I've known guys who have had them but I don't know anybody who has found a good enough pair to run on their flatty. My pair are supposed to be rare anyway so I'm thinking about selling them to somebody for wall hangers and running stock cast iron heads with the covers on them. Has anybody had any luck with the Thickstuns?
Wall hangers........even if they're rough, I'm sure I could fix them sufficient to put back into use under my Thickstun covers....(yes, I have a thickstun fetish) Talk to 'Loudpedal', he's used a set on his roadster from memory... Cheers, Drewfus
the heads have the little boss tower to hold on the covers. Far as I know,the "knock off" covers don't fit worth shit. Copy of a copy of a copy.and stock heads don't have the boss to bolt to.
Thanks for the responses. Drewfus, good to hear that yours are OK. I can think of worse fetishes. What's not to like about a guy who dies in bed with a younger woman? When I first came down with the illness I contacted two Thickstun gurus. I got an air cleaner from Mike Russell who said he had never found a pair of useable Thickstun heads. And Jay Fuitzhugh helped me find these heads. Jay told me that he's never seen Thickstuns with provisions for two water temp senders. He thinks they were made after Tommy Thickstun passed away---probably in 1947 by Tattersfield. And Jay told me recently that he's switched away from his Thickstuns back to cast iron heads due to leakages. http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=532063&stc=1&d=1226538304 http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=532064&stc=1&d=1226538304 http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=532065&stc=1&d=1226538304
Correct. I know guys who have been looking for original covers for years. If they find any at all they aren't for sale. I was going to buy a pair of covers from CW Moss back when they carried them but I was told that on the last batch that they had cast there was no Thickstun logo left. So instead of putting money into repairing the patterns they discontinued them. I often wonder if the "no names' that are on Ebay all the time aren't made from those patterns. A fellow named Rick Williams from Orange California made a limted number of covers a few years ago but he didn't have an original head for fit up so he made them to fit cast iron heads.
Wall hangers? No way. There rare, but they aren't that rare. I've seen some go unwanted on ebay ...cheap. I got these from ebay and paid less than you would for a set of Eddie Meyer heads: RUN THOSE HEADS. Tommy Thickstun ment them to be ran, not hanging on a wall.
The covers I have I think are repo (although they cost me a motza), but having said that they fit stock heads nicely, no wierd gaps, or unsightly problems....these are the only photo's (both of which are a few years old) I've got handy of my covers.. Those heads deserve another chance at life.....willing to 'test' them for you on my flatty Cheers, Drewfus
Not sure about that. The ones I got (off of someone here) fit over cast iron heads like a glove. Real nice fit. Not sure who made them. They could be R. Williams, could be C.W. Moss.
how do you keep the thickstun covers on the iron heads? make a bracket or a tab? All the ones I've seen were poop.
Yes, I'll make a simple "U" strap from flat stock to fit under center stud in the head. I'm sure there are some crappy copies out there, don't get me wrong. That is why I think they may be made by Rick Williams out of CA.
Steve - you should keep them, as the day will come that you will regret the decision to sell Any one else want 2c pop-psychology
a piece of plate with 2 holes in it that are sandwiched under the head nuts, which has a stud welded to it, which fits in the hole in the cover, with a 'acorn nut' (which I loctite in place) retaining the cover. I've seen a few 'dodgy' efforts done to hold them down, so I just made my plate out of a heavier section, machined down the area under the head bolts, and then tapped it to hold the stud, with a small tig weld just for overkill, as I'm paranoid about what would happen if it were to 'fall apart' whilst driving around the crap roads where I live. Any more shots of those heads?....mmmmm Cheers, Drewfus
Believe me I agree, they should be run. But I don't really want to be baling water out of the oil either. After hearing about the leakage problems here's what concerns me. Check out the porosity around the three center water holes on the one head. The combustion chambers look good. The other head has one tiny fixable crack but no porosity issues. http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=532107&stc=1&d=1226542813 And here's how badly the repo cover fits an original head. http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=532108&stc=1&d=1226542813 My heads are aluminum.
I don't see anything there that can't be fixed on that head. However, the covers will never fit without a great deal of 'reworking'...
ditto....whilst I think that the porosity is of concern and could potentially get ugly real quick, if you can find someone who knows his alloy and is willing to 'tread lightly', those heads are redeemable, and definately worth the effort. Cheers, Drewfus
Here are my wall hangers.......... how come some of those pic's say L A on them, I thought they were made in Canada. Roach
I've had a set of the repo covers for quite a while now. They fit really well over stock cast heads. Also made a strap for 2 head bolts with a nut welded for a stud with a wing nut to hold them down. No problems for 12 - 13 years now.
You've got factory Ford aluminum heads made in Canada, also known as "cheater heads" because they were painted and looked just like the cast iron ones when painted. Thickstun heads are cast aluminum also, but look nithing like the Fords
I don't believe the repop head covers were ever intended to be used with Thickston heads. Due to the rarity, I believe the heads were designed to be used with the ever common stock heads to give you the "look" The untrained eye would be very hard to notice the difference on an assembled motor.
Repops on cast iron heads from Bonneville this past year. Kinda' kookie with the water shut off handle. Chris
I belive all original Thickstun (with a U) parst were painted red when new. Every painted manifold (Ford and Chevy, etc.) had red paint at the aluminum. The one NOS set of covers I've seen were painted red "in the box". Funny that the heads aren't drilled for hold down bolts on those bosses, or are the bosses just rests for the cover corners? and the center bolt the only holddown?
Correct. There is only fastener, in the center of the cover. The covers rest on the tabs on the outside of the cylinder head (top and bottom), not the bosses on the top corners. The covers were intended for marine use to keep the plugs dry...
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