308 aluminum head

RonS

Am I correct in saying that the 53 Hornets came only with the aluminum head at 7.2 compression ratio? Does a magnet pull down on an aluminum head? Sure does on mine and for 20 years I thought it was cast iron.

dave s

aluminum was optional, magnet is attracted to steel bolts and block:)

RonS

Dave, thats what I thought until I noticed in AMC standard catalog that the 7.2 power dome alum head was standard( no option) and in Butlers book it states that the compression is upped to 7.2 on all Hornets. Did any cast iron head offer 7.2 compression?

RonS

Also, did cast iron heads have "power dome" raised on the top of the head? That magnet pulls just as hard any where on it, as on the block that I know is iron.

Marconi

Korean war hi-comp head was cast iron, power dome, and had a steel plate riveted on left side top that said to use premium fuel only.

Geoff

RonS wrote:

Also, did cast iron heads have "power dome" raised on the top of the head? That magnet pulls just as hard any where on it, as on the block that I know is iron.

It sure is not alloy then!

onerare39

Ron,

Just went out and tested the aluminum head on my 54 with an extremely strong magnet... no pull whatsoever!

My other two spare engines have cast iron heads and have "POWER DOME" cast into them.

John

RonS

Verry interesting, So the engine catalogs are not entirely accurate. Korean War makes sense.I dont have any tag, but that probably is long gone.Thanks. See you all in SanDiego

dougson

As far as I know all 54 308s had the aluminum head as standard, the cast iron was optional. In prior years the reverse was true. '54 alum. head had 7.5 cr, the cast iron had either 7.2 or 7.5, not sure. '53 and earlier aluminum head was 7.2, cast iron was 6.7. I have several aluminum heads and none of them have exactly the same casting number as appears in the '48-54 catalog.

[Deleted User]

the aluminum heads say "super power dome"

53jetman

My Dad, having a great distaste of aluminum heads, ordered virtually all new Hudsons & Terraplanes with cast iron heads. This was partly due to our town (Leipsic OH) having a very high sulfur content in the village water supply. In 1954, a cast iron head was available with the 7.5 CR at no additional charge.

Jerry