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MG MGA - Lead free conversion

With the summer over I've decided its time to finally get my MGA cylinder head converted. This is also combined with the results of a compression test that gave low values on cylinders 2 & 3 ie more than 15 psi different from the highest -no 1. I've got a few questions before I start ordering parts that I be grateful for advice on:

On a recent thread it was said that the Payen head gasket was the best - is this the copper one?

I'm going to fit the later and lighter cam followers with longer push rods- is the new quality of cam followers the same throughout suppliers or should I go to a particular supplier? Would it be OK to use second hand pushrods?

I may use the Scottish auto engineers 'Bumper to Bumper' for the head conversion, -has anyone in the UK had experience of them?
J H Cole

The Payen gasket is NOT the copper one, that is the one that will fail after 10k km

The Payen one is a dark grey colour with orange rings around the holes.

I would suggest that you save on the shipping costs and use either Chris Betson at Octarine, or alternatively Oselli to get your head. A stage 2 head will bring you a substantial lift in HP (especially of you have a 1500) if you can afford the 100 pound or so premium.

The best bet is to use the B cam followers with the relevant push rods. Replacing the rocker asssembly with a refurbished one will also make the engine much quieter. I am not sure that re-using old push rods is a good idea, as they probably wear into a pair with their cam follower. They are not expensive.
dominic clancy

This thread was discussed on 01/10/2006

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.