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I wish to pass some info on engine heads . I have been overhauling my engine reciently and found out how inferior some aftermarket "oem" brands are. These are not isloated flukes but verified by observation. I have seen these at the blank head shelves at various machine shops . I have two brand that have on going defects: Known as the universal head by most shops is One made by Autolinea of Brazil, some people claim that this company also makes the heads for the original vw company. This head is identified by a G01 casted in were VW logo is supposed to be . This brand's problem is that even though sparkplug bosses are machined correctly in relation to where the plug is installed, the sparkplug hole and thread are not perpenducular or parrallel (depending on your reference point) to where it is supposed to be. The resultat position is a slanted sparkplug that is hard to install and does not seat on the machined boss. I have found four of these like this, two old used and two new. I wish to pass some info on engine heads . I have been overhauling my engine reciently and found out how inferior some aftermarket "oem" brands are. These are not isloated flukes but verified by observation and self boo boos. I have seen these at the blank head shelves at various machine shops . I have two brands that have on going defects: Known as the universal head by most shops is One made by Autolinea of Brazil, some people claim that this company also makes the heads for the original vw company. This head is identified by a G01 casted in were VW logo is supposed to be . This brand's problem is that even though sparkplug bosses are machined correctly in relation to where the plug is installed, the sparkplug hole and thread are not perpenducular or parrallel (depending on your reference point) to where it is supposed to be. The resultat position is a slanted sparkplug that is hard to install and does not seat on the machined boss. I have found four of these like this, two old used and two new. It is said that they crack easier than original german heads. Cast flashing on these is abundant too. The other brand is AMC of Spain ,this is another popular universal head brand. Identified by the letters AMC on the head where the VW logo is supposed to be. This brand tends to melt the aluminum around the valve seat causing the seat gouge deeply into the head. I have one that had the seat go in about one half inch into the head. And this was the intake valve. At the machine shop I noticed some had the seat also deeply pushed in . These the owner of the shop tossed in the garbage. These were several. It is said that they crack easier than original german heads also. Avoid these heads or at least check the Autolinea brand to see if the sparkplug seats straight. About cracking on these brands, I have heard that there is no difference to german VW and other brands. I get conflicting data between shops, machine shops , racing establishments and owner/experts. I have been speaking to people and machine shop owners about welded heads, some say that welded VW heads, even the German ones have a weak spot at the weld seam and tend to crack around these when they are used hard and would not personally use these . Others say that welded heads are as good as new with no difference to new. I was told to get the best heads for my money and that alot of aftermarket heads are of inferior metal formulations from after market companies that claim to make parts for VW in Brazil or other countries. These heads run hotter, machining is not precise and that thicker casting compensate for some problems, bubbles , weak materials etc... Some brands made in USA are custom made and only made for racing , they have less but much thicker fins, these tend to run very hot in stock daily drivers. So I checked out the VW factory made heads from Mexico. I tried to obtain Mexican orginal VW heads from Tijuana but the bussinessmen and women down there are not very receptive and part arrival times are always unknown. To most, VW heads are impossible to obtain, so they say, but do not even try, They only concentrate on enjoying life and family, successful bussiness is left in the back burner. . You can get these parts Efi dual port or single in the USA. I guess that is why it is a third world country . I know , I live down there. Fibertech in Santee California (near San Diego) can get these Mexican VW factory heads, efi dual or single for around 149 dollars. Beetlemex can sell you head blanks from the old bug factory in Puebla (Mexico presently on strike) for 90 bucks . Blanks are bare machined heads with valve guides seats and studs . These heads, I am told, have slightly different metal formulations from the original german heads., I do not know if this is bad or good ? The only difference between these castings and the others is that the EFI casted temp sensor boss is on sideways intead of up but it is casted in the same location. My search continued for my perfect cylinder head. I called American companies and most seamed to use heads from the two mentioned "bad" companies above but with their company logo casted in. A few american companies actually casted their own heads but most are for dragging and not for durability. I called an airplane engine company that uses VW aircooled for their models and kits. I was told that they got their heads from the same airplane part company that MOFOCO uses for their heads. MOFOCO ? I was told by a person on the list that the heads he bought from these people used old parts for their heads. I called MOFOCO . I was told that all of their heads used new parts except for the rebuilt ones that use reconditioned intake valves . I gave several guys the first degree . After gathering information this is the story I put together: In the earlier days this company would buy heads from the two "bad" companies (with the MOFOCO logo) and remachiine these for bigger valves, port them etc... They were unsuccessfull in the long run for racing rallying or heavy use, customers were complaining because of cracking and insufficient airflow , loose valve seats etc... These were heads that people would buy for abuse: dragging , sandrails, offroad longhauls, rallying etc... They decided to look for better brands and to them the Mexican VW factory casting did not meet their needs either, because of the newer inferior fomulation and restricted airflow. They attempted to make a deal so the Mexican factory could custom make their heads with superior formulation of the 1971 German VW heads and custom breathing big valve configurations. The factory rfused to do this . So MOFOCO decided to perform some research with a metal form and alloy engineering company that specializes in automotive component engineeering in Milwakee. The plans and spcifications were drawn and an aircraft parts plant was contracted to cast and machine their newly designed heads in New York . They claim the chose the aircraft parts plant because airplane parts are always of far superior quality because of safety . The casts are centrifused and rigorously inspected as any airplane part then sent to MOFOCO. What I found out about the casting was that four extra layer of full length fins are added on both sides. Breather and EFI boses are casted in and machiniing and threading for these are available for 10 bucks. The 3/4 inch sparkplug holes are available in their 042 and some 041 models, the 050 unit is the same but with giant breating flow for racing. I am told that the head design and constuction is superior to the German heads because of thicker combustion chambers ceilings, deeper plugs, much more fins, better smoother breathing and 1971 German VW metal formulations. I was also told that tests showed that the heads proved cooler in comparision stock tests . I did not ask how they did this . These heads are compatible to all stock engines and will not require any modification for installation. Several people from MOFOCO told me that in all the years they have been working there, they have never seen or heard any head crack or get returned because of quality/design problems. Plane guys as well as VW guys are satisfied with the product, sounds like a sales pitch , well let's see. I did not know if this was BS but this sounded good to me and I was told that the people who sell these are not on commission and have no reason to just tell stories . So I bought two 041 heads with the EFI boss machined , 3/4 in sparkplug holes, 39mm intake (standard) and 35.5 mm exhaust, and off course better cooling. The two heads cost me 150 dollars apiece, no taxes charged. It will be a week and a half before I get these. The only thing I would have desired was the smaller stock size valves that would affect my EFI less and give more room between the plug and the valveseat for more durability. Does anyone know if the reason to make a 3/4 inch reach plug holes is to compensate for the bigger valves eating away the space between the plug hole and the valve seat ? What do you guys think of what I have found and said ? Any comments? Inputs ? Story additions? The real test is the torture I will give them and the checking of my two head temp guages. LEON MARTINEZ 1969 SQUAREBACK EFI/AUTO SANDIEGO AND TIJUANA ------------------------------------------------------------------- Search old messages on the Web! Visit http://www.vwtype3.org/list/