Superformance MKII, Riverside Racer 289 FIA vintage race car

[1795]

Just received the flow chart from the person that did the porting on the heads. They look pretty good. Stock they were supposed to flow 262 cfm intake and 204 cfm exhaust at .700 lift. Not sure if they actually ever performed at that level. Here is the flow chart:



That should provide some improvement in performance. Given that I do not plan on having a cam with a .700 lift, something in the .600 range will hit the peak flow. Looking forwards to getting this build done before the race season is over.

Jim

[xb-60]

Looks like he very much knows his 'craft'.
Might be a dumb question....will the Webers need any rejetting to suit the better flow?

Cheers!
Glen

[1795]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Looks like he very much knows his 'craft'.
Might be a dumb question....will the Webers need any rejetting to suit the better flow?

Cheers!
Glen

Glen,

Not a dumb question. Yes, I will be rejetting and tuning them in on a chassis dyno. You can't change one thing without it having an effect on other settings.

Jim

[Mark IV]

Picking Jim's FIA up on the 14th for transport to Time Machines. Georgie from Gas-N is coming to fabricate improved headers that once completed we will be offering as an upgrade to the factory supplied units. We will have them with a selection of port flanges to allow proper flow on the range of Windsor heads available.

[1795]

Georgie from Gas-N and his crew came Saturday morning to start the mock-up for the new headers for the race car, these headers will also fit other SPF street cars and FIA's as well, and possibly other cars using the original frame design for the 289's.

What an impressive level of skill to observe. They were quick, efficient and highly talented. They would install a flange on one side, started with the driver's side (which was the most difficult one due to the steering shaft and brake/clutch master cylinders) and started piecing together the tubes.



There was a lot of trial and error, but not too much error, in getting them to fit. They would quickly figure out the angles required, cut a section of tube to fit, test it and tack weld it in place. There was a lot of time spent disconnecting the driver's side motor mount, rolling the engine over and then moving it back, as there is no way to drop the header in from the top on that side and you cannot put it up from the bottom either.



By mid afternoon they had one side done and were moving on to the next.



They will be completing it Sunday morning and then taking the mock-ups back with them to make a new set of headers and a set of side pipes for the car. Truly great people, both personally and professionally. Of course, between having Rick Muck there, Georgie and Rick's friend Mike (who was involved with Shelby's GT350 program) the stories were endless.....Wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Also, received great news from my PT during our first session, my ROM after the rotator cuff surgery is ahead of schedule and he expects a complete recovery. So, racing should be on the schedule at some point this year.

Jim

[Mark IV]

So a weekend of prototype header design and fabrication has ended very successfully. The prototypes will be laser scanned and production headers will be one-piece tubes. The headers are all stainless and will be available in full polished or brushed finishes. These race headers are 1 3/4" primaries but street headers will be available in either 1 5/8" or the 1 3/4" versions. The flanges are THICK (plan on longer header bolts!) laser-cut stainless and will be available with ports to match stock Ford heads as well as most of the aftermarket heads. These prototypes were done for Jim's new ported Dart heads. We will also be working on a long tube version but that will be over the winter.

These headers fit all of the Superformance and Shelby 289 models, the MK II street, the FIA/USRRC and of course original Cobras.

We will have pricing in a few weeks and will announce it when ready. We now offer the Gas-N line of headers and sidepipes for the Superformance MK III as well. We were shown the prototype for a really new concept for the SPF MK III header that uses a "gimbal" between the primaries and the collector that makes the sidepipe alignment a breeze. This system allows the flange to the sidepipe to be rotated and moved in two axis which makes sidepipe installation slick, no wedges needed, no "torque" on the sidepipe mounts and a thick flange on both collector and sidepipe for no hot warping.

Thanks to Georgie and his crew, these guys are real craftsmen and made it look easy.....I assure you it isn't!

[1795]

Trying to get everything put back together and ready for a vintage race at Watkins Glen on July 7-11. Georgie sent the test models of the headers to me and they looked good and fit well. The final version will have fewer welds and will look a little more shiny than these, but these will get me on the track and that is all that matters now. It takes awhile in product development to get things to a finish stage and Georgie and his crew have done a very nice job.



The headers are installed. They should flow nicely. Georgie also made me a set of exhaust pipes with a small custom made muffler (straight through flow) to try to keep the noise down to about 100 decibels. Some tracks do not have a noise limit and others do. Besides, I really enjoy being able to hear and open pipes right near your ears can get a little loud.



Will hopefully have everything buttoned up and ready for a dyno tuning session before the race weekend. Going to go to Pitt Race the following week for the Vintage Grand Prix there.

Jim