A7 alloy head on A10 barrels?

[Jim]

Hi I'm Jim and am new to this forum.

I recently bought a 1961 Gold Flash and am slowly trying to sort her out and tidy her up.

For purely cosmetic reasons I would prefer to have an alloy head on her. As A10 alloy heads tend to be considerably more expensive than A7 ones, is it possible to use the A7 head. I appreciate that the valves may possibly be a bit smaller (although maybe no smaller than the Gold Flash ones) and the bores will be larger than the design of the head but as I am not using high compression pistons does this matter. Am I being stupid even considering going down this route?

Any words of wisdom gratefully received.

[rocket man]

i dont think your being stupid it will look great i dont know about the
A7 shooting star head fitting thou i would try to go for the a10 alloy head
because you might get a bit more performance out of it and also the push rods might be different
size in length  and the bolts might be in a different place its worth the extra cost also they keep a lot cooler
than cast iron ones
 


dave

[muskrat]

G'day Jim,
             Fits no worries. have a look at http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php/topic,1806.0.html it's a A7 head on a A10. The breathing may be a bit restricted so I put A10 valves & seats in and ported to suit. Also relieved the edge to match the larger barrels. They are a big macarno set, most bits are interchangeable. I also have a '57 top end on '51 plunger cases. Mix & match, make it how you want it.
Cheers

[A10Boy]

Hi Jim and welcome.

Cant help wondering, if you wanted a alloy headed A10, why didn't you buy one?

Golden Flashes are supposed to have iron heads, and they are better for it. Rockets are supposed to have alloy heads and they to are better for that.

Is your Flash nice and original or already "Modified", if it is, I guess it wont matter too much.

Regards

Andy

[rocket man]

one good reason is they dont rust a lot like cast iron ones do
i wouldn't mind getting some alloy barrels if only they did them

[A10Boy]

They don't rust if properly looked after, painted or whatever.

[rocket man]

your right as long as there looked after

[Rocket Racer]

Nothing wrong with alloy or iron, if the bikes fairly stock becomes more an issue whether you value originality. Is your existing head stuffed? I dont see why you shouldnt be able to source a fresh head, theres a lot of stuff available on places like ebay.

[LJ.]

Even A7 Alloy heads are expensive. Why not get some silver paint and coat the Iron head? Can look very nice, see picture! Talk about mixing and matching... This is an A7 with A10 barrels, goodness knows what else is in there!

[mike667]

They don't rust if properly looked after, painted or whatever.

I like 'em rusty - give's e'm that i actually ride look
 - and remember as Mr. Young says "rust never sleeps"

[rocket man]

it just needs water to grow

[BSA_54A10]

Hey all you catalogue Nazi's, it is his bike and if he want to put an alloy head on it he is entitled to do so with our blessings.

[Jim]

Thank you all for your help.

To answer some of your questions:

I'm not about to mess up an original Gold Flash, the bike was bought as a mongrel (e.g. conical hub front end, non standard seat and rear mudguard) and I'm not intending to put her back to standard. The alloy head is for purely cosmetic reasons and A7SS heads seem to be far cheaper on eBay than A10 ones, one recentluy sold for £111 whereas I think you would be hard pushed to get an A10 head for much less than £250.

I'm toying with the idea of putting high level spitfire pipes on her and may put on an old Fleetstar tank that I have lying around.

I'll try an upload a picture of the bike as it is at present but I'm not sure if I have permissions to do so yet.

[LJ.]

That indeed is a nice looking bike Jim... The springs on the upper forks give it a real mean look. I can see why you are wanting an alloy head, with most of the bike being black the alloy would stand out rather nicely. Good luck for your search for one!

[muskrat]

Looks great the way it is. New gaiters and paint or alloy head. The springs between the triple clamps are a little odd, but so am I. Better stopping up front. Good one Jim.
Cheers