Also, purely as a point of interest, (as GR touched upon) that "Some" after market cyl heads which have been avaliable for quite some time (A-series & other makes) have tended to be in the "too big" port dept with some poor angles to boot,,, so very few have cast their heads with small enough ports to then be able to "Play" with port sizes, shapes & angles in an effort to Develope the head more to suit their intended purpose... this , it seems, (Noting how small the ports are on the Elder before GR has his play) is how The Elder head has been produced,,, just another example of quality thinking,,, well done.
As GR has basically mentioned , it`s not all about a massive size hole & in some cases, a smaller hole is better (ala some of the earlier V8 super car engines that Perkins was doing he also filled the ports & re-shaped),,, The Large valve KAD head is yet another perfect example & one which GR has pointed out,,, the smaller Kad head does produce far better low end & mid range power with a broader, more usable power spread... as does the Bimmer.
However , BMW did their homework with their cyl head designs well before finishing & selling the bikes & have a very small port(31mm) , coupled with small-ish valves (26.5mm), keeping air speed up early in the revs... that`s not to say that it can`t be improved upon tho
most car & bike companys have to keep an eye on & juggle the production costs & the relationship between drivability, power & economy,,,, so "Most" mass produced engines are , in effect, a compromise.... they are definately no "Full-Race" cyl head straight out of the box,,,
Obviously nor is the Elder , otherwise GR wouldn`t be working on it.
The ability to "Play" with port shapes, sizes & angles (especially with the use of a flow bench & someone who knows how to use one properly) coupled with the ability to creat a decent chamber filling characteristic throughout any given rev range is where the 'Horses for courses" come into play,,, not everyone wants a fire breathing full race engine,,, & not everyone wants a mild shopping trolley engine either,,, but some well designed heads can be used as both... this Elder head i believe may well be one of them going on the looks of things & what i believe GR will be able to do with it..
of course they would be 2 totally different engine builds tho,,, Obviously you can`t have a fire breathing full race engine """&""" a nice mild road engine in the one package,,, OH!!! unless it`s turbo injected unit of course.... The Elder head (like many others) would most certainly be able to perform this same task as well as any i`m sure.
& please understand that if money is your only guiding factor, & you really don`t want to spend much... then maybe you should leave your std A-series head on your car,,, that way it actually costs nothing to leave it there,,,
,,, But if you want pure "Full Race" like the figures that GR has stated then it`s obviously going to cost more than just the cyl head , because the full race figures that have been displayed are usually set up on a full race type complete power unit package with all the strong full race type components thrown in to hold it all together with the costs of decent clutch & flywheel packages & decent gearbox & diff packages & & & & to make it all work,,, Not your average road drivable daily driver with high compression & high valve lift cams & such.
& obviously there is far more power avaliable than that tho,,, with even more money spent,,, There are many people, all over the world racing 220hp (& upwards) minis.... but then it becomes all just a matter of having it all hold together for any length of time
It`s good to dream tho,,, What would have happened if no one ever dreamt of going to the moon????? As Peter Brock kept telling me "Live your dreams"
Dream on people,,, Dream on
Maybe one day we can all have that illusive bolt on , cheap as chips, fire breathing race mini engine that can actually be driven daily without any weakness or premature wear issues that also cooks the meals & does the dishes for us
