I have a 2000 F150 with a 4.6L and only 98,000 miles. The exhaust manifold bolts were broke off in the head on the passenger side. They are not able to get them out at the Ford garage and will more than likely have to pull the head and machine them out. It doesn't make sense to me to pull one head and not do the valves on both while they are in there (yes, I have more money than sense). Is there a better replacement head for these engines out there that will make the engine run a little better or is it just the stock heads that will work?

 

Trick flow twisted wedge.

 

Summit sells a nice kit if your looking for a little more power. (Trick Flow)
Cylinder Head Combos - 2000 - SummitRacing.com
Other then that,,,your stuck with stock or ported Ford heads!
Trick Flow make the only aftermarket head for the 4.6 and 5.4

 

Honestly though, in real world applications, ported stock heads have been making better power than the trick flows, that and you have to buy their cams because the exhaust port is on the opposite side of the cam.

 

I agree.
I think my ported heads flow more then the TF heads anyway.

 

Broken bolts are not machined out but and EDM procedure is used, which is an electrolysis process.

 

Polish and shave the stock heads…. make a lot more power than most people think…lot cheaper than after market and you can still use reg gas.

 

Is there a reputable and knowledgeable service doing the porting and polishing of PI heads?

 

Foxlake for one.
And I used TEA( total Engine Airflow)
They do a great job and might even be a little cheaper then FoxLake.
Check them out.
Total Engine Airflow | CNC Porting | Cylinder Heads | Custom Cylinder Head Assemblies Tallmadge | Airflow Development | Custom Cylinder Head Ohio | TEA Total Engine | Cylinder Head CNC Porting | Ohio | :: Total Engine Airflow ::

 

Thanks Phil---looks like TEA is about 2 hours away from me!

Don't know I'll need them but considering replacing my tired 5.4 gasser with a Ford long block in a '00 E250. Any better performance and/or MPG's I could wring out of the new motor would be nice.

This might be something to look into-------thanks again!

 

For a basically stock motor,
stage 2 heads and stage 2 cams is about all you would need.
Should get you somewhere between 40 to 60 HP gain.
I ran the stage 2 heads for a wile, but when I started getting up over 500rwhp I changed to stage 3 heads with a stage 2 cam.

 

I agree that the Trick Flow heads are over rated and stock ported heads will make more HP. I have a chassis dyno at work that has proved over and over that the Trick Flows never have made more HP than stock unported heads.

 

They don't even make more then the stock non-ported heads?
Really,,,,never knew that...lol

 

With all the talk of ported/polished heads and different cams I wonder how Mike at Five Star Tuning might incorportate a suitable tune into such a motor?

I don't need 500whp but a bump of 40-50 hp on regular gas would be great!

Interested thread so far!

 

I'm sure Mike at Five Star has done tunes for ported heads and performance cams. Just let him know what you have.