Gary, King bearings seem to be all the rage right now. You may want to investigate them for your build. That's what I went with. They are claiming longer life and seem to have a few options for the HP application.

 

I'll give him a call and see what he can do and what the prices are. Probably today as the trip to see Dad is off and I'm headed to the doctor this afternoon. Dad doesn't need whatever I have. Anyway, I'll have time to call today.

 

Have you kicked around building a girdle for your lower end? You have a mill and probably all of the measuring implements. I doubt anybody makes one. Maybe a girdle for the top end?

 

These are all for the W. I didn't see any for the C or M.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/p...keyword=girdle

 

Where to start.....

Jim - I contacted Quality Plating but the guy I needed to talk to, Tim, wasn't in so I was asked to email him, which I've done. We'll see what he says.

Bruno:

• The phone # you gave for Big Bobby gets you to Kayla, Stanley Morton's daughter.
• King bearings: I'll check that out, but I usually go with someone like Federal Mogul or Mr. Gasket.
• Girdle: I hadn't planned on a girdle since I've not seen anyone suggesting that. I'll re-read the book I have on these engines, but I'm not racing it so won't be winding it up where the extra forces will be exerted.
• ARP's: Yes, I'm going to be looking for a set, but need to see if the Eddy heads come with any.

And, while talking to Kayla I found out that they charge ~$400 to put an engine together after they've done the machine work. Also, they have a dyno and usually charge $500, but if they do the machine work and I put it together they could probably do it for $400. So, since I like to put them together........

 

Wow! I sure got a lot of comments about the previous post. I thought surely someone would have some kind of comment on the dyno possibility.

Anyway, Tim Meyer called this morn and we had a good, long conversation. Here are my notes, and I'd like your thoughts regarding them:

• He's not fond of the Edelbrock heads. Says they are too much like the original heads. He prefers either the Trick Flow 2V or the CHI's, both of which he sells. Says he can get me the TF's for about what I can get the Eddy's.
• However, he may be getting a new batch of Aussie 302C heads and might be able to sell me a set if I buy a full engine kit from him (more on that later). The Aussie heads are closed-chamber heads like the TF's and Eddys so you get quench. But the Aussie's don't flow as well as either of the aluminum heads so you give up some power - maybe 20 - 30 ft-lb and up to 50 HP. But, they might be ~$700 cheaper than aluminum.
• Compression ratio: With cast iron heads and quench I can run 9.5:1 with 87 octane, but with aluminum I'll want to step it up to 10.5, still with 87 octane. That's because the aluminum head absorbs the heat of combustion so quickly that you actually lose power with aluminum heads, so need to bump up the CR by a point to compensate. He said that all else being equal the Aussie heads at 9.5 would return the same gas mileage as aluminum at 10.5.
• He doesn't like to go with an off-the-shelf Comp cam since they don't charge more to grind a different profile. So he will work with me to get just the right cam from Comp.
• He has a spreadsheet, which he's now sent me, which has the prices of everything and lets me pick and choose what to buy from him. But he assured me that buying from him would be about as cheap as anywhere.

So, in spite of my previous decision to go with the Eddy heads I'm now rethinking. From one standpoint it would be neat to say "Yep, it has Ford heads", so the Aussies have some appeal. And, they are cheaper at ~$1200/pair - assuming Tim has some to sell, which isn't known yet.

On the other hand, the Eddy's are a step up in flow - although I don't have flow #'s for the Aussies I know they don't flow nearly as well as the Eddys. However, the ones that are ~$1750/pair on Amazon (#61629) are for flat tappet cams, meaning they have the wrong springs. And the right ones (#61625) are $2033/pair on Amazon. Yes, if I ordered a cam set from Comp I could get one that includes the springs they want me to run, but now I've got to piece things together.

Or, I can go with the Trick Flows with the best flow of all, as shown below, and get them from Tim for about $1900/pair.

Thoughts? Is it worth it to get the cachet of aluminum and the extra torque and HP for $700? Or does the cool factor of running Ford Aussie heads trump the extra power? (At this point it isn't as much a question of $'s as it is what I want to do - but don't tell my wife. )

 

Hey, Janey! Look at this!!!!

 

I think your standing invitation went walkabout.

 

Oops, wrong thread. I'll come back later to claim this space. Or maybe not.

 

We are, after all, on Page 8......

 

Not cool man, Not cool.....

I'd think so too......

 

Gary knows I'm just playing, no need to get upset....

 

And just to make sure all the non-Okies out there, and we include Chris as an Okie, RW knows Chris is just playing.

Update time:

• Shot peening: The guy Jim put me onto got back today and they can shot peen the rods - for $200, which is their minimum charge. Guess I'll see what steel shot costs.
• Tim: I asked several questions of Tim who responded almost immediately with good answers. So we are getting a good list of parts available I could buy from him. Or, to put it another way, I could "write one check" and get all but the machine work. That would mean I'd get parts that are correct and meet my needs w/o me having to guess. I'm liking it, although I will have to run some numbers to see how his prices compare to others.
• Aussie heads: My buddy Kyle/first today sent me a text message that a guy is advertising a 351C with Aussie heads on CL. I've contacted him and we are trying to figure out whether the heads are 302C or 351C Aussie heads as he doesn't know. Unfortunately the book I have doesn't give casting #'s to differentiate between the two, so if any of you know it would be a big help.

But, no one has comments or suggestions about which head to use?

 

I like the confidence that comes with getting everything all at once from a respected engine builder..

 

I'll second getting all your parts from one supplier if you can, then there is an onus on them to ensure all the parts are compatible.

I may be wrong, but don't you get less head gasket dramas sticking with cast iron heads on an iron block?
On the other hand, brand new quality brand heads mean far less worries about cracking and corrosion.

Oh no, did I just give 2 opposing opinions .

Might be worth posting in the Aussie chapter about the head castings identification. I could look at mine but I don't know if that would help.