Larry Unger wrote:
>The Judson is a nice period accessory and does look really 'cool' ...
>especially when fitted to an 'A' so that the finned aluminum valve cover,
>with built-in oiler, can be used ... but, the Judson is an expensive item
>to purchase and maintain when compared to the crossflow head.
Chris Delling replied:
>Do you have experience with the crossflow head?
No ... but I have chatted with several folks that do.
> A while back I was looking at the Sportcars International (Steve
> Darby's) website. He had some dyno runs done on 3 MGB motors
> in varying stages of tune. For a stock motor, it seemed that the
> crossflow head resulted in a lot less power down low, and
> really insignificant gains on the very high end with a stock motor.
> It wasn't until the motor was really breathed on (3/4 race cam, very
> high compression ratio, and BIG carbs) that the head did much of
> anything, and that was still at very high revs. Didn't seem like a
> good choice for a street car.
Fitting the crossflow head to a late model engine, utilizing the stock
Stromberg and cat style exhaust manifold, isn't going to produce a
significant amount of power ... IMHO, it is unfortunate that Steve
choose this engine to dyno. You raise the compression ratio a point
just by bolting on the crossflow head, both the crossflow head and
the Judson utilize 'big' carbs and benefit from use of a tweaked cam.
The crossflow head is known for its low to mid range torque (see
Burgess) ... a perfect choice for a street car.
The point that I was trying to make ... the Judson has to be rebuilt
every 10,000 miles (check with George for the exact service interval, but
thats what I seem to recall) whereas the crossflow head does not ... so
the crossflow setup will cost more initially (assuming that you are
purchasing all new bits and going with the twin Webers), but Judson is
going to cost more over the long haul.
Don't get me wrong ... I'd love to be able to afford a Judson ... ;^)
Note: I'm getting ready to leave for Orlando, FLA on buisness and won't
return until Thursday eve... catch up with ya then.
Safety Fast! ... larry.g.unger@lmco.com
'61 MGA 1600 MkII
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