Thread: What is the best FE head out there???

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With all the aftermarket heads that are available from Dove, Blue Thunder, Shelby and, Edelbrock who makes the best one that is suitable for big horsepower numbers. I'm mainly concerned with the medium riser / CJ style heads with standard port arrangments and not the tunnel ports and high risers. Everyone has their favorites but, which one truely is the best for the ultimate in horsepower. Thanks for the imput!!!

a friend of mine is using blue thunder heads on his 427 he is shooting for about 800hp i was told that the blue thunder heads have huge combustion chambers that make compression on the low side but other than that from what i hear they are great heads, edelbrock heads for the FE are decent too but im not sure if they would be able to attain numbers like 800hp if im wrong someone correct me on this, i have a set of 406 heads on my motor right now they are off of an original 2X3 406 galaxie they flow pretty good but would never be able to get in the 800range they might be good for maybe 500hp

I've heard the Blue Thunder heads are good. I've been trying to find out more about them on the internet but, I've not had much luck. The Dove heads look nice but I remember the old castings had a lot of porosity and would regularly fail pressure checks. That was a long time ago so I'm sure thats been fixed. I'm shooting for the 775-800 hp range so I'm wondering if the medium riser stuff will cut it. Thanks for the imput!

For BT heads try Barry R at www.survivalmotorsports.com Tell him G sent ya. Barrys FE knowledge and skills are second to none. With 2 years running a FE entry in the EMC (Engine masters challenge) and countless years of experience. He ran BT heads both years. If anyone can give you a very honest opinion he can. Dove castings are much better than they were. I'm looking at a set of Dove HR's right now and close to pulling the trigger. High riser and tunnel port were the serious HP heads from the day and still hold some wind today. Comparing Dove and BT to each other is difficult as they each have there own points and differneces. Doves are cast based on the original Ford molds and tweaked in a few variations. BT castings a whole new deal with those Glidden (peanut shaped) chambers. They ain't cheap... but shooting for 800hp I'm sure your aware of that. Shelby heads have had porisity issues also. Remember they are also MR head castings and with some work a good choice. Dove and BT have much more to offer. And last the Edel's are the old stand by. With some CNC porting by Keith Craft they have some impressive numbers in the stage 3 selection. All good stuff....

G.

I really like the high riser Dove heads but I'm leaning to the med riser SK-35369's. They say that they can be made to perform as we'll as the high risers. I'm looking to go nostalgia super stock racing with my 67 Fairlane so I think that I must stay with the med. risers to keep within the rules and be "period correct". I'll research the BT's too, they are a nice head. 800hp never comes cheap and will be a little tougher with the 427 than my 514 that I had in the car. Thanks for the help and link FFR!

Your right on the MR's for NSS class. It's all they allow besides the C80E-N, C8WE-J's I think. I'm not up to snuff on the NSS class anyway.

What 427 block are you going to use???

G.

Well I'd like to use the Genesis block but it sounds like things are a little hairy as far as getting one. I've heard the horror stories about lost deposits and not being able to get in touch with anyone there. I guess I'll just have to look for a good used one if I can't get a Genesis.

Genesis has since been bought out and regrouped the company. True some did lose deposits long ago but they are on track today. Try Keith Craft. They stock Genesis and Pond blocks and I'm getting mine from them. The blocks do need final machine work which KC can also do or have your machinest do it. I'm having KC do the block work for me. I also just scored a mint set of tunnelport heads and matching 8v intake for my build.

G.

I haven't seen any in a while but the Canadian Cobra jet head is a good one. I believe Dove repo's it. Its a revised Cobra jet head that Ford used to win the Super stock nationals.