1 kzte cylinder head, my delema

[Rich Sims]

sorry I know this has been talked about before but just wondered is anyone has any info or had experience of the cylinder heads that are available.

First one is a company on ebay selling heads with bolts and the latest 5 hole multi layer head gaskets.

Item number 330433657921 @ £549 with free delivery not exchange, I've spoken to them up in dewsbury and they came across very knowledgeable and told me where they were made and ensured me that they've never had any come back and give a 6 month warranty and I can come and look around there place.

The second is obviously Roughtrax which have a good reputation and also say that they use good AMC head but are £672 but charge £30 deliver and require the old head back or sell the head with bolts and gaskets for £810.

So are roughtrax heads really worth £291 more than the other?

your comments please

 

[Doodle]

Depends on how much your £291 is worth to you.

On the evidence supplied, it buys the relative security of a proven product from a known supplier that's local to you, over an unknown product from an ebay supplier 200 miles away. It could be exactly the same. It might not be.

 

[wobbly]

Rich

Roger changed his head a few months back, might be worth seeing what he thought of his.

You def suffer with them, dont you?

Pete

 

[stumog]

Rich there is a company in st george i will find there details could rebuild yours. whats wrong with it ?
i take it they crack. you should be able to get it welded. give me a shout on pm and we can talk about where is best to take it i have a few opsions in the area from my bus days.
stu

 

[Rich Sims]

The eBay company is also a big company with a good reputation

http://www.atozmotorist.co.uk

 

[Ben]

How hot is your engine getting when you cook the heads/head gaskets Rich?

Are you relying on the standard temp gauge?

Johnie recently fitted a new head to his 70 series along with a nice big heavy duty aluminum radiator.

http://www.landcruiserclub.net/foru...9-Another-land-cruiser-to-my-collection/page3

 

[Doodle]

The eBay company is also a big company with a good reputation

http://www.atozmotorist.co.uk

In which case the main difference seems to be that AMC heads have a longer warranty (although it seems to vary between 2-3 years depending on the supplier?)

 

[Rich Sims]

I have an alloy radiator being made which has been on order a while now from Allisport and although my pocket says A to Z head I think I'm going to go with my local supplier Roughtrax although the guy I spoke to on the phone couldn't give me a very good reason on why I should pay £291 more for their head.

Ben I'm using the standard temp gauge and I have tested the gauge and sender many times, I've only seen the temp up 3/4 of the way after water has been pushed out of the overflow tank.

I have 3 heads here which have all cracked between the valves, not all from mine. Lol

 

[grantw]

Rich ... 3/4 on the standard gauge is pretty much a cooked head. With all your problems to date you should definitely invest in an aftermarket gauge. The standard gauges have a MASSIVE dead spot in the middle of them ... so by the time they've actually started moving you're already well on the way to overheating.

 

[Beau]

Off related a little, but I would be very keen on knowing if the roughtrax AMC heads are actually stronger and less prone to being cracked over the original and other copies about.... would be interesting to see what temperatures they can withstand compared to the original ones.

I've never heard of a AMC cracking or anything so there reputation is strong, where as I have heard of other copies INCLUDING the one Milner one.

I think the price difference is worth it, especially if you plan on keeping the truck for a long time!

 

[Rich Sims]

Ordered my roughtrax head today and rad should be built by the end of the month by Allisport.

 

[grantw]

Rich - was the Allisport rad painfully expensive?

 

[wobbly]

Overland Cruisers use AMC, which should be a good sign.

 

[Rich Sims]

Rich - was the Allisport rad painfully expensive?

I'm having a 60mm deep one made and its costing around £455+vat.

 

[grantw]

Expensive but I have no doubt that it's worth that cost!

 

[Rich Sims]

Got the head off yesterday

And the usual cracks between the valves


But have my shiny new head on today



Just waiting for my shiny rad from Allisport.

 

[Rich Sims]

A bit more done this afternoon, no hurry as waiting for Allisport rad.

 

[clivehorridge]

Well done, good to see it coming together!

 

[Rich Sims]

I'm doing a few mods to the cooling system, I'm putting a 76 degrees thermostat in instead of the standard 82 so that means to take advantage of the lower running temp I've had to adjust the viscous fan.

This is quite easy to do once you have the coupling apart and have some form of slowly heating the bimetallic element on the front and to be able to tell the temperature at which it moves round. I used an electric heat gun/paint stripper and an infrared temperature gun. Inside there are two holes covered by a plate that twist round when hot to allow oil through to lock the fan. I tested my standard hub several time and found the holes were fully open at 89/90 degrees and by adjusting the 2 screws inside I was able to move this down 6 degrees to 84 after a few adjustments with the screws.

All being well I shall start it up later and with the heat gun and temperature gun will be able to test it when turning.

 

[wobbly]

Interesting. Seen lots of suggestions of swapping the stat, but first time Ive read about modifying the fan.

Makes sense.

Pete.