I am rebuilding an 8ba for my 31 ford. As I look at heads there's a lot to look at now and everyone points the finger at Navarro for being the best but they are much more expensive. Now I am not trying to cheap out here but I also hear offy heads are very nice bit dont quite make the power Navarros do. Is the couple extra hp worth the couple hundred bucks? Or is it quite a bit more power?
I am definitely not worried. I know flattys come in horsepower per cubic dollar. But I just wondered if the performance gain was rather large or not very.
In my book, Edmunds heads are the best. They have the spark plug relocated just enough so that it is no longer right above the exhaust valve. This allows the use of extended tip plugs that gets the spark further out in the combustion chamber for maximum efficiency. I am running two pair and couldn't be happier. Of course, since they are no longer made, you have to look a bit to find a good set. They are out there. No matter what brand you decide to use, make sure you fit them to your engine to optimize quench. In my book, it is the one thing that adds the most efficiency to a flathead.
Just Saying , Think out Side the box / Norm , Relocate Plug , by making a plug for Original location , Then New plug hole Or even Twin Plugs ! also some where here on HAMB Some have issues with a **** crank If thats case & wanting to build a big inch F -H why not have crank made $1,500-2k
I run the blower heads from Navarro on my 8BA, but they required a little work before installation. They weren't flat on the bottom which wasn't a big deal since we had to deck them to dial in the quench as @tubman mentioned. They also had to be milled at all of the mounting holes so the washers and acorns would sit flat. That could have been a polishing error as I purchased them polished from H&H.
Actually the HP difference between Navarro of Offy heads is so little you would never actually feel it. Ronnieroadster
Save your money. You’ll never notice the difference. It’s all about looks and sound a few hp isn’t worth it
According to Joe Abbin, flathead extraordinaire from Albuquerque, there is less than 3-5 h.p. Difference between the best flowing head(has a flow bench and dyno and knows how to use them) and Henry Ford cast iron. In other words, there has not been a head designed that will appreciably increase the horsepower over a stock cast iron head. The finned aluminum look is basically for looks and very little increase in power. Spend your monies on displacement,more carburetor,porting, and valve sizes!!!
I'm running a 8BA with early heads because I wanted the center outlets, Offenhauser 400 heads, Offenhauser intake with 2 Holley 94's, H&H flathead with a 3/4 cam in a 30 Sport Coupe and it has plenty of power. I'm really impressed with the workmanship from H&H, but you definitely pay for a flathead. Been driving my coupe about 5 years and it's close to a $6K flathead so be a lot more now.
Thats kinda what I have gathered. Flatheads are a trip. They take all the engine knowledge you have garnered over the years and all but throw it out haha. Its still a air pump more air more power but compression has an adverse affect
I wanted a nice dual carb intake and fancy aluminum heads, but looking at the price, then converting that to CAN$, it just didn’t make sense, and this was just before Covid. So, for now, stuck with an earlier Ford aluminum intake and stk cast iron heads. I did just splurge on a vintage 2x2 Edmunds intake at Hershey this year ($400). Also, the second C59A flathead I “rescued” has the factory Ford aluminum heads, so might swap them out one day, or keep them if I rebuild it.
Dude, your in Canadia, a set of aluminum ford heads and polish the **** out of them. I love those things! They would look tidy with a polished Edmonds intake.
ever see the "hot rod" magazine series from 1956, "building a flathead the right way"? their suggestion was to use iron heads. less problem with erosion and expansion rates are the same as the block. of course, they don't look as good...
One of the best sounding flatheads out there. This vid pretty much cemented my decision. to go with a flathead. Had Sharp heads and Sharp intake.
That does sound fantastic. My only worry is whatever that 9.5 stands for thats stamped in. Hopefully thats not compression ratio. That would be crazy high
I had some similar Sharp heads that were stamped "MOON" and "10.0". I ***umed that it was compression ratio, but not sure.
I would guess the only way is to cc them and do the math. There is not much info out there on vintage sharp parts
The Jalopy Journal
