Seff

Hello good sirs.

I acquired a ****** Jeep, and I'm considering casting my own aluminum cylinder head. The prerogative when one does this is that he/she can reshape the combustion chamber, and my naive assumption is that it can be done better than it was done from the factory - where the compression was 6.45:1 and the power was 60 HP.

So, my thoughts - mind you, this is pure brainstorming:
Porting the block for intake and exhaust runner optimization is easy, and I assume the same rules apply for this as for an OHV head in regards to porting?
Bore is 3.125", I've had no luck finding any pistons other than stock replacement in that diameter. Stock compression distance is 2.167" (link to stock replacement pistons http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...illocation=int)
As I've understood it, pop-up pistons are the preferred method of increasing power and compression ratio in flatheads without choking the flow between the valves and the cylinder. I'm worried about squish though, and maybe piston slap? A pop-up piston would be subjected to force from the side and very little force from the top when it's at TDC and the combustion is supposed to force it downwards - as I've understood. Would a domed piston work? I'll make a drawing.
Valve shrouding - this is when the chamber sides are too close to the open valves? Can I bring the roof of the chamber down to right on top of the open valves?
Spark plug placement - this should be pointing towards the desired direction power should be applied, yes?






The red circles are the areas typically mentioned as the choke point of a flat head design, and where power is typically made. The blue circles are, as I understand it, the squish area/zones, where I (just I, so far) would presume that fuel and air would be more inclined to concentrate around the spark plug if it was led that way by an angled roof like in the third picture, instead of the completely flat roof of the traditional flathead.
Additionally, as I see it, the force enacted upon the piston is more in the "right" direction with the domed piston, as opposed to a force on the side of the pop-up piston trying to push the piston down.
The thick red lines are spark plug placement ideas.
Sadly I don't know the lift or the chamber depth right now, so I can't tell you how far the roof over the valve can be dropped.

I hope this makes a little sense, at least - and thanks for your time!

Head designs and ideas