I am looking for an Alta Austin 7 cylinder head -the spark plugs come in at a 45 degree angle not at the top.

Extremely rare Paul. There is a school of thought that they may have been made specially for the Austin 7 engined version of the Brough Superior motorcycle, of which, I believe that only something like a dozen were ever made.

see here.

Ian Mc.

Location: Shropshire

hi ian,

I think there were more than that.

I`ve had at least 3 of them, and seen others for sale.

don't have any at the moment though, as there is usually someone wanting one for a brough build.

I have got 12 alloy heads in at the moment though of various makes.

thanks tony

Hi Tony, as regards the number of bikes made, I was quoting G. Gardner in 1969 (see pages 14,15 & 16 of the Companion) who went on to state that at that time only 7 known original examples of the bike were still in existance.

Ian Mc.

Location: Shropshire

sorry ian,

I read it as the heads were only made for engines going in the brough.

if there were 12 broughs then there were 12 heads.

but do take into account its only Friday and the black & tan hasn`t kicked in yet.

steve flake at quarry engineering has made new ALTA heads. but they are standard plug placing. not 45%.

thanks tony

The original Alta heads were made of a very soft grade of aluminium,so much so that if tightened down hard the washers would sink into the head.
I personally don't like the combustion chamber shape either.

Location: Shropshire

In the november 18, 1931 edition of Motor Cycling there is an article on the Brough. The photo shows an Austin 7 engine with aluminium head with raised letters B.S on the off side and cooling fins front to back across the top of the head. The long water take off seems to be integral and the spark plugs do indeed appear angled above the valve position. The article also states this is the second year that Brough have produced a 4 cylinder motorcycle. cheers Russell

Location: OZ

Super pictures, R.

Ian Mc.

Location: Shropshire

On the example I had, the compression and flow rate measured similar to an Ulster (9E) head. Thats ok but not brilliant.
The best I have come across so far is one of the LRM designs, it combines high compression with a decent flow rate. Usually you get one or the other. Unfortunately, like ALTA they decided to make them out of milk bottle tops. The chances of a good one these days are quite remote, I'd guess.

looking at the pictures there is more than one ALTA head with the plugs at 45%.

the ones that were obviously made for the brough have BS on the side and fins on top.

the ones I have had in are NOT finned. but were ALTA with 45% plugs.

can anyone throw any light on that type of head.

thanks tony

Hi
I have an Alta head that has been in my garage for about 45 years. It is need of some TLC but may be usable. Is it of any interest?

Email me if you'd like some photos.

Location: Wonderful North Hampshire

Let me try uploading a photo:

Location: Wonderful North Hampshire

There's an interesting article about A7 heads here:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedex/index_files/Page2476.htm
Alta heads are described.

Location: A very wet Isle of Skye

Hi, I am very interested in that alta head. Please can you email me some pictures.

I am building a replica of the BS4.using mostly original parts from 1933