I bought a spare head for my ford A banger the other day, cheap. I had in mind fly cutting it in my mill to raise the compression. Someone must have done this, how much should I take of it? I suspect I will have to re cut the piston clearance, how much is required? I don't mind if I finish up making a door stop. Brendan
If it is a stock A head, you realy can't take enough off of it to make a differense before you start exposing the water passages. Your better off getting a "B" head. Or an after market head with higher compression. Even if you cut say .090" off the face, you run the risk of cracking the head once it get hot .
Yeah...ain't gonna happen with a stock head. If you want the stock look with higher compression, try Snyder's, they make a 5.5-1 stock-looking head. Or Brumfield make a 5.9-1 stocker, but tend to have a fair size waiting list. A cheap option might be to track down the head from an English Model A, which was rated at just 14.9hp. These had a smaller combustion chamber than 24hp A's, but I'm not sure how much smaller. Monkeybiker has one, I think, he may be able to tell you.
I think you may find a C head at bendigo swap I know a guy that may have one I will look him up if you like.