Yeah, do like the rest of us do: Get up at 3:30 am and walk the local swap meet with every goddamn cent you can scrounge up, sequestered safely in your jeans. Find the most off-the-wall heads you can find with a cast-in name you never heard of. You get extra points if they have 2 spark plugs per cylinder. Pay waaaaaaaaaaaaay more than they're worth and carry 'em around the swap meet all day long so your buddies can see you with 'em. Go home and soak your sore arm in ice. Put heli-coils in all the threaded holes because there's not one, single thread left in either head and have 'em surfaced for the 34th time. Do not have 'em magnafluxed because you don't wanna know. You have too much money and time invested to cope with cracks in your new/old heads. Have the local machine shop fix the busted fins you didn't see 'till you got 'em home and bolt those suckers up! Start the engine and watch the water fall on the shop floor with amazement! Put new thick head gaskets in and listen to that flatmotor hum! Back the timing off a few degrees and accept the fact you're gonna buy 92 octane from now on. Don't forget the chrome headbolt covers and chrome spark plug wire looms.
[ QUOTE ] I'm in the market for a set of aluminum heads for my flattie any suggestions? [/ QUOTE ] Rocky's method is "tried and true!" (been there done that!) But George's method is easier on the "ole bod!"
Most of the flathead experts say not to buy used heads. If you do, make sure that they have not be taken down or you could be living with some very high compression. Corrosion is also a significant problem with used aluminum heads. There are several good companys making heads now and they all seem pretty good. I used Edelbrock, but a buddy of mine used new Offy heads. Don Orosco is repoping the Eddie Meyer head and I think Navarro is still making his head. I've seen a very large & expensive head (big boy?)for sale on ebay, but have not seen any or heard how they work. You can check some of them out on Red Hamilton's board (Red's headers). Good luck!
yeah, I saw those "big boys" on ebay they were like 3 inches thick or something and waaaay out or my price range..
Wilcap in pismo beach,ca is repoppin Sharp stuff.You tell him what cam,cubic inch,and compression your runnin and he will set them up for your application.# is (805)343-5000.
Link for the Big Boys.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33617&item=2432470012
ROFLMAO Rocky ur killin me over here If you can find em (they tend to only make small runs)I think Edelbrocks are the most bang for the buck!
Most Bang for the Buck? 286Merc has been preaching the gospel for ages. Original Ford EAB heads. No kidding. They've got one of the best compression ratio vs. flow rate of any heads. I think only the Navaro heads are better. I haven't run my engine with them yet, but Carl claims best results with them. Bonus: they're stiff, much stiffer than aluminum heads, and resist leaking water and compression much better.
Most Bang for the Buck? 286Merc has been preaching the gospel for ages. Original Ford EAB heads. Yeah, I do get preachy about them ole EAB's Jason! When I can crank 195+ HP on the dyno with iron heads I done seeeeen the light! And once you do the math using a Merc crank and 3 5/16 bore the CR is right up close to ideal for the street and still be able to run 89 or maybe even some 87 octane. Edelbrock & Offy are OK for street driving but Ive found the QC isnt always the best. Ive had some chambers over 4cc mismatched as well as poor finishing work around the plug holes. I dont mind doing some rework, some guys have returned unacceptable ones and got good replacements with no hassles. Others have reported they had to rework to fit over studs. But for the price and traditional looks they are hard to beat. With the off brands in the $600-1200 range....no thanks. Save them for Street Rodders and racers.
Trickest of the old heads were Smith -- big thick beauties with about 60-percent greater water capacity, and a distribution manifold on the top of each one. They were thick and stiff and favored by some serious racers. They were also pricey, then and now. I've heard of one pristine set selling for about three thou just a fews years ago. Tony Barron's heads are very much like the Smith heads, including the outlet manifolds. These heads can be run on the street, but they're intended for serious racin' and are expensive overkill. I believe the only heads Barney is making at the present are his hi-dome race heads, and these are usually all spoken for ahead of time.
[ QUOTE ] Most Bang for the Buck? 286Merc has been preaching the gospel for ages. Original Ford EAB heads. [/ QUOTE ] Pardon if this is a dumb question ... how does one identify EAB heads? I need to get a few books and starting reading up on this stuff. I was goingt to run an OHV engine, but am really leaning towards a flathead now. Thanks! -don
Haring, the EAB heads were the very last of the Ford passenger car heads. I think they were '51 untill the end. Identifying them is EASY - they say EAB in the center of the head. They are - of course - made for 8BA engines, and in my mind if you are out for performance, you are building a late engine, but they can be fit up to an earlier engine if you must. I haven't done that, but read that it's a do-able thing. I've polished a set and stuck them on my '50 Merc engine. I like the looks of OEM parts rather than dolled up aftermarket stuff.
[ QUOTE ] I'm in the market for a set of aluminum heads for my flattie any suggestions? [/ QUOTE ] How much money are you thinking of spending? You can go in a number of directions. Great repos are available everywhere: Flathead Jacks, Speedway, and maybe even Target. You could also work the heads you may already have. You could port and polish them, and mill them for a higher compression. What are you building, and what do you want? --Matt
I really just wanted aluminum for the eye candy factor I've got a 49 coupe with a (supposedly) 51 8ba I don't have any idea on how to tell the year. I don't really have a problem with the way it is now, fenton intake and 2 94's I really just want a nice, semi-strong street motor to cruise. Does this help any? Cody
Yeah, I do get preachy about them ole EAB's Jason! When I can crank 195+ HP on the dyno with iron heads I done seeeeen the light! And once you do the math using a Merc crank and 3 5/16 bore the CR is right up close to ideal for the street and still be able to run 89 or maybe even some 87 octane I haven't figured out the quote thing yet. Any way help me 286merc that's what I want!!!
[ QUOTE ] I really just wanted aluminum for the eye candy factor [/ QUOTE ] Cody, I would recommend that you buy whatever heads look best to you. Then you can do whatever machne work you want to them, if any. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? It's your car, so get the heads you like. Personally, I like the Eddie Meyer ones. --Matt
Nothing magic about building a flatty, there are probably as many good books out there now as for a SBC. My favorites for new or experienced guys are listed below and all are now carried by Speedway. Some glaring omissions and even some errors exist but thats what makes it "fun": Tex Smith/Ron Ceridino Frank Oddo Mike Davidson Joe Abbin The last is about blown flatheads but is the only one to include actual flow tests with port & relief block mods as well as comparisons between various stock and aftermarket heads. I had my 276 built and tested about 3 months before his R&C article and it was amazing how close our results were. It also proved to a bunch of skeptics that the cfm formula so many think is gospel is way off; we both ran 600 cfm for the best runs! Schneider has a wide selection of cams. Reds Headers for most internals (he also carries Schneider) A hot electronic ignition, forget about points if you want top fire at high revs. Besides checkbook ones converted Mopar and Chev are top notch. A trustworthy machinist that not only understands the engine but is not so full of himself that he thinks he is worth gold. Im sure Texas has some down to earth honest ones. And then you have a solid bunch of HAMBers to keep you out of trouble. As far as the quotes and shit, it is all straight HTML. To get this you type < b >this< / b >. BUT dont use any spaces between the brackets. b is bold i is italics For a quick tutorial go on Ebay and read their help files.
I personally like 425 Offys, you can put them on a run them stock but there is plenty of meat there for some seurious cutting if you're a nut like me. There's nothing wrong with Edelbrocks either for general use.
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