I don't know of any "old timer" that would say spend the big bucks on alum heads if all you want is 450hp. Since some of the 385 series engines were conservatively rated at up to 390hp in stock trim hitting 450hp is a walk in the park. Personally I would ditch the D3s & find a set of C8, C9 or D0 heads. Revalved to the SCJ valves & ported.

I would find a set of factory 2WD motor mounts complete. Bolt in & no hassles. The 4X4 is a different animal. Something else to consider is spending the extra money on a set of Hookers with the 1 7/8" primaries.

 

I ended up going the C8 route like you mentioned. Aluminum heads are the thing. That's what everryyyyybody wants.


But Mike it happens. I think it just proved how in general old iron is strong and can save your life. If I would of been in my s10 I used to own I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now. Actually 2 days after the wreck the transmission blew and I had to rebuild that didn't really get any pictures at the time, I should of because I know a lot of people are scared to get in to an auto tranny when it's really simple plus I could of went the step by step route of how to do the C6 shift kit because it's a lot more in depth the a turbo 350.


Cory- Personally I think that everyone gives the 335 series a bad rap for now legitiment reason. 99% of the people who down it have either never delt with the engines or didn't know what to do. I also think where everybody else says that it's rediculiously expensive to build these, that I have the unfair advantage with working where I do. Right there between the refreshing machine work and performance work to the heads is between 1,500 to 2,000 dollars for what I would do.

The only money I'd have into the heads would be guideplates and possibly valves depending on the OAL and head diameter. everything else I can get at work.

 

What did you do with the old 351 that came out of it?

 

A 400 would be cool and different, but a 460 would probably be the better choice IMO. I vote 460!

 

Nothing beats cubic inches!

 

The 351 is still in it and kickin'!


So I deffinatly agree with you guys on going with the 460, believe me I really do. But the cash he threw in on top of the 400 I really couldn't refuse, it paid my lawyer payment for this month.


So last night we did the swap and the 400 came with a S#*T ton of extras. Including an AC compressor and bracket. Which now I basiclly have the complete setup now. SWEEETTTT!!!!


The 400 is deffinatlly dirty on the outside but really clean on the inside. There was some water down in the #3 bore but it hadn't been there long luckily. So today I took the passanger side head into work and started fiddling with it. Really getting to look at the ports on the heads I could deffinatilly tell that there was some restriction in the exhaust ports but not as bad as it seemed.


Over all in my opinion the port design is a pretty good layout for old technology. There is deffinatlly a lot of meat in the bowl of the intake side to blend it out. So that's exactly what I spent 2 hours doing tonight, doing a nice bowl blend gradually taking it out farther and farther till I could get the shape I want. Luckily I didn't hit water. I don't know how much room there is to work with in these heads.


Now for someone wanting to tackle a bowl blend themselves they will learn to love and hate cast iron. They will love it do to the fact that cast iron is a lot more forgiving, so while your getting used to the burr and accidently have to much pressure it won't be as bad. But will hate it due to the fact it takes so long to do it. Normally a complete bowl blend on an aluminum head takes me about 20-30 minutes but it took me 2 hours on these heads and that was only the intake side. I haven't even touched the exhaust yet.


Now if someone wants to start blending and porting a little tip on burrs for you. Get a few diffenernt shapes and sizes so that way you have options. Also when buying burrs a course burr is for aluminum since it's a softer metal and fine is for steel. What ever you do when ever you buy a burr make sure it's CARBIDE.


The short turn on the heads I'm a little iffy about because it's basically making it impossible for a smooth radius, but I'll figure it out. I have decided what I'm doing about the guide situation yet. I'll probably end up taking the intake guides flat and drilling it out bigger then installing a bronze guide. on the exhaust most likely I'll make a nice wing with the original guide. Word to the wise on any kind of head machining.


With a cast iron head you can get away with using a bronze guide on the intake side but DO NOT put a bronze guide on the exhaust side. The reason being the different metals heat coeffient is different, being bronze expands quicker then cast iron. In the situation of a bronze guide in the exhaust would cause it to basically collapse in on it's self seizing a valve after awhile. In a drag race only situation you could do it but for anything that's going to see substantional run time you cannot.


Monday I'm gonna see what I can do to the exhaust side of the head. The reason I'm not finishing the blend is because when I go to VJ it I'll have to do some more blending on the throat.

As soon as I get home I'll throw up some pics.

 

It's your truck but have you even checked into what really needs to be done with the heads before you decided what to do? Does no good whatsoever to make 1 side breath better than the other. Have you done your homework on your specific heads or just decided this is what I am going to do? Good luck but you sound like you just want to say "I did this" instead of really doing what will make it run better.

 

No I've been doing my homework on the 335 series for the past 2 years. The intake bowl blend was my starting point. I'm going through the heads slowly so I can keep throwing them on the flowbench after each change to see what they like. It's not really going for an I did this, it's going for let's see what we can get out of these heads. I make a living as a machinest and a racer. So I like to see what makes things tick, for example the short side turn on these heads are not your normal short turn so I'm doing a little at a time to see what the flow bench says.


I understand the point you were trying to get at, but no I'm not just jumping in head first without a clue. I like to focus on one side at a time when I blend or port.

 

elgemcdlf while I'm thinking about it, you've done the Crown Vic swap correct?

 

Yes I have a CVPI IFS along with a MN12 IRS under my truck.

 

This logic can prove to defeat you. An engine is just a glorified air pump. It does no good at all to get x flow on the intake side if you are unable to achieve x flow on the exhaust. I would tend to think a more logical approach would be to measure flow on both sides prior to doing anything at all & work on the lower side first. Keeping the better flow on the exhaust side. Adding headers, pipes & mufflers will cut the flow back.

 

IIRC there was a few years with the panther platform that had bolt up front suspensions correct? With the IFS and IRS how much better does the truck handle and how much of a drop is it?

 

I have come down between 6 & 6 1/2" all the way around. The bolt in IFS runs from '03-'11. The handling is excellent. I have yet to be able to make it slip in the curves.

 

What would I be looking at ballpark wise for the front end swap with the bolt in style?

 

I do not understand your question. Ballpark labor wise? Ballpark money wise? Ballpark drop wise? Ballpark?