i have never done any ported work myself, but with the internet and tools by my side i might be able to? and my budget is well pretty much the "best deal i can get" but under 800 probably
Alex, with that kind of budget you have tons of options. Definately scrap the 302 heads, and skip the 351's as well. I would look for a good set of used aluminum heads or at least some Dart Sr's. I have seen Edelbrocks, AFR's, Twisted Wedge, Canfields, just about everything in that price range if you are patient. Going that route, you will have heads that will flow wonderfully and be compatable with just about any further growth to your motor. Just be carefull that whatever you get will not have a piston to valve clearance issue or you'll have to flycut the pistons (the Twisted Wedges come to mind). I'm sure there will be some great suggestions coming from the pros here.
If yuo have 800 to spend, the above post is very good advice. If you want to try out porting a set on your own, that is awesome and you absolutely should. Here's the thing though: Do TONS of research and when you think you know what you need to do, ask yourself WHY you need to do it. If you can't answers that, do TONS more research. there's a bunch more to this than just hogging the heck out of a set of heads. Take an honest look and where these heads are going. Is this a bracket car with no intent to ever drive on the street? Are you putting an insane camshaft in the motor that will demand an idle of 1800rpm and a converter that stalls at 5 grand? No? Then don't make the ports so big you can throw a cat through them. Shape and consistency are your friends when making a set of heads kick butt on the street. Have fun. Good luck and be sure to post pictures!
I bought a set of AFR's a few months ago off of Craigslist for $700.00....Years ago before all the aftermarket heads we use to port, mill, and put bigger valves in....Nowadays it doesn't pay....There's tons of stuff out there and the more there is, the more prices come down...Swapmeet season is right around the corner
Hey Baddad, I think he was referring to the mechanical ability of the original poster (OP). Anybody who follows the forums and reads your posts can easily tell you are one of the most knowledgable on here. I have learned a lot from you, thanks.
You'll probably screw them up. Don't ever "learn" on heads you plan to use. It can be done for that. Machine work to fit bigger valves, cutting the seats, and valve guides will eat up the biggest part of the budget. Last set of iron heads I did ended up being just under $700. Customer supplied stainless valves, valve springs, and retainers. Machine shop supplied bronze guides. I did port work, set up, and assembly.
That was where the "mechanical ability" section was directed. In my 30+ yrs of engine builds I've personally seen two different sets of Do0E heads show stress cracks radiating from some of the bolt holes while being magnafluxed.....and yes these sets were only using 7/16" bolts. I DO NOT question your ability...just my own observations form my opinions. No harm, no foul.:Handshake
Which motor ? The 3x2 motor in the Comet was built with an Eagle crank, Eagle I beam rods, SRP forged flat tops (10.4 to 1 comp) Stock 88 roller block, I added a main girdle, but don't recall whose it was. Cam is a Z303, 1.7 Comp roller rockers, Canfield 1.94/1.60 valve heads, milled .060 (64 down to 57 cc chambers) Springs & retainers are whatever came with the heads(they were checked & specs were similar to what the cam required) Ford Racing stock length 5.0 roller pushrods, Comp O.E style hyd roller lifters. The 3x2 is a Mustangs Unlimited repop setup of what Ford sold over the counter in the 60's and early 70's, with 250 cfm carbs, jetted up from 58's to 64's I added 1-1/2" (1" alumimum plus 1/2" phenolic) worth of carb spacers to push the aircleaner up into the Boss 429 hood scoop. Ignition is the stock 77 Duraspark with an 85 HO distributor. Powerband starts at 1500 and pulls to just over 6500. It idles in gear at 500 rpms.
