Raymond Mays Heads

[bce257]

Anyone got any good Raymond Mays head yarns? I wonder where they all went.

[Ray Bell]

There's one on the Eclipse Zephyr, it does a good job...

And there's a Consul version on a sports car which used to run in South Australia.

I have some photos somewhere, on and off the car IIRC.

[Oldfart]

I know someone in Kerikeri who has more than one.

[bce257]

From what I have heard they weren't the best castings so I guess a lot of them were scrapped as unusable. I have seen one which had been planed so much that the spark plug threads came into the face.

Pretty serious reclamation work going on here.

Last year I got one of the reproduction heads from UK and it always brings out a yarn or two about the legends of the time who raced with one or had triple carbs etc. I really enjoy these stories.

[John McKechnie]

If you want yarns on these, cant go past McConnachie Brothers with their dirt track MK2 and their dragster- The Judge.
Bryan Bell and his Haulin Husky.

[Grant Sprague]

From what I have heard they weren't the best castings so I guess a lot of them were scrapped as unusable. I have seen one which had been planed so much that the spark plug threads came into the face.

Pretty serious reclamation work going on here.
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Last year I got one of the reproduction heads from UK and it always brings out a yarn or two about the legends of the time who raced with one or had triple carbs etc. I really enjoy these stories.

BCE , I can easily remember the big wooden crate that Ernies Raymon Mays Cyl head arrived in , it hung around his work shop for years , it was well made , had little packing compartments etc also holes drilled in the wood that housed the light weight push rods etc .

[khyndart in CA]

Did this vehicle # 141 have a Raymond Mays cylinder head ?
Isn't this great racing into the Elbow at Pukekohe with all types of vehicles "having a go!"

[khyndart in CA]

I found some interesting Raymond Mays information at this site.

http://www.thehodgkinsons.org.uk/ERA-RaymondMaysConversions.htm

[Steve Holmes]

From what I have heard they weren't the best castings so I guess a lot of them were scrapped as unusable. I have seen one which had been planed so much that the spark plug threads came into the face.

Pretty serious reclamation work going on here.
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Last year I got one of the reproduction heads from UK and it always brings out a yarn or two about the legends of the time who raced with one or had triple carbs etc. I really enjoy these stories.

Cool thread! What are you fitting your reproduction head on?

[Rod Grimwood]

Remember playing with Mk11 had Mays head, triple carbs, Bedford pistons (machined little) balanced rods, oil pump upgrade (stronger spring) etc. it was a quick bit of gear, and of coarse the impala straight shift (forward and back)
got photo somewhere of one of the more famous NZ Mk11s will find it.

[BMCBOY]

This example was advertised on TradeMe a few years ago - it sold for very good money I believe.

[Ray Bell]

The one on the Eclipse Zephyr, I now recall, was bought by Repco...

They purchased it when they (Phil Irving?) were planning the Repco Hi-Power head for the grey Holden engines. They had done their bit with it and Keith Rilstone was starting me the Eclipse Zephyr fly. He got them to upgrade the brakes (through the PBR) subsidiary and then they gave him the head.

[bce257]

Cool thread! What are you fitting your reproduction head on?

Thanks Steve. I've had it on the Mk2 wagon for about six months now, initially with two H6 carbs,

now with lots more

[bce257]

This example was advertised on TradeMe a few years ago - it sold for very good money I believe.

Looks like it had a well earned life. Those inlet flanges are modified to take something unoriginal, understandable as the stock bolt pattern is virtually impossible to mount anything other than the log type manifold because the bolts are painfully close to the runners. The plug threads aren't quite breaking through into the head face but they are darn close.

There's a guy out west Auckland who was wanting 20k for one on TM a year or two back. The repro ones are half that even with freight from UK and they have made a number of subtle improvements so they are (seem) very reliable.

[bce257]

BCE , I can easily remember the big wooden crate that Ernies Raymon Mays Cyl head arrived in , it hung around his work shop for years , it was well made , had little packing compartments etc also holes drilled in the wood that housed the light weight push rods etc .

Thanks Grant. Your dad's name comes up sometimes in conversation, quite often as that guy who had a Mk3 from where was it now... Timaru?

[bce257]

Thanks guys, enjoying the thread.

[Rod Grimwood]

This one haunted the North Shore way back, was a very quick car and the local cop loved it, mainly because he could hear it coming from Milford and he was at top of Forrest Hill.
PS it was very quick because it was red.

[Ray Bell]

A nice pair of Zodiacs...



Both have an American option between the engine and the final drive, the sedan has a DG while the auto has the other type of Borg-Warner componentry offered on the Z-cars:



The sedan has these headers in place of the usual log...



...while the convertible has this:



And it's now got this:



Which should go very will with that 0.7:1 overdrive.

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Steve. I've had it on the Mk2 wagon for about six months now, initially with two H6 carbs,
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now with lots more

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Wow thats awesome! Can we see pics of the car?

[bce257]

Rod, that fuel system looks like a fire hazard! SU fuel pump over by the steering column feeding all the way round the firewall to some manifold thing on the other side. Those mufflers are something else altogether. Great pics.

Ray, the pics didn't come through on my screen.

Steve, some pics here https://www.flickr.com/gp/57330657@N05/i98RH4