Took the head of my mini (as you do) and the condition of one of the cylinders is a little suspect. The compression is good on all cylinders. Three of them look really good, but one doesn't. Seems to have some c#$p on it and doesn't look to be burning as good as the others. Could it just be a plug/lead problem seeing compression is up?

This is a photo of one of the three good ones -



Now this is the bad cylinder -



Ideas?

Had a water leak from gasket there, probably- check the rust marks..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

whats the red near the Spark Plug Hole

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Fe2 O5....!
ie Ferrous Oxide...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Yer Okay that cleared that up What did that come from...the plugs

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Um... AKA rust! Comes from water. H2O...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Normaly gold colour but thats Bright Red

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

rare earth minerals in the fine BMC casting..???
Anyhow it's maybe water has reacted with the salts etc present in the `carbon' deposits.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

ok lead me through it again...

1) youve had that sharp groove removed in a previous head job (whats it called?)
2) which ones the inlet and exhaust valve, and why are they different coloured?
3) do you think the pitting/rust could be caused by a shitty plug? (only variable among the cylinders)

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Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

A good shave and an asid dip fix it and a good gasket you way as well check the valve's

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

yep....there has been water in that bore 4 sure!! Cast iron rusts pretty easily with a hint of water....

It almost looks like it has been sitting for a while with condensation in the bore....

Can you acid dip stuff yourself to clean it up? I have got some Hydro Cloric acid there that I could water down. Am I asking for trouble........ Does anyone know what sort of concentration you should use?

Cheers for the responses.

Can I clean this up myself and then bolt it back down with a new head gasket? How would I go about cleaning it?

Or should I really get the head skimmed and a dip? How long would this take a shop to do? Need the car running in a couple of weeks. Am I dreaming?

I was planning on having the head properly done in a few months. This being ported, a skim, and bigger inlet valves. How long would it take a shop to do something like this? Or should I ask how long is a piece of string!

I had a head job recently and they took a few days

Wet blast, insert stainless seats, skim face, reseat all valve seats, assemble with new valves, guides etc.

Head was already ported nicely

$240 (I supplied valves and guides)