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Reliabilty of twisted wedge heads (302)
I'm considering the TFS twisted wedge heads for a 325 HP/302 (from Southern Automotive), they look nice but the twisted rocker action has be a little concerned. This is for street use.
Won't this cause a strange wear pattern on the cam lobes and/or accelerated wear to the valve guides because of the twist to the rocker action? Will roller rockers minimize this? Also, SA seems a bit pricy at ~6K - don't mind spending that if its first rate - any suggestions for equally regarded builders? TIA engine Gurus, Jim |
Jim
I have over 70,000 miles on my TFS Twisted Wedge Heads with Crane roller rockers with no problems. I originally bought the heads cut for WireLoc gaskets but had too many head gasket problems so had them shaved flat and now use regular Fel Pros with no further problem. I just rebuilt the heads and did not have to have the guides replaced just re cut the seats, new seals and reshim the springs. Seems to me that the valve train geometry isn't too bad other wise the guides would've been worse. One thing to be aware of is that the heads raise the valve cover lip by 3/8" over stock so if you have anything with tight clearance to the valve covers, such as fuel injection, you should check clearance. I used the FMS Cobra valve covers on mine and with the roller rockers I had to remove the oil filler splash plate and grind out some of the casting bosses from inside the valve covers to clear the rockers. |
I have over 21,000 miles on mine without any problems. Check with Summit on pricing. Buy before Dec. 31 and you get 10% off the catalog price.
David |
Jim,
If I read your post correctly, your thinking about investing 6K into a 320hp small block using twisted wedge heads and beleive this may be a bit pricey. As an alternative, why not consider a FMS 302 long block advertised at 345hp at about $3200? This would leave plenty $$ for bolt-on goodies and still be way below the 6K mark. |
Jim, I don't think you will get any negative comments from the many Southern Automotive customers. You might want to consider a 351W for close to the same price. I have the 410HP, also with TFS heads. What a screamer. A couple of guys in the area are working on Unique 289 cars and are putting SA 396 strokers that make the high 400s in HP. Lots of options. SA is certainly a good way to go.
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Unique & Southern
Jim I am waiting for my Unique and Southern combination now. The rsponse I get from both whenever I have a stupid question has been better then excellent. If they delivery what I think they will I will be one happy camper. You can't go wrong with either.
Check with me late Jan and I'll share my experience with you. Check with me late Feb early Mar and I'll give you a ride :3DSMILE: :3DSMILE: |
Jim,
I have the same setup as Mike above including the Crane roller rockers and I have had mine since 1996 with no problems. He is correct about the roller rocker clearance but I got Felpro laminated gaskets which gave me the extra clearnace needed for the rockers to clear the oil splash shield instead of grinding the mounting studs down. All the laminated gaskets are is two thick ones fastened together with a steel shim in between. Never had a leak either, but either way is good. :) :) |
In the '96 - '97 timeframe, TFS took the TW heads off the market to look into - resolve accelerated valve guide wear problems being experienced by end users.
I got one of the first sets of redesigned TW heads. So far, 12,000 miles, and no noted problems. For insurance, when I had the pistons flycut, I had them cut for TW heads, and standard valve location heads (Ede, AR, WP, etc.) just in case I had to change. TFS does require roller rocker arms to use this setup. I used CompCams ProMagnum steel roller rocker arms. Some Mickey Mouse was needed adjusting the pushrod guide plates so the rocker arm roller tip was centered on the valve stem. Still not sure I agree with using neoprene rubber valve guide seals rather than teflon, or teflon insert seals to control oil consumption down the valve guides, but time will tell. |
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