The cast iron cylinder liners are siamesed in pairs. I do know that the same crank, pistons, and rods were used in the AL and Iron engines, but there is room in the piton to offset it a little. From the pics I've seen the bore centers are uniform across all six though. The siamesed sections appear to be nearly touching each other. As far as I can tell/know the bore centers are the same on the AL and Iron versions. Here's a photo link: http://www.carcraft.com/junkyardcrawl/ccrp_0608_junkyard_crawl_aluminum_ block/photo_02.html. Also see www.geocities.com/dr_rambler/aluminum.html or www.geocities.com/dr_rambler/aluminum.html. I've heard of, but not actually seen, someone using an iron engine head on an AL engine the way I described -- by screwing and epoxying a piece of 1/4" bar (may have been 1/8") across the right side of the head. The screws were mainly to keep the bar clamped in place while the epoxy cured, but they told me left them in -- no harm. The head was then planed level, cutting as little as possible from the head itself. -----Original Message----- From: the Mittermaiers [mailto:mitt124@xxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:19 PM To: Swygert, Francis G MSgt 436 CES/CECM Subject: [Amc-list] WTB: 1964 196 ci OHV iron head in Michigan Frank: Those 196 OHV heads also have very thin castings in the area of the valve seats. When I had mine redone back in 1973 by a shop that knew Ramblers, they warned me that cutting in hardened valve seat inserts might cut into the water jackets, and so did not want to do that. A good OHV head is not so easy to find! Question on the AL OHV engine: aren't those cylinder liners siamesed? And isn't that one of the reasons the head is different? Happy ramblin', Paul Mittermaier Wisconsin _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list