Rookie Question...Can a HC Head Be Identified Externally?
- Thread starter JunkOSC
- Start date
Larry Seemann
Senior Member
Some can and some can't. With a lot of HC heads it's very obvious but with some like the Snyder's head, if I'm not mistaken, you can't tell from the outside.
Purdy Swoft
Well-known member
A compression check may help. I checked the compression on my 31 coupe with a Brumfield head that was purchased from Snyder in 96 or 7. It is definately a Brumfield head because it has the raised BF and came with the Brumfield instructions. Snyder listed it as a 5.5 . I asked Larry just the other day on this forum if it was the 5.9 but he failed to answer my question. When I checked the compression, warm with the throttle wide open it showed 95# . With a stock head and an engine that has some milage I would think 55 to 65# would be good. This test could show that you have a high compression head if the reading is above 76# with a good engine.
Larry Brumfield
BANNED
I answered somebody's question the other day about Snyder's catalog. I thought it was you. Maybe not. I don't read every thread or post on the forum.
Snyder sold the regular Brumfield Head 5.9 in his catalog for 5 years. No mention was made about Brumfield or anything. But, it didn't take long for people to figure it out after a few were shipped. He had planned to make his own, had his catalog already printed and figured that every year. But, he found out that castings with internal cavities are not easy to make and so it took 5 years. Most foundries want nothing to do with parts with internal cavities or complicated cores or just anything that might give trouble. The scrap rate can get out of hand real easy and everybody loses.
A compression check is not a reliable indicator. Many engine blocks have been decked so many times with original length pistons that the compression is way above 76 pounds with a stock head (which by the way is what the compression was approx. when the Model A was brand new, stock everything). Still others are bored out as much as .125 over with the head having been resurfaced multiple times in addition to having multiple block resurfacing with original length pistons.
Larry B.
Snyder sold the regular Brumfield Head 5.9 in his catalog for 5 years. No mention was made about Brumfield or anything. But, it didn't take long for people to figure it out after a few were shipped. He had planned to make his own, had his catalog already printed and figured that every year. But, he found out that castings with internal cavities are not easy to make and so it took 5 years. Most foundries want nothing to do with parts with internal cavities or complicated cores or just anything that might give trouble. The scrap rate can get out of hand real easy and everybody loses.
A compression check is not a reliable indicator. Many engine blocks have been decked so many times with original length pistons that the compression is way above 76 pounds with a stock head (which by the way is what the compression was approx. when the Model A was brand new, stock everything). Still others are bored out as much as .125 over with the head having been resurfaced multiple times in addition to having multiple block resurfacing with original length pistons.
Larry B.
Purdy Swoft
Well-known member
Thanks Larry, you did respond to my post but mostly talked about how the Brumfield heads had improved. I agree, your heads are the best bang for the buck that a person could ever hope for.
I was just curious about the C R. Snyders listed it as 5.5 and I knew that you made heads from 5.2 to 8.? . Thanks for your reply.
I was just curious about the C R. Snyders listed it as 5.5 and I knew that you made heads from 5.2 to 8.? . Thanks for your reply.