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MG MGB Technical - Burgess Head ?

I remember someone telling me that Peter Burgess used to supply the uprated heads sold by Moss. Does anybody know if that is true, or if there is any element of truth in it? If so, is there any means of identifying a Burgess head (eg special mark) and the specification?

Thanks,

Neil
Neil

Neil
I have a Burgess head and am very pleased with it.
I understood that he supplied Moss and bought from him because of his reputation and the fact that at the time MGOC supplied Ivor Searle heads which did not have all new components fitted.
I suspect the only person who could identify a Burgess head is Peter Burgess http://www.mgcars.org.uk/peterburgess/,give him a call as he was very helpful to me.
Robert
R J Collier

Neil
Link doesn't seem to work, but do a google search on Peter Burgess, his web site is very good and will tell you all you need to know about the various specs of the heads/engines he does.
Robert
R J Collier

Robert. Clicking on Peter's advertisement, at the top of this page, seems to work.

Les
Les Bengtson

Robert,

I think (cannot really remember) that I got the info from Moss.

I bought a "Stage 3" (huge inlet valves and quite large inlet ports, double springs with alloy caps etc) head from Moss in about 1996. I e-mailed Peter Burgess with a photo of the head (underside!) to no avail, maybe I'll try again.

I'm trying to decide whether a 45DCOE is worthwhile hence trying to understand a little more about the head specification.

Thanks,

Neil
Neil

The Burgess Head that I have on one of my race midget engines has a stamping in one of the valve spring pockets.

Don't know if he does the same on B heads though..

Hope this is of some use

Andrew
Andrew

Peter does heads for many people, Moss buys heads from many people too!

Peter doesn't mark the heads - I do and since Peter does heads for me, I can identify one of "my" PB heads.

Why do you want to know - are you looking to buy a PB head? or have you got a head from Moss you are hoping is a PB head??
Chris at Octarine Services

Here's the link to Peter's site:

http://www.peter-burgess.com

I have one of his heads on my GT. Brilliant!
I have Emailed a few times with questions and asked for recommendations. His response has always been timely and right on the mark.


Paul K

Chris,

The head has been fitted to the car for ages. The engine sounds superb and it really flies.

I'm trying to decide whether to go for a 45DCOE instead of the HS6s to improve pick up and accleration in the higher gears. Hence I wanted to know a bit more about the head spec. I asked Moss, they said that it was probably a Burgess head. If it is, I can find out the spec easily. If not, there's not much I can find out further.

Neil
Neil

Neil,

If you take it off and measure the inlet valves it will tell you if it has extra large valves fitted - 1.69 inches is the usual size for a large valve head (not to be confused with the larger type of standard valve fitted by the factory at 1.625 inches)

Also look into the bowl under the inlet valves and see if the metal has been cut away to deepen and smooth them - check the port divider - on a fast road head it is ground away to a very sharp edge.

Look in the exhaust valve bowls and see if the boss has been ground down very close to the guide on three sides.

Look at the chamber shape - if it is no longer a curved kidney shape but is more angular with two "lobes" then it indicates it is a fully modified stage 3 head.

Race heads have the inlet ports opened up and you will see a brass tube inserted in the push rod holes either side to allow the ports to be made larger.

A few photos e-mailed to me or posted on my forum at octarine.mywowbb.com
will help me identify the stage of tune for you.
Chris at Octarine Services

This thread was discussed between 05/05/2006 and 07/05/2006

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