Cylinder head - help please

Worth a try, if bought from a dealer. "Not of merchantable quality" comes to mind, along with "Not fit for purpose". If they will not accept return, including delivery charges, certainly "Name and shame" (not only on the club site, but on any others that will accept posts).

Oh dear, Mark. That looks to me as if it has dropped a valve head in. It's clearly been welded to rectify some of the damage and then been cleaned up by hand rather than machined.

It probably could be re-engineered but the costs would be out of proportion and most post-war Norton heads are not so rare that it would be warranted. If it were some sort of ex-works racer, for one season only head then it might be warranted.

Sadly, most old bikes and bits are close to junk. They always have been. What has changed is that we now expect to pay more than a fiver for them..

I thought for an instant that I was looking at some moudly Swiss cheese. Not in the best of nick is it? What is the outside like? These itmes are repairable.....but probably not worth doing. You can pick up a reasonable standard complete 88/99 head on this website for £100 or less.

The 'fleabay' trap catches most people out at sometime. I bought a 'new' kickstart that arrived with a quarter of the splines missing.

In the quest for originality, an NOC member recently purchased a complete set of Dommie forks from the USA for £200.....thinking he had got a bargain. That was until the £100 postage, duties and other taxes hit his wallet. The bad news was compounded when all the internals and external fittings turned out to be corroded beyond any use. So his next bill was new bushes, stanchions, dampers, springs, studs, nuts and so on. The final bill topping over £700. For just a little more he could have built a completely new set from parts supplied by Andover Norton.

That's interesting Phil, the thing is I didn't get the head from fleabay, I thought I was doing the right thing and getting it from somewhere safe, even though it's only run by volunteers. I've tried emailing but no reply as yet. I'll see what happens in the week and let you know how I get on.

Mark

hello mark well now you have a Ebay Trophy , or a good door stop, we all been conned with ebay , now if you have payed via pay-pal you could of got your money back as not as advertised, and not fit for purpose , see ebay rules send photo too ebay staff under dispute section , and next time if your not sure about something ask questions and ask for more photos in HD well this done now no god crying over spilt milk, as they say, all the best from Anna J

Actually Anna, if you read Nick's posts, he didn't buy it from Ebay! In fact, it was from a 'safe' source, albeit run by volunteers..... not our spares scheme, I hope???

"That's interesting Phil, the thing is I didn't get the head from fleabay". The clue is in this line. Anna, do you actually ever read a thread before weighing in with your two-penneth?

There are always the pitfalls of dealing with some of the less honest scumbags on fleabay but I think people may be shocked if Mark chooses to share the culprit in this case. I'm shocked that they would have the shear front to sent a scrap component out to someone who is clearly going to spot the issue within seconds. It will all depend on how the situation is resolved and how quickly.

Previously ian_cordes wrote:

Actually Anna, if you read Nick's posts, he didn't buy it from Ebay! In fact, it was from a 'safe' source, albeit run by volunteers..... not our spares scheme, I hope???

well it reads Mark Savage at the top of the Thread yours anna j

Previously Sophie Hawthorne wrote:

"That's interesting Phil, the thing is I didn't get the head from fleabay". The clue is in this line. Anna, do you actually ever read a thread before weighing in with your two-penneth?

There are always the pitfalls of dealing with some of the less honest scumbags on fleabay but I think people may be shocked if Mark chooses to share the culprit in this case. I'm shocked that they would have the shear front to sent a scrap component out to someone who is clearly going to spot the issue within seconds. It will all depend on how the situation is resolved and how quickly.

They only have to send it out a dozen times and the last person will keep it. They are banking on human nature. One person will be really desperate for a head. Or maybe they will be a "mustn't grumble" type and not want to complain.

JS

Hi Mark - sorry to hear about this. If it gives you any solice I bought a head on ebay for a knock-down price thinking it would be a bargain as a 'fin-donor' for my ali head only to receive a cast iron head!

Unfortunately, when I re-read the listing it did say it was an iron head! How stupid did I feel!

Anyway - I just wanted to say that if it helps at all I am still looking for some 'donor' fins and so if this head will otherwise end up as scrap maybe we could come to an arrangement?

Also, if anyone is in need of an iron head........

Hm, I thought N.O.C. spares was meant to provide quality spars for members. Sounds more like "Bill the breaker"!.

This is a very disapointing customer experience by Mark which I hope is untypical as it can only have a negative impact in the minds of all club members when deciding where to purchase spares for our loved Nortons.

Perhaps a warning to anyone considering expansion of club commercial activites in this area

There obviously has been a poor attempt at repairing this damage but as these parts become more rare, this one is salvageable, It would require some good quality welding, dressing and new valve seats and guides but not beyond it by any means. These components have probably been abused for over half a century my a string of home "experts/butchers". You are unlikely to get a pristine item and some of the damage to the surface of the combustion chamber, whilst not ideal, would probably not make a lot of difference to the performance of a "run of the mill" motorcycle, and let's face it, these machines were just that, everyday transport.

There obviously has been a poor attempt at repairing this damage but as these parts become more rare, this one is salvageable, It would require some good quality welding, dressing and new valve seats and guides but not beyond it by any means. These components have probably been abused for over half a century my a string of home "experts/butchers". You are unlikely to get a pristine item and some of the damage to the surface of the combustion chamber, whilst not ideal, would probably not make a lot of difference to the performance of a "run of the mill" motorcycle, and let's face it, these machines were just that, everyday transport.

Previously anna jeannette Dixon wrote:

Previously ian_cordes wrote:

Actually Anna, if you read Nick's posts, he didn't buy it from Ebay! In fact, it was from a 'safe' source, albeit run by volunteers..... not our spares scheme, I hope???

well it reads Mark Savage at the top of the Thread yours anna j

Yes, you are right Anna; my bad...

As a new member i am following this with interest, iv'e only made one purchase through spares that being new parts and not a lot of money but reading this thread i'm not sure i would be confident making further purchases !

Perhaps it's time we heard from someone within spares ?

Cheers Stuart

I was a bit surprised to find out that the goodies were not as well described as they should have been. The Spares Scheme are generally quite good when it comes to such details so that you get an idea of the quality before parting with cash. ie a £20 head is only probably going to make a good door stop whereas a £100 will get something worn but almost ready to use.

I think that you will be able to get your cash back as clearly the head needs some serious remedial work in order to get it in working condition.