Engine build ideas
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 7,019
Likes: 210
From: SoCal
Edelbrock Performer Heads...https://www.edelbrock.com/performer-...-90-60379.html or https://www.edelbrock.com/performer-...pet-60329.html, but I could not tell which one is better that is why I read these forums. _ Tony.
Trailering
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 21
Likes: 6
From: Windber
I'm going to be running a set of these on my dads car https://www.airflowresearch.com/185c...cylinder-head/ They are a little cheaper than the Edelbrocks. AndI just ordered a set for my truck too after i found a leaking exhaust valve. https://treperformance.com/i-2390147...assembled.html This place has them for $536 with free shipping and no tax. They also have a $40 off coupon on their home page.
Hotshot
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 11,141
Likes: 25
From: south louisiana
If you're good at port work, just remove the Thermactor bumps inside the exhaust ports and port match the walls and roof to the header gasket. If you're going to do a valve job, then bowl blend all this down to the valve seats. Then just do a clean up on the intake sides. The exhaust side of SBF heads were always the bottleneck to performance. I did a set like this and it really turned out well in a 3500 lb Ranger with a B cam(with 1.7 rockers) and a C9OX intake. Pulled to 6500.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 2,719
Likes: 806
If you're good at port work, just remove the Thermactor bumps inside the exhaust ports and port match the walls and roof to the header gasket. If you're going to do a valve job, then bowl blend all this down to the valve seats. Then just do a clean up on the intake sides. The exhaust side of SBF heads were always the bottleneck to performance. I did a set like this and it really turned out well in a 3500 lb Ranger with a B cam(with 1.7 rockers) and a C9OX intake. Pulled to 6500.
Thread Starter
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Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 57
Likes: 9
From: Kalispell, Mt
Either way, I dont have a set of stock heads to mess with currently, and honestly with kids ranging from 17 to 1, with another truck in build in progress for one of the boys, I dont have the time to sit down and spend hours grinding. I know I am going to have to buy heads, so it makes the most sense to buy one of the above mentioned after market sets ready to go, instead of buying stock heads that need all the work. What I am out in an extra couple of hundred dollars I save in time. I appreciate the feedback, honestly, but stock heads just simply are not a choice.
Hotshot
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 11,141
Likes: 25
From: south louisiana
Hotshot
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 11,141
Likes: 25
From: south louisiana
Either way, I dont have a set of stock heads to mess with currently, and honestly with kids ranging from 17 to 1, with another truck in build in progress for one of the boys, I dont have the time to sit down and spend hours grinding. I know I am going to have to buy heads, so it makes the most sense to buy one of the above mentioned after market sets ready to go, instead of buying stock heads that need all the work. What I am out in an extra couple of hundred dollars I save in time. I appreciate the feedback, honestly, but stock heads just simply are not a choice.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 2,719
Likes: 806
That's not an opinion. If you've ever had one of those heads on the flow bench you'd feel the same way. The thermactor bump is directly behind the exhaust valve stem where it isn't really in the flow path. Removing it entirely just adds more turbulence. So go learn a few things instead of parroting crap information.
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Hotshot
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 11,141
Likes: 25
From: south louisiana
That's not an opinion. If you've ever had one of those heads on the flow bench you'd feel the same way. The thermactor bump is directly behind the exhaust valve stem where it isn't really in the flow path. Removing it entirely just adds more turbulence. So go learn a few things instead of parroting crap information.
Thread Starter
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Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 57
Likes: 9
From: Kalispell, Mt
I appreciate everyone's feedback.... I would really like to keep this thread open and collect info. The discussion is a moot point as I do not have a set of stock heads to mess with right now like I said. Its more than just the time for porting, its the time to go find them, pull them, break them down, get them done up at a machine shop, and do all the valve work. I just got done doing a valve job on a set of 5.4 heads.... Im just going to buy something off the shelf that I can bolt on. that is a part of this I have in the budget. So unless a set of ready-to-go GT40s lands in my lap, Im just buying aluminum heads.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 2,719
Likes: 806
It IS your opinion. I'm not parroting anything. You how ever post some real whoppers here. We've seen your kind before here. They come and go regularly. Some one disagrees with them, and they puff up and put them down with BS. If you don't like what I post then do what your mom said, keep it to yourself.
I can show you actual flow bench and dyno results from factory Ford heads with porting work and that's why I posted that about porting. For many years it was "common wisdom" about how factory Ford heads needed all this attention on the exhaust side to run well and those ideas have largely been proven false in actual real world testing.
Hotshot
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 11,141
Likes: 25
From: south louisiana
Why don't you give me a few examples of these "whoppers".
I can show you actual flow bench and dyno results from factory Ford heads with porting work and that's why I posted that about porting. For many years it was "common wisdom" about how factory Ford heads needed all this attention on the exhaust side to run well and those ideas have largely been proven false in actual real world testing.
I can show you actual flow bench and dyno results from factory Ford heads with porting work and that's why I posted that about porting. For many years it was "common wisdom" about how factory Ford heads needed all this attention on the exhaust side to run well and those ideas have largely been proven false in actual real world testing.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 4,197
Likes: 558
From: Central Wisconsin
The AFR 185 Enforcers that sethahoward linked above are a solid choice on a budget. The problem with all of the junk chinese heads is usually not the castings, it's the hardware in the heads and the machine work for the valve guides, seats, and studs. AFR takes some fairly inexpensive castings, machines them, and puts good hardware in them.
Thread Starter
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Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 57
Likes: 9
From: Kalispell, Mt
Normally it's the veteran members that have to tell the new members to settle down, not the other way around.
The AFR 185 Enforcers that sethahoward linked above are a solid choice on a budget. The problem with all of the junk chinese heads is usually not the castings, it's the hardware in the heads and the machine work for the valve guides, seats, and studs. AFR takes some fairly inexpensive castings, machines them, and puts good hardware in them.
The AFR 185 Enforcers that sethahoward linked above are a solid choice on a budget. The problem with all of the junk chinese heads is usually not the castings, it's the hardware in the heads and the machine work for the valve guides, seats, and studs. AFR takes some fairly inexpensive castings, machines them, and puts good hardware in them.
Sweet, thats good info, and I appreciate. I actually just found out I can order GT40's from autozone for $400 each..... but I will probably still go with the AFR's. I see so much info on cam profiles I am really struggling there. Im hoping to strip the block down this weekend and check bores to see if they are all still round and if they have been worked over before. Would be nice to just have to put new bearings in and run with what is there. Trying to do an engine swap in a '99 for my son has slwoed me down quite a bit. We got the truck for almost free and a good motor for not much more... He isnt allowed to drive the '95 anymore.