One of our long time neighbours who has sold his house, also an ex Coopers S owner, was cleaning up his garage ready for the big move and came across a Cooper S cylinder head AEG163 it is complete with all valves and springs and came off an 'S' which he built a new motor for many years ago, he thinks from memory it may have a small repairable crack in it, it was running fine on the car prior to the rebuild but the engine builder did mention something about a crack so he used another head he had at the time. He has asked me to see if I can sell it for him, any thoughts on what would be a fair price for something like this?
The reason he dumped it my lap is he has moved to country Victoria and is in the middle of the sticks.

The reason I have not put it in the for sale forum is one I don't know what a fair price is for it and two I may just offer it to one of the Mini workshops
but to be fair to my friend I would like to have an idea of its value.

These heads were renown for cracking and if it has a crack now, then likely that it is cactus. Make a nice paper weight.

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Thanks I will let him know that, might give it to one of the Mini workshops
they might be able to use the valves.

The trick is to find someone who could actually repair it.

I will give you $50. If you get a better offer....depending where you are of course .....

Cheers, Ian

Sadly I have 3 of the same heads the same state.
They were a good head.

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

The trick is to find a magician. I've had lot of them done by different firms and none have been any good. The don't last. These heads are thermally stressed from design and welding up the cracks that appear from this thermal stress makes them worse.

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IMO there is only one way to do S heads properly (same method with old Holden heads):
1. vee the crack out
2. put head in a gas furnace then light it
3. let head heat up to red heat
4. pull it out onto the hearth, fusion weld with oxy acetylene and cast iron filler rod
5. turn furnace off, put head back in there to cool. may take a while...

I've not welded S heads this way, but have done cast iron valve bodies etc (eons ago, at Railways Dept).

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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.

What about some of the chemical repair expoys that are now available

The old S heads crack between the exhaust and inlet seats in the combustion chamber.
So forget any chemical potions- they won't work here.
OK inside inlet ports, maybe.

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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.

One theory for the cracking was the sharp point between the two valves where the machine the seats. If you smoothed out the point it would not crack there.
All to do with stress raisers and stuff.

We are shortly going to pull our Mini K off the road for a resto, would the valves from the S head be of any use if the 1098 head needed new valves, or would they be too big? Just a thought before I get rid of the S head.

nup, too big

The real problem with these early S heads was the water space between and above the valve seats. 12G940 heads were revised in this area, apart from having smaller exhaust valves.
BTW my big ported 940 head has had 31mm exhausts in for 10 years or more, is still all good.

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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.

For 99% of cast iron parts this really does work a treat, no risk, but I have tried it and had others try it for me on these and other heads. It works for a short time but they do crack worse and from other places.

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My offer stands...

Cheers, Ian