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Lotus in the Peak
26th - 28th June 2026

Part 2: Help Me Assess My 2Nd 160Vvc Head


olliecast

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Posted

Evening all,

came to the conclusion that my head was not worth investing the cash in for the polishing / porting work to be done as shown here:

http://www.midlandsl...my-160vvc-head/

 

I do however, think i`ve found a better example.

 

here some pics before and after a WD40 and scourer light clean to remove the soot.

 

IMAG0675_zps8e9a7d3f.jpg

 

IMAG0673_zpsac1de9ed.jpg

 

IMAG0676_zps957ebf99.jpg

 

IMAG0677_zps15dcd08c.jpg

 

IMAG0678_zpsfe6e3073.jpg

 

IMAG0679_zpscd7d7b32.jpg

 

No grooving that can be felt with the nail at all, only light gasket marks and clearly more material on the head showing hardly any if only a small amount of skimming.

 

Would you still recommend a hardness test prior to porting or is the lack of indentation good enough "hard" proof?

 

Cheers,

A slightly more optimistic,

ollie

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Posted

You don't waste any time do you Ollie laugh.png Have you been to Norwich and back today then?

It certainly looks to be a better starting point. I guess the recommendation is always going to be to have a hardness test done, I didn't bother with mine but then I new it's history. If it was me I'd probably go along with the advice from the guy doing your porting work, that's what I did with Rog at Sabreheads.

Posted

Certainly don't Phil :)

 

Walsall today to pick this one up... There's only so long I can go around and get away with driving a convertible mini ( although I'm guessing a s2 or bright green exige would be similar :P )

 

Did you use the Chinese gasket Phil?

Posted

Looks reasonable as far as 160 heads go? Hard to tell from pics. I never buy already skimmed heads as a skim can hide a multitude of sins IMO. Are you fitting new valves? If you are PM me and i will send you a link for a full set of OE valves at a very reasonable price :) Regarding the hardness test, DVA may do it if you ask nicely and you want a bit more driving.

Posted

That's the thing, I'm covering some miles now! Could do with finding a local firm with a nice portable ball bearing type tester.... Hmmmm

 

Hmm, ill have a think regarding new valves, I guess it'd make sense?

 

Throw us the pm Martin :)

Posted

Certainly don't Phil smile.png

 

Walsall today to pick this one up... There's only so long I can go around and get away with driving a convertible mini ( although I'm guessing a s2 or bright green exige would be similar tongue.png )

 

Did you use the Chinese gasket Phil?

 

I used the Payen gasket on mine Ollie.

Posted

I see Dave has just pointed out on SELOC its not a 160 head. You can tell the difference if you look at the pics of your first head? The 160 has small " ears " around the bottom of the valves on the combustion chambers. You should be able to see the difference.

 

I think these and the triple cut seats make the extra bhp. It might be worth ringing Hellier to make sure the valves i sent a link for are suitable as they are the triple cut variety for the 160. I expect they would do this as part of the porting?

 

Edit, i have had a few chats with Kiwi Rog regarding K series heads and he prefers the EU2 ( 145 bhp ) as a starting point. The gist being the " ears " on the 160 undercut the firering slightly. So it may be a better idea for a porting job :)

Posted

I used the Payen gasket on mine Ollie.

 

that was the payen elastomer gasket, payen also do an MLS..

 

ollie, if you're over ansty way soon then go to Nevlock (about 3 miles from there), best prices i found by miles, but had to order in the elastomer one - so you may need to ring first, they usually carry the MLS, they have a webpage with phone number if you need it

 

Brian

Posted

well i`ve ordered the chinese head gasket from rog, has a slightly different designed fire ring so i`m gonna give that whirl me thinks :)

 

down in ansty on friday brian :) is the shop worth a quick visit anyways after work?

Posted

down in ansty on friday brian smile.png is the shop worth a quick visit anyways after work?

 

depends, it's only a trade counter for an old school engine parts place, they only do major gaskits, pistons, shells, valves - the stuff no-one else seems to want to bother with, for example they don't do service items etc,.

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