i have a 30 over 390 with a scat stroker crank, h beam rods, probe pistons, edelbrock aluminum heads,edelbrock performer rpm intake, comp cam 294s flat tappet cam,and a 1050 barry grant carb. I love this engine!! runs amazing. But they are moving me out of stock class next year, because of my aluminum heads. What upgrades do stock heads need to handle my motor. The heads will be ported and polished, and gasket matched to my intake. I looking for any advice you might have that will be helpfull.

 

I would get some CJ heads. The CJ and out of the box Eds flow virtually exactly the same. Here's some information on identifying them. 428CJ Head ID
You can generally find them for $900-1300, but I have seen them as low as $600 not too long ago. (Wish I would have gotten those!) You could probably break even if not make a little $$ by selling the Eds and not lose anything. Well you might have to drop the CR a bit with the iron heads depending on what gas your using, and what it is now.

 

I might be wrong, but a set of CJ valves and bigger seats, and a decent porting job, on stock iron heads, C8AE or D2TE, bring you right back up to where the CJ heads are flow-wise.

The big $ difference in the CJ heads is because their casting numbers "match" the vehicle they were originally installed in, and in terms of vintage performance parts, many times you can match the performance without paying the premium that "year/vehicle correct" parts bring.

However, it's a toss-up as to whether or not a set of rebuilt CJ heads will cost more than a set of regular C8/D2 heads after all the porting/polishing and valve work.

 

i do not want to get rid of my edelbrock heads, i have 3 trucks, and when my 460 dies, it will be replaced with a 390. where is a good place to get cj valves at, and do you pefer one company over another? thanks

 

This is what always gets me, you've got a stroker engine with lots of goodies on the inside, but the aluminum heads are what is going to make it get classed out of stock?
Sounds rather wonky to me, as that stroker is nowhere near stock, even with iron heads.......
I don't know what type of competition you are using this engine for, but any "stock" class that allows that much internal mods, is a very loose class indeed.
I love the FE engines, and they are nice to have when it comes to a competition class that that really means stock. Simply slipping a set of 9.5-10.5 CR pistons and a GT/CJ replacement cam into an FE really perks it up, and since they were built this way by Ford in the 60's, technically, they are still "factory stock". Granted, the factory GT/CJ cam has long been obsolete, but the comp 268H is very close to the same specs, and there's a couple other manufacturers that sell similar spec cams.

I know this doesn't really answer your questions, but I just had to comment on the "stock" class bump due to the eddy heads, while the rest of the power adders appear to be allowable........ Loose rules, or simply legal by ommission?

 

the motor is used in my mud truck, there are no restrictions on motor, as long as the motor is correct for the body style of truck. Last year there were no restrictions at all, this coming year they are eliminating aluminum heads, i dont make the rules, but i have to obey them. This is why i am taking off the aluminum and going to iron heads. My truck has plates and insurance and i drive it to work once and a while.

 

There are lots of valve makers, Manley, SI, EPN, Ferrea, PEP, etc. I've never really had a problem with the quality of the valve regardless of make. Almost every one will need inspected though and maybe a bit of cleanup. I would look on Ebay, Craigslist, and the other FE forum classifieds (place a want ad and you'll have them).

Here's a link to the other forum FE Classifieds

 

428CJ heads and adj. rockers

There you go, just came up for sale.

I think every casting can be ported to flow up to CJ specs but some like the C8/D2s won't go much past that level. And once all is said and done they will easily be the same price as the CJs with less potential. It should be noted there is a port mismatch between truck headers and non emissions heads. You'll have to slot the bolt holes on the header flange to allow the headers to slide about 1/4" UP to match the higher port of the CJ and earlier heads.

standard CJ flow: about 250/180.
ported to around: 305/230

C8/D2s standard flow: 210/150
ported and back cut valves gets you up to: 265/180

C4AE-Gs standard flow: 245/165
blended and ported to: 290/200

The choice is yours. Standard CJ level is probably only good for maybe 470hp with your build.

 

Heck guess i'll throw my 2 cents in here too. But don't the 390 block need to be bocked out some at the top of cylinder block for those larger intake valves to clear if it's not bored out enough with a high lift cam. Maybe some thing you may want to check if you drop a set of 428 heads on.. Just a heads up on this..
orich

 

he is currently using Edelbrock heads which have CJ sized valves in them.
So I don't see how that is an issue.

 

There's no problem with the CJ valve sizes (2.09x1.65) in a 390 bore. 2.15 intake and 1.67 exhaust are the max you can go in a std bore 390. If he had a std bore and the max valve sizes he might have a bit of valve shroud on the exhaust, but he's at 030 over so he'll no problems at all.

 

Why not run a set of Dove Manufacturing cast iron heads.
They have many options (med riser,cj, TUNNEL Port, P.I.E(think its iron)
and also canadian cobra jet which is ideal for 390 blocks.
The greatest part is the flow best out of the box, probably flow more than the ford cj all ported up and the edlebricks, theres low probability of it being warped or cracked,
and you can get them to throw in a roller rocker setup to