Machinelevel a new (Snyder) high compression head?

I

Il_Gatto

New member
Hi
This is my first post here so please excuse me for not being polite and not introducing myself.
Of course there is a reason (well a lot of reasons actually) for that.
I am and live from Switzerland; while we do have more American made cars here compared to any other part in Europe, there ist still no really old cars. That's why I bought a 29 Model A Tudor in the States and having it shipped overhere (should be here in about 2 weeks time).

Regarding my question:
I bought a Snyders High Compression head (6:1) and was wondering whether or not I should have a machine shop level it.
What would you say? Would you say it's necessary (even when it's completely new)?

Il Gatto
 
While we have not tried out the new 6-1 heads we have used several of Snyder's 5.5 heads and have always taken them out of the box and installed them with out a problem. We have a report on the 6-1 head in the next issue of the Model A Times witha dyno report, it will be out in January.
 
I've had the same experience as John with Snyder's heads. I installed 6 in the last year right out of the box with no issues. Place a machinist's straight edge on them and check beforehand to be safe. You never know when Murphy will show up.
 
I have had similar experiences as has been reported. Three of my Model A's have Snyder's heads on them. The heads were installed "out of the box" with no machining. The three cars have totaled over 30,000 miles with the new heads without a problem. Gar Williams
 
I would be more concerned about how flat the block was, not the new head. It is normal for a well used block to have a deck that varies 5 or 6 thousanths of an inch (0.13 - 0.15 mm). The best fit of a head to block will not have any places more than 0.002" (0.05 mm) when measured with a feeler gauge.
 
@all: wow, thank you all for your advise! I will check the head (just to make sure) and also the block it it's level.
Again, many thanks!

Il Gatto
 
no matter what or from who you buy from always check the product, it only takes a minute to run a straight edge on the head, if its warped now is the time to find out, and some very astute person stated on here that its the block that will more than likely be warped, clean the surface and put a straight edge on it, while im at it, always check new valves for trueness, ive had new ones be out of true by a couple of thousands, thats enough to cause an exhaust valve to burn
 
I checked a 5.5 Snyder head and found .006 out on one corner. Called them and they said "It is within the orginal Ford engineering tolerance so go ahead and install it". The last 5.5 head was perfect. Never have seen what the original Ford tolerances really were.
 
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