I guess for every negative there's a positive.
I'm one who had good luck with Dove. My builder brought in a pair of Dove MR heads for my 427 S/O in 1994. They were leak tested, found sound and porting and
oil relief work commenced. Shortly they were installed on the block with studs and mated up to my original Shelby logo sidewinder manifold.
My builder found miscellaneous areas that needed a touch up, but explained that it was normal stuff for new heads.
With the heads, a complete set of Dove roller rockers, super shafts and end stands was also installed. Oiling restriction to the heads was taken care of along with some polishing and shaping of the
oil return holes.
New stainless TP sized valves were installed and away we went. The engine was broken in on the dyno and no leaks or other problems appeared. The pulls commenced and the best was 486hp @ 6,100rpm
I drove the hell out of that engine and it never whimpered. The valves stayed set,
oil pressure was excellent and frankly, problems with Dove's heads never even entered my head.....because they never happened.
I've heard the horror stories too. What Jim Dove needs is a decent foundery to do his casting for him. That's where the problems come from. I'd say give the guy a break. Maybe he's found one by now.
Al