merry christmas to you & madison

Yes its been a long wait for them and i paid in advance for them when our $ was low, never dreaming we would be even money at this time, plus customs got them and 2 weeks of paper work and another $300.00 i got them yesterday. i am pleased with the port designs but a bit lost on the machined finish on the decks, looks like i,ve got a set of semi finished decks which will mean more unnecessary expense to fix them, so much for out of the box heads!. I hope to get through to john m this morning, will keep trying. On a happier note, i,ve got my new blown hot rod fired up and have about 2 weeks work to go. best regards bill.

Oldmics

I had expected normal full width machine cut in one plane as in his pictured add, not like i got, and hence my concern, unfortunatly theres one cut line through center of combustion chambers where the narrowest sealing area is. Any way i,ll disasemble them and send out for machining, where they require a lot of setting up as they way different to local heads that are regularly machined.

1st pic is johns advertised heads and rest are mine, maybe i,m wrong??

regards bill.

Oldmics

Definitely one that John Mummert should have responded to and one that potential buyers will be looking at.

Just so that I am clear on the condition of your heads upon reciept,your new heads out of the box had to be machined at additional expense to be useable?

Oldmics

The step measures .0015" and was common on many aftermarket aluminum heads for years.

As Gary pointed out his heads worked fine and a .003" cut cleared up all marks meaning the step was significantly less than that.

All that having been said, since we have had complaints about the machining all future heads will be cut with an 18" face mill in a single cut. This will lead to delays and additional expense (read higher price) but I guess that is required.

The face mill for our surfacing machine has been sent out for sharpening and we need to build a fixture to hold the heads so they can be surfaced in a production manor.

   I made and sold aluminum cylinder heads, blocks and manifolds for 35 + years. For what it's worth, we produced parts for Ford, GM, and Chrysler, along with overseas auto companies including Weslake and Cosworth. We made parts for Jr. Johnson and Holley Carb.  

   There is no problem with the way Johns heads were done. A small step in the range that we are talking about is a non-issue. It will seal.

  What we've done here is forced John to purchase or source a very expensive mill and cutters to correct a problem that's only a visual issue. Many aluminum parts are used that will have cutter marks deeper than what the conversation is about. They will seal too. We've waited for ten or twelve years for this product, PLEASE don't kill the project with personal opinions that are not a performance or functional issue.   

I dont feel i have caused john to spend more money to sort this out, if anyone wanting heads and like the heads this way tell him and he wont have to do it!!!!

Also " not wanting to get offside with john" as quoted was also a major consideration and human nature as it is may be so? but i,m sure john can see both sides of this. 

I posted this but after rereading it, i thought stuff it!  Frank, or anybody else! just say i used these heads as they were and for whatever reason the gasket blew between the cyls, i would immediatly conclude the groove contributed to it as normal heads are flat looking and after the massive expense , its nearly twice the US price! the new head may? burn a groove through it and its gone , with no comeback. thats WHY i asked about this! and i dont care how many things you or anybody else has made, the,re my heads!! And why i have to justify myself to anybody is beyond me!!

I again reiterate! This was and is not a personal attack on john but as i explained above. thank you.

         That was not an attack on anybody, especially you. I am simply trying to explain that the step you see won't create a problem sealing. No-one is questioning your right to complain, but I am trying to take some heat out of the discussion. I would imagine, and I've not talked to John, that the sanding was done to make the photo look better. But again, it really won't hurt the seal........honest.

        I mentioned my work history so you'd understand that I've see this before, and have seen the results. I understand you don't care about that, but i wanted it clear that I have a little experience there. I'll admit, it looks bad. But it isn't.