Recommended Heads

[RICK LAKE]

Hound Dog there are some good articles about basic heads, flow numbers, camshafts, weather swirl is better than straight shot into the cylinder. The importants of velocity of the A/F mixture. It comes back to the biggest head is not always the best head. It just means that with the right carb, camshaft, piston design, exhaust system, you can get the most power at a certain RPM range. Big head suffer in the 100-300" lift range and make it up in the 300-700+" lift range on the cam. I am not a pro, but have seen enough motor put togeather with the best parts and the motor runs like a pig. Again you can't compare a Ford head to a SBC head. I good motor to pick on is the Boss 302 from 1970. A pig from idle to 3,000 rpms, after that to 7,200 rpms hauling a$$. Why, Big ports. We are talking about stock motors from the factories. 302 Chevy was about the same. The rough ideal proportions are about 50-54% on the intake side and 38-42% on the exhaust for almost any motor. This is the valve size in respect to the cylinder bore size. You are hoping for an 84-94% VE ratio of the motor running. In the 90's is a solid strong motor maken great power and use of the A/F mixture. There is alot more than just this but I think you get the idea. I am not a pro builder. I do know that parts are made for certain applications. Matching the motor rpm range for power is the most important thing. I like torque motors over HP motors. Torque is what moves the car, HP is a by product in the upper rpms. It's a balancing act. Rick L.

[hound dog]

Rick,
I feel like I'm stealing rnocobra's thread here, but it has always been a burning question in my mind about the sizing of heads for the small block/large cube engines. As I stated before the biggest small block heads aren't near the same flow as the smallest big block heads. You can't get the big numbers because of the valve size restrictions. So, does that mean that we're not getting the full advantage of 427 cubic inches when we punch out the small blocks? I'd think that a 427 big block would out perform a 427 small block simply because of it's ability to put more fuel/air mix through the cylinders (all other things being the same). I'm no expert here either, but I'd sure like to here an explanation from some one who has experimented under lab conditions. I remember when I built the engine for my Unique a friend was pushing me to build the combustion chamber/piston according to a design by Endyne. This would give me a compression ratio of 11.7/1. I didn't think it would work but I did it anyway and guess what? It runs great on 93 octane pump gas! The things I don't know would fill an encyclopedia!
h dog

[rnocobra]

Steal away H-Dog - These are many of the same questions I have. Does anyone have any further thoughts?

[767Jockey]

Hence, my remarks on the Australian Cleveland heads. They're really canted valve big block heads on a small block, perfectly feeding those 427 small block cubes with a big block style head. Nothing makes the power these things can make on a stroker Windsor - not even close.

Look at the engine masters competition - the vast majority of stroker small block Fords entered are running the Aussie aluminum Cleveland heads. Look at Roush, look at Billy Mitchell, look at almost any engine builder. Their top of the line, highest output stroker Windsors are all Clevors - Windsors with Cleveland heads. There is a reason why. It's a big block head on a big block sized engine. Sure it's a bit more inconvenient - you have to buy a new intake and adapt the headers - so what. By the way, tell them you're putting the heads on a Windsor block when you purchase them and the heads will arrive all set up regarding the water passages - no big deal at all. You want massive power, or you want convenience?

[WildBill3]

Hey all good thread my choice is the Brodix track1 works great with our 408 and cam choice.good hunting!!!