1700 xflow head help

[GaryC.23]

Hi everyone, I'm fairly new to turbosport and the whole classic ford scene and have a question to ask.

I'm currently building a 1700 crossflow for my fast road mk2 escort, and wanted to know what sort of differences would come with using a semi-chambered head rather than a flat head?
I ask because i've got a chance to get my hands on a ported semi-chambered head with a few other goodies for fairly cheap, so if anyone could give me some info or advice on the matter such as compression ratio's etc. it would be much appreciated

Thanks,
Gary.

[exboyracer]

Well you'll get a reduced compression ratio for a start, assuming you are using standard pistons.
If you use custom pistons to restore the compression and providing the porting has been done well it should perform well.

[GaryC.23]

Yeah I was aware of the drop in compression but because I was planning on a flat head I have already bought a set of standard pistons :/ lol
Is there anything else I could do to raise the compression ratio again or should I just wait it out for a flat head to come around?
Cheers

[exboyracer]

Well you could deck the block and machine the pistons to suit, but to be honest you'd have to take a load of material off and I wouldn't really recommend it.

Have you measured the volume of the head chambers? You might be able to get away with a set of 1100 pistons as they have a very small combustion chamber.