[dave-r]

I hope they flow better than these! (220 CFM Intake@.700)

What heads are they Eddie?

[ianandjess]

gday eddie that would be great if you could post any info you find out about these heads itll help me out heaps as thats what ive got im still waiting for the main studs to arrive so i still havent done anything more to the engine
cheers ian

[Eddie]

I hope they flow better than these! (220 CFM Intake@.700)

What heads are they Eddie?

Those are Small Block Chevy Sportsman Heads in cast iron, they are made primarily for class racers. These heads here are Brodix small chevy and they flow over 370+ CFM. They are developed for alcohol sprint car engines 410 cubes/950+ HP with mechanical fuel injection.(They have 268 CC Intake ports)

[Eddie]

Here's what a dropped valve at high RPM's look like, the same sprint car head above flipped over! I noticed the sprint car head has huge SMOOTH shaped ports with a pronounced 'wing' on the guide boss. I think this helps at the 1",(.900 to -one inch of intake lift) lift on their cams, and the fact they turn 10k RPM's with a 5:1 air fuel ratio,(5 parts air to 1 part fuel), methanol is the fuel of choice in their "arena of battle" I live 4 miles from the track, I can hear them outside in my backyard!

[Eddie]

The exhaust side on the damaged head,(BTW, that head was developed by Jones Engineering a leading sprint car engine builder located here in terre haute), they donated it to the school. Right now they have me building Chevy small blocks Unfortunately this takes time away from my project. (Chevy SB's have a 18436572 firing order) As reported above: I will take a measurement of the inatke ports and exhaust ports on the 440 source head, installed heights, CC the I & E ports and report my findings on here. Then I will flow the valves at .050-.100-.150-.200 ect and report my findings as well. I have a special performance cylinder head class this spring. I am going to use my heads as the class project. Just about every detail you can think of will be 'explored' and learned. All findings will be reported back to you guys. As ususal if you guys need to know about anything let me know. This may save someone some cash buying theirs and doing what I do to increase flow and velocity plus maintain or improve the flow balance. I never thought to ask 440 source how much their CNC ported heads cost but I'm sure it is an extra 1000.00,(one thousand) dollars or so. probably more.

[Eddie]

INFO on 440 Source Heads: This is straight from their installation manual. 1). You MUST use ARP #145-3706 Cylinder bolts with their heads. 2). Torque is 60 ft. lbs. with moly lube but the torque seqence is NOT the SAME as the factory 440 cast iron 906's or 452's!!! 3). Fel-Pro Head Gaskets# 8519PT is recommended,, 4). The rocker shaft hold downs must be installed with at least 3/4 of an inch or .750 of the threaded portion of the fastener must be engaged into the boss. STUDS are preferred, which I already have,, ARP stud kits can be obtained through www.rockerarms.com the torque for securing the rocker shafts is 25 ft. lbs. using motor oil. 4). Sparkplugs are Champion RC12YC 3/4 extended reach plugs. The same size as the Magnum 5.2 or 5.9 engines but I use NGK FR-5 in my Magnum 5.9 and edelbrock headed 440 which take the same sized/reach plug. Champion's are for lawnmowers,

[fbernard]

with at least 3/4 of an inch or .750

At least, you have a choice here!

[Eddie]

[Jimiboy]

Nasty

[Eddie]

I found this lodged in the cylinder head bolt hole. Textbook example of carefully checking everything out. The heads are very nice for the money!!!Congrats to 440 source,, more info to come.

[Moparman1972]

Here's what a dropped valve at high RPM's look like, the same sprint car head above flipped over! I noticed the sprint car head has huge SMOOTH shaped ports with a pronounced 'wing' on the guide boss. I think this helps at the 1",(.900 to -one inch of intake lift) lift on their cams, and the fact they turn 10k RPM's with a 5:1 air fuel ratio,(5 parts air to 1 part fuel), methanol is the fuel of choice in their "arena of battle" I live 4 miles from the track, I can hear them outside in my backyard!

Eddie, my father does a lot of motorcycle work for TSI Harley Davidson, including doing his own special headwork on the Screamin Eagle big-bore kits. He actually welds up the intake and makes it smaller when he gets them, putting a 'wing' farther up the intake leading to the guide boss, similar to your heads in the picture, but taken a bit farther. This actually makes the heads flow quite a bit faster than stock, I have the CFM numbers somewhere....... It took quite a few years with a flowbench to perfect the shape, but his head design won the horsepower shootout at Daytona in 1995 when he was working with Dan Vance.

[Eddie]

Dude, your father worked with THE Dan Vance from Vance&Hines fame? He is a LEGEND!!No joke yeah thanks man, I would really appreciate that, I would dearly love to see those ports on the heads for that beast. I used to own a ZX-11 and am fully aware of what a free breathing 1 Liter Sportbike head can produce, it's amazing, but I have to very careful here. I want as much velocity as I can get,,I am learning as much as I can. I speak with a few 'pro's ' from time to time but when I ask them certain questions they just smile and tell me to keep reading,,lol I aim to get 'thrown' out of that place for my persistance,(just kidding there)

[Moparman1972]

Haha i'll see if I can drag out some old pictures of the heads on that bike, they were pretty well worked over. The stuff he does on regular bikes, he uses a mini TIG torch to get in the ports. I can post some pictures of those tomorrow if you're curious. I've been dying to get some aluminum heads for one of my mopar motors and tell him to go to town on them. If it works that well for two cylinders........

[Eddie]

Haha i'll see if I can drag out some old pictures of the heads on that bike, they were pretty well worked over. The stuff he does on regular bikes, he uses a mini TIG torch to get in the ports. I can post some pictures of those tomorrow if you're curious. I've been dying to get some aluminum heads for one of my mopar motors and tell him to go to town on them. If it works that well for two cylinders........

TIG??Funny you should mention that. I am going to take a welding class this spring,, TIG is it. I would appreciate any pics,,very cool!!

[ianandjess]

i would love to see those kinds of pics to you know what they say a picture is worth a 1000 words
cheers ian

[Moparman1972]

Eddie I have not forgotten you, I am getting pictures tonight or tomorrow. We had no heads here with the port work done, and his demonstration heads are lost somewhere in our barn.

He's doing a pair of heads tonight for a customer, and this is similar to the port-shaping done for the Daytona shootout bike, just on a smaller level.

[Eddie]

Eddie I have not forgotten you, I am getting pictures tonight or tomorrow. We had no heads here with the port work done, and his demonstration heads are lost somewhere in our barn.

He's doing a pair of heads tonight for a customer, and this is similar to the port-shaping done for the Daytona shootout bike, just on a smaller level.

Cool, thanks a bunch! I look forward to seeing them!!

[Moparman1972]

So, Eddie, part of my late christmas present to you! My father kinda put those heads aside 'till after christmas, and he started working on them today. The ports have been built up with weld, and will be shaped later today.

Here are some of the flowbench numbers he gets:

Factory original 80" EVO Head intake flows approximately 110-115 CFM at .500" lift with a test pressure of 10" water using .826 SG test fluid in the manometers.

After welding and machining (which actually makes the port SMALLER but more efficient by improving velocity and giving better atomization and cylinder fill), putting a radius in the valve seat, and finishing the port, typical flow measures 145-150 CFM at the same lift and test pressure.

Notice both the intake and exhaust ports have been welded. The intake port will be shaped, but the exhaust port will be cleaned up and remain smooth where the port was built up. The intake and exhaust runners will be cleaned up a bit more too, but not much. There are no gains for polishing the walls of the ports to a shine, because the air is not flowing that close to the wall. The air closest to the wall is at a standstill, and in a good port, does not create turbulence within the rest of the airflow. Meaning that hours spent making a port look like a mirror are useless. As long as the roughness of the wall does not penetrate the layer of standing air and interfere with the flow into the cylinder, there is no need to smooth it further. And the port is smooth enough for this long before you see yourself in it.

When shaping a port, the idea is to get rid of any dead spaces or pockets where air is not flowing, and eliminate turbulence created by shapes in the port. The shape being put in the intake runner will eliminate turbulence and speed up the airflow into the cylinder.

A big area for improvements is the blend between the port walls and the valve seats. This is often just a big step jutting out into the port and is a big disruption for the airflow.

So, pictures of a shaped port tomorrow sometime.

I found out my father tried this port shaping on a set of Chevy 350 heads and had similar results. This was back in 1990 though, so I still have him searching for his before and after numbers!

[Eddie]

Thanks Moparman1972, it appears as if he's increasing the shortside radius? From my understanding, the shortside radius means evrything and smart porters like your Dad, know how to get the shape right for exteme airflow through a port that doesnt differ much from the original volume wise but moves the air much more efficiently, I have noticed the shapes of fast flowing ports and the shape of a Trumpets mouth or bell keeps coming up in my mind,lol. Thanks again, I have a bunch of ideas, class starts soon, more pics if you have em,,Thanks again and one of my best x-mas presents!lol I tire of socks and underwear and doggie treats,(they are delicious).

[Moparman1972]

Eddie, you are spot on with your observation. This is where the majority of your CFM improvement will come from. The air on the longer radius side of the runner has to flow faster to match the air being drawn in on the short side. The shaping of the shortside radius, combined with the built-up material, means that the shortside has to flow more equally with the longside, and it reduces the turbulence and increases all-around velocity quite a bit, as you can see by the CFM numbers on just one cylinder! And this is all with a 30% smaller port.

Eddie, if you wanted to get into doing this yourself, flowbenches can be built for around 300 dollars out of plywood and parts from a McMasters catalog. The flowbench my father built for $400 was recently calibrated to ISO standards, and we flowtest aircraft parts for the company I work at, mostly restricting filters that must flow within a specific cubic-foot-per-hour range.

A good indicator of areas that can be improved in an intake is taking a little dentist's mirror or something similar and sticking it in the intake while it is being flowed. You'd be surprised how many places you can stick the mirror where it does not affect the CFM rate at all. By moving the object around, you may even increase flow! This is a good way to find dead spots and turbulence-causing pockets that can be filled or blended to optimize the port flow. Even Harley's "performance" CNC machined heads from the factory have areas where major improvements can be made to the flow.

Anyone with a set of aluminum heads out there and some simple air tools and TIG welding skills can go to town and REALLY improve their flow numbers, if they have a lot of time to tinker. Clay is a great way to try different port designs at different flow speeds and see where gains of a particular design begin/level-off, e.t.c. And 300 bucks for a flowbench is cheaper by far than a port and polish job by a machinist.

Thinking about this has made me want aluminum heads for my 400 BB build, bad. Dammit Eddie, you just cost me about 1500 dollars!

[Eddie]

Sorry MoParMan1972, I have that affect on people. Thanks for the tips on improving airflow. Incredible that you guys can get that kind of flow thru a port 30% smaller than originally cast. Well done. I am going to be at school for at least a few more years and hopefully have all the access I want on that 1020 SuperFlow flow bench. My Goodson Guide tools are 365.00!! (For measuring valve guides the right way), not wiggling the valve back and forth.LOL I think I'm spending as much on tools as engine parts! We just dont have all the precision tools that are needed for cylinder head blueprinting and valvetrain geometry checking.

[Moparman1972]

Those get very expensive. We are lucky enough to get surplus tools that are no longer accurate enough for the aircraft industry, but are fine for machines that do not go over the speed of sound or leave the ground.

[ianandjess]

this is great info im learning a lot from this post i will be doing this kind of port work once ive finished my challenger but ill have to get that done before i start playing with other projects
that $300 flow bench sounds like the go do you have access to plans for it moparman even if i build 1 thats not accurate it would still tell me if im gaining or losing flow
cant wait to see what you do with your heads eddie
cheers ian

[Moparman1972]

Ian, you should be able to find basic plans for free if you do a google search. If not, they sell small packets in McMasters I think.

They are a very simple setup, just a sealed plywood box with puller fans and some instrumentation. The manometers and such are what is going to cost the most money, and they aren't that bad. You can't really screw up the accuracy because everything is in the instrumentation that you will purchase. I will ask my father for tips and such about building them, he has built two.

The flowbench is handy as hell, and if you get one you can bet you're going to spend many a night trying out port designs. My 8th grade science project as a kid was flow-testing the aerodynamics of different hot wheels and matchbox cars. I had the biggest crowd at the fair when I fired up the flowbench for a live demonstration!

[ianandjess]

thanks moparman ive had a look & found a couple of designs i might build a super simple 1 for starters then see about making a better model
david vizard has a simple idea on gofastnews porting school #2
cheers ian

[Eddie]

I recieved my rockers back from RAS.

[Eddie]

My wife loved the fact I set it up on the kitchen table,(also known as a HillBilly workbench)

[ianandjess]

they look like a pretty sturdy rocker eddie you shouldnt break those lookin goood
cheers ian

[fal308]

Isn't that what a table is for? Down at my house in the living room I have some distributors, a tubing notcher, only one carb, a tool box, 20 ton peunmatic jack etc. not to mention a rake, garden hose and some of my cowboy shooting gear. Then there's the usual TV, stereo, couch, chairs etc

[Eddie]

Isn't that what a table is for? Down at my house in the living room I have some distributors, a tubing notcher, only one carb, a tool box, 20 ton peunmatic jack etc. not to mention a rake, garden hose and some of my cowboy shooting gear. Then there's the usual TV, stereo, couch, chairs etc

Thank God I'm not alone I have everything you do, including spares in my bedroom and fuel injection test equipment in my bathroom. Thanks Ian.