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cliffa said:
John, thank you, that looks terrific !!

A question - would it be possible to supply them (maybe on special order) tapped for more modern 10mm plugs? I there are quite a few benefits but I cannot think of any downside.
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Studs and nuts are ARP heat treated stainless steel
ARP is top notch product. cNw and Comnoz use these as well as G1.
 
bsaboss said:
Flawless and would be fabulous with the matching alloy cylinders when they are released. No answer yet though on whether the exhaust ports have retained the D shape - which I understood to be one of the main advantages (in a performance sense) of Fullauto heads.
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BB
I would hope the D shape exhaust ports were retained. A lot of work went into testing the advantages to this vs the original head design. I am curious what the Compression ratio for a Flame ring will tally out to using standard flat top pistons? Alloy Cylinders would be another great option. Just get your wallet out. It's all coming together hopeful sooner than later.
Cheers,
Poison Dwarf... that cracks me up.
T.
 
cliffa said:
John, thank you, that looks terrific !!

A question - would it be possible to supply them (maybe on special order) tapped for more modern 10mm plugs? I there are quite a few benefits but I cannot think of any downside.
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not only 10 mm spark plugs what about valve guides for 9/ 32 short stroke valves or 7 mm valves .

Eldert
 
cliffa said:
John, thank you, that looks terrific !!

A question - would it be possible to supply them (maybe on special order) tapped for more modern 10mm plugs? I there are quite a few benefits but I cannot think of any downside.
Click to expand...
Possible? Yes, but in the future. Right now, just trying to get out the stock 750 and 850 heads. Down the road we want to work on some performance heads, and some specials.
 
Hello John,

Your cylinder head is vary impressive! I congratulate you with a successful project! I will line up for a sample once the performance heads are offered.

For the time being I am most interested in your alloy barrels, and I am eager to know the launch date and tester's verdict.

- Knut
 
CanukNortonNut said:
BB
I would hope the D shape exhaust ports were retained. A lot of work went into testing the advantages to this vs the original head design. I am curious what the Compression ratio for a Flame ring will tally out to using standard flat top pistons? Alloy Cylinders would be another great option. Just get your wallet out. It's all coming together hopeful sooner than later.
Cheers,
Poison Dwarf... that cracks me up.
T.
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@bsaboss

From FB today:
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I don't think many people get rich making spare parts for old Commandos. Have you seen this ? :
It gives me hope. If you could not beat them, with a Commando, you would be going bad

 
acotrel said:
I don't think many people get rich making spare parts for old Commandos. Have you seen this ? :
It gives me hope. If you could not beat them, with a Commando, you would be going bad

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If you saw the #63 that is Chris from the forum who forsook his big Norton to run his Rob North 750 triple. The only Norton in the race was Mike Russell's Atlas based bike. To make a dent with a Norton you really need more than 750cc. Richard Wilson has been running a Norton Rotary and riding classic endurance as well, he is a fast lad. There really aren't many Commandos running on petrol that could run consistently at the front of that group on a track as fast as Goodwood.

I had an entry, but it was just too difficult to make the trip across the channel for what would have been my first race since breaking 5 ribs 2 years ago. There will be a rematch at the 79th Members Meeting, and we will have another go at getting there as a 68 year old, if I do, I will just do my best not to get lapped more than twice!
 
It is good to see something was done with the 3/8" stud pitch . (The looks to be deformed insert and tail not so much if it is not a trick of the camera)
People will see what they want to see, perhaps something shiny for many, others will be looking closely at the engineering detail.
Lets hope the as delivered exhaust guide to valve stem clearance is to spec especially if using Kibblewhite valves with uniform stem diameters (unless they will come with instructions to check that)

I truly hope this works out to be viable and that is, be profitable to be self driven, being a AU$1000 cheaper than the original heads supporters payed will help in that endeavour.
I will hope you have a crew who are not only passionate about this project but have the gumption and ability to dispatch a worthy product detail and pride wise.

A pity this thread has been derailed and hope it is not off putting to the the original poster.
 
They make assault rifles ( maybe their main trade?)
so the Norton stuff is probably not so difficult for STS as it might be for others.

Glen
 
worntorn said:
They make assault rifles ( maybe their main trade?)
so the Norton stuff is probably not so difficult for STS as it might be for others.

Glen
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I would be very surprised if G81 said this has been easy let alone not so difficult.
A rifle would be a walk in the park (It is a constant) compared to this casting (which is not a constant) and I saw the pictures of the first cast batch on FB, many had incomplete fins so probably got remelted or maybe these are done by another foundry.

This cylinder head will be an ongoing learning curve which is why it must be right before dispatch.

What is a machined cylinder (short of the cooling format calculation) it is a block machined by a 5 axis program.
That would be easy, keeping a round bore and reliable bore surface the unknown.

I hope they dispatch 1000 cylinder heads worldwide within 18/24 months once production is stable and the RRP will determine that. (Attract those that would not / could not afford the original version but could be persuaded now)

50000 Commando built, 50000 cylinder heads made near half a century ago.
 
I didn't say it was easy, just that it might be easier for them than your average machine shop. The machine shops I've visited around our area have mostly old equipment, less capable stuff than I'm using for hobby work.

According to this, STS has 50+- CNC machines.

Plus a lot of other very expensive high tech equipment that one could not afford to own just to make Norton parts. I'll bet it comes in handy!

 
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acotrel said:
I don't think many people get rich making spare parts for old Commandos.
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I'm sure you're right, but that's not always the goal. The few little things I make/have made are things I needed and having one made can cost nearly as much as having 25 or more made. So, I design myself, have made to my specs contracting for whatever the sweet spot is; and, sell the ones I don't need for what they cost me.

For instance, the license plate brackets for the earlier taillight - bought 50, have used four pairs, have reserved four pairs for future builds, have sold 12 pairs and have 5 pairs left. Each pair cost me $25.03 and I sell them for $25.00/pair so I'm still upside down on them. If people want them powder coated, I do make a little doing that.
 
If you have access to a decent foundry, it might be worth moving on to producing stronger crank-cases. That would allow the old type commando engine to rev higher without doing damage to itself. These days we can buy billet cranks and long steel rods with light pistons. But building a top end motor using the old parts is pretty unrealistic. The Fullauto head is good but the bottom end of the motor sucks. The usual failure from over-revving is a split in the drive-side case - through the bearing housing. It dictates that the older Commando motor must be tuned to deliver more torque, rather than power higher up the rev range.
If you could safely rev a long-stroke Commando motor to 9000 RPM, it would really go.
Balance factor would be important. But if you rebalance a Commando crank to suit 9000 RPM, the standard cases would probably fail due to the imbalance at lower revs.
 
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