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MG TD TF 1500 - XPAG crossflowhead; a continuing story

Hello,

I wish you all a very healthy and happy 2016.

Earlier I informed you all, that my MG TA special with crossflow cylinderhead on an XPAG engine was running.
This did not last long though, as it turned out, that the - cast - head produced a crack after some 20 minutes of running and this turned out to be unrepairable.

A good friend of mine, Jan Roelofs of RoelofsRaceservice developed a milled version of a crossflow head and finished this just before Christmas.
It was fitted to the xpagengine of my TA-Q and is running well.
You can see it in a small film on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9YWRwygQMI

(copy and paste)

Jan is starting production of a small batch now and if someone is interested, please let me know.
The more he sells of these, the lower the price will be for me.

Erik
Erik van Hardeveld

My that sounds pretty Erik. PJ
Paul161

agreed.
mog

Hi Erik - did you all take any detailed video or photos of the head and cam assembly specifically? Those would be of real interest as well.
DLD

At 3,000 Euros, I can't afford one.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Here is one photo

Erik van Hardeveld

And another

Erik van Hardeveld

The head can be placed on a standard XPAGengineblock, rocker setup is standard, as are the valves.
Smaller sparkplugs have to be fitted.
Inlet and exhaust manifold have to be custom made
Don't hesitate to ask more questions
Erik van Hardeveld

Beautiful machining!
Geoffrey M Baker

Hello,
Here is a photo before closing the lid.

Erik van Hardeveld

I have placed more footage on:
(simply copy and paste)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBr9olp75Qg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hPYlTvs4wA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9OMFsMNIhI

On the technical side I can tell you the following:
Rocker setup: std XPAG
Head gasket: std XPAG
Inletmanifold and outletmanifold/exhaust: have to be custom made.
Ignitition/distributor: std XPAG, distr.cap with sidecables
Valves : inlet large MG TD2 – MGTF; outlet std MGTD
Compression Ratio: Can be influenced, depending on use (SC or carbs)
Estimated output: With Carbs 90 – 100 hp; With supercharger 100hp+
Quarantees: First class material will be used and maximum effort will be given to the production; quarantee is limited to the workmanship alone and maximized till 6 months after purchase.


Within the coming months a small batch will be produced.

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions please.

Erik van Hardeveld
Erik van Hardeveld

You can reach me offlist on erikvanhardeveld@online.nl
Erik van Hardeveld

Erik, I'm not interested due to $$$ restrictions, but best of luck to you! Would you do me a favor however, and point me to a thread or link which explains exactly what a "crossflow" head is, compared to the standard xpag?
Thanks!
Geoffrey M Baker

A crossflow head is one where the inlet and exhaust are on opposite sides of the head. Most modern engines are this way. It really only works on pent roof chambers.
Once you have tried to set the points on a dizzy under the carbs you wonder why they bothered
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

A brief explanation Geoff is the intake goes in one side of the head and then exits the other. In theory the head should have much better air flow. Particulary at higher rpms. That isn't always the case however. The cast alloy cross flow heads presently being produced for the MGB have been flow tested and the results show that it actually doesn't flow as well as a stock head. It can be made to perform much better but the pro's who have tackled the job found that the casting had a number of weaknesses that caused many of them to decline to do the work any longer.

Erik's offer looks like a nice piece of work but it is going to require additional work to fit up a manifold for the exhaust and the intake. I'd like to know where the source is for the side terminal distributor cap is. I would think that at 3000 Euro's and the additional bits to fit one are going to push the price to over 4000 grand to fit one and thats' if you do nothing else to take advantage of the head. Certainly better flowing carbs would be looked at along with a number of other items that would add to the cost.
MG LaVerne

Thanks for the info.
Just filing for future reference in the "well, after winning Saturdays $675 million Powerball and buying the house and 70 ft catamaran and a Z-8 and having someone frame up restore the MG, maybe..." file...
Geoffrey M Baker

As you can see in the footage I use the head on a MG special, a TA with a body that makes it look like a 1934 MG QA ( of which only 8 were built).
This prewar racing MG had a crossflow head AND a frontmounted supercharger.
That being reason enough for me, feeding the engine from the supercharger at the same side as the exhaust is another challenge.

O, and Geoffrey I suppose you understand what a crossflow head is.
And La Verne, I found the side terminal distributor cap on a fair, these are not difficult to find.

Erik van Hardeveld

I haven't found any here in the states ...so far Erik
MG LaVerne

La Verne, I've looked for you if it has a number and it is from LUCAS nr 409635
There is one on EBAY now and they are for sale new at:

http://www.vintagemotorspares.com/page2.htm

No 164

Good luck,

Erik
Erik van Hardeveld

La Verne,
Also look at http://www.antiquedistributorcaps.com/British_Part_Number.htm

Erik
Erik van Hardeveld

Thanks Erik
MG LaVerne

This thread was discussed between 02/01/2016 and 08/01/2016

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