i can remember years ago we had a series engines in the compact speedcars (tq's for the americans) and the fast ones had raised and tubed inlets , the insert was so high we had a 1 inch spacer welded to the rocker cover face to make the cover seal properly. rob worthinton here in sydney had made a gear drive timing gear setup much like the summers brothers v8 stuff used on sprint cars ,this made the engines good for 10 000 rpm and about 220 hp on methanol this was awsome for the day.

its a funny world we are experiencing

sorry for getting a bit off topic Bigie but it a topic close to my heart

the building trades may make a lot of money at the moment because the chinese cant fix your blocked toilet. As a third generation toolmaker it is depressing to see my trade dissapering overseas and all australias manufacturing knowledge going with it , I make more money working on peoples project cars than i did as a precision toolmaker developing things that would actualy help people eg ventracor artificial heart, coclear hearing implants .
And as for uni degrees i have worked with some incredibly smart engineers all middle aged, the young graduates dont even understand how to drill a hole! but they know how to play computer games.

Tradies make more money than Degree Holders in Australia
whether in the dark side of things you have those builders
ripping off Schools with botched gym sheds or idiots laying
roof insulation or spraying cars covered by insurance rather
than an enthusiast that just wants his car painted as a project.

I love Vspy vs Vspy song "Dont tear it down"
where the lyrics go "stonemasons are becoming things of the past"
pretty much people with artisan hand skills have disappeared so quickly
that those that are left are competing in a fine line in a dimishing
niche market or doing very well when sponsored by a big wig company
(eg spray painters)

I used to get hand-made shoes for $180 aud some years ago from a
shoemaker and when I went to get them re-soled I went in and found
his son reporting he had died so it was time to stock cheap imported
shoes as these where offered everywhere. He closed down not long after
while his father was open for 60 years.

Its not that I like to spend money on luxurious items, its just that
I enjoyed supporting community businesses and the service they provided.
I had an Omega time piece restored by a watch maker down the road and
other things, after he passed on the same thing happened.

Now its big Malls and lifeless franchises controlling most things so
to support a good engine builder if you have the funds beats buying
a new car and throwing it away once the engine has expired.

Stop me if I misinterpreted your intention Chris but I think that you are making a really excellent and quite subtle point.

Bige, a professional engine builder who makes money from the 25+ years of R&D he has done on these engine has here very kindly presented some extremely valuable information (both to the lay person (read Datto nut) wanting to get the most out of their engine and the professional engine builder who wants to win races and make $$$).

Your assessment is right Bige, what sort of $$$ could you put on such info, it is absolutely priceless.

But Chris makes a keen observation, at what point does the desire to pass on your knowledge outweigh your desire to make coin from building engines??

For Bige I suspect this will occur when he no longer wants to do it for $$$ (ie retire) but there are many others out there who have absolutely craploads of knowledge about these cars and that knowledge is dissapearing more and more quickly.

Anyway alls I'm sayin is that ppl like Bige are walkin a fine line between wanting to pass that knowledge on and staying competitive as engine builders and that it must be a hard thing to do.

So I just want to say thanks for sharing the knowledge!!!!

With the societal focus on higer education demanding degrees from everyone degrees are becoming devalued, pretty much commonplace, See Chris has three, I have two, and neither of us thinks they are as useful as a trade qualification.

There is so little perceived value placed on trades, such as mechanics today, as well as the fact that any work u do to someones car can come back and bite u in a big way if anything goes wrong (bloody OH&S) Why would anyone want to spend 4 yrs gettin a qualification? So yeah the knowledge pool is diminishing rapidly, and for the fans its depressing

Most kids I see today in cars want shiny bling and stereo rice, did I mention depression????

edit - and my point was, the quality and utility of the knowledge held in the trades today is grossly undervalued by society and that knowledge is dissapearing, look at master chef. Why is it so popular? We have lost all connection with the food chain.
MY GOD, Cooking is one thing you should be able to do, basic needs must be met.

Anyway its a philosophical point, lets see more A series devastation

Has anyone else looked at e series heads?

yeah true! I want to tue a head, if only to see if I can?

how much do u pay for years of research.cheers

Have you succesfully "tubed" ay heads?

If you geting rid of any of them sectiond heads Id be verry keen!