[meat]

Greetings, This is my first time on the post so please excuse. I am a chevy guy, trying to get my son's '73 Maverick as close to the 400hp mark as possible. I have seen the cc article on 400hp with afr heads, so I know its possible. We have an "88 mustang 302 roller motor with an X-303 cam, '69 351 heads 1:94 and 1:60 valves.750 holley C-4 trans,3g stall, and 4.56. What (alum)heads will give the best bang for the buck? 165,185 runners? Is CNC porting worth it for street? Would 165's work if we decided to go 347 cubes next year?I don't want to tear down the engine,flycut pistons etc for now. ANY help is appreciated RC

 

[kennymo]

if you want another set of 69 351 heads for it, let me know. i just pulled my 351w out of my car yesterday and am selling the heads.

 

[meat]

No thanks kenny, If you know who needs a second pair, let me know.Thanks

 

[mustangboy]

You are in a little bit of a tough spot picking a head that will work well on both a 302 and a 347 but with the right cam it can be done...The AFR 165 would be fine on the 302 but will be a bit on the small side for a 347..You might want to choose a tad on the big side for a 302 using something around a 180-200cc runner and it will pay off later on the 347....Did you have a hp goal for the 347?..I am assuming these builds are for some stout street performance and not all out strip power?




Here are a couple of articles right here on the fordmuscle site regarding the 165 heads.
Dyno Duel - AFR 165 versus AFR 165cc Comp. 347 Dyno Test - FordMuscle
Installing and Dyno Testing Small Block Ford AFR Heads - FordMuscle

 

[meat]

Thanks for the reply Frdnut, I liked 400hp or as close as possible. I should focus on 302 cubes cause that's what we got NOW. Are the Afr heads worth $400 or so, more than the Edelbrock heads, is quality the same? Let's face it If we save $400 on heads, we can put it elsewhere in the car. Thanks

 

[bmcd66250]

About that CC article making 400 hp with a stock bottom end and just AFR 165s added, pure advertising or a very happy dyno, no one else since then has been able to duplicate the results.
I'm running the Edelbrock RPMs on my current 306, I ran AFR 185s on one of my previous 347s. The AFR 185s run just fine on a 302 and with the right cam can get you real close to 400 hp. One my mild 347 the AFRs made 420 hp and gobs more torque than the 306. The CNC heads are nice but on a strictly street engine that eventually gets carboned up...
There are much better cams available than Ford's alphabet cams.

 

[mustangboy]

About that CC article making 400 hp with a stock bottom end and just AFR 165s added, pure advertising or a very happy dyno, no one else since then has been able to duplicate the results.
I'm running the Edelbrock RPMs on my current 306, I ran AFR 185s on one of my previous 347s. The AFR 185s run just fine on a 302 and with the right cam can get you real close to 400 hp. One my mild 347 the AFRs made 420 hp and gobs more torque than the 306. The CNC heads are nice but on a strictly street engine that eventually gets carboned up...
There are much better cams available than Ford's alphabet cams.

Some great real world advice right there...One other head you should look at are the twisted wedge heads...Most agree they are better than the stock degree inline style ford heads out there like the edelbrock,AFR, etc....One issue they do have with the slightly different valve angle is they require a different valve eyebrow in the piston once you get to a certain lift number..They are also a little cheaper than the AFR heads..Here is a link to the TFS heads.One other thing to note is the TFS heads flow more than compareable sized heads due to the valve angle..Most say a TFS 170 is similar to a competitors 180ish cfm head..

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...nder-Heads-for-Small-Block-Ford/?autoview=SKU

 

[PSIG]

About $1000 in parts with what you have now to make 450-500hp. Or add anybody's aluminum heads and make 600+ or until the block splits. Of the hundreds of examples out there, one example on this site alone: Blowthru 302 Turbo You don't even need a 347.

Seriously, the days of impressing people with NA V8s is over, except for your own personal enjoyment. When there are lighter $3000 DD street cars out there with 400hp on less than 2 liters, you have to ask what your real goal is. Yes, with the broader torque curve of the American V8s, you can clean-up on the tuner-boys, but it won't happen with tweaked 50 year old technology.

Do as you will, and I'm just throwing a random option to think about, but there's something to be said about spending 3 times as much and getting razzed for being the old man that's 'cool' but slow. Just saying - if it were my son, it wouldn't be (and isn't) old school NA. Ask him what he thinks.

David

 

[65FalconLover]

Ask most expert engine builders and you'll find that out of the box the AFR heads are way better and will make more power than most any other aftermark head manufacturer, sometimes by a lot. I'm sure this is gonna start a head battle but I've heard this more often than not.

John

 

[meat]

Thanks FrdNut and others for your help, great advice!