Best FE Heads And Why ?

[chilly460]

You should take a look at Jay's heads.

KS

I personally feel like Jay's heads would work fine on a street/strip deal as the cross section should be fine, just not sure they're needed if a guy is running a stock block as it would be in the "danger zone" for sure.  Plus I think the OP has a multi-stack EFI/carb type intake that wouldn't work with the heads.  Also not sure how well Jay's heads/intake will fit under a low hood line? 

[Royce]

Well at the risk of getting shot at here, I would rank them this way..

Pro Ports and Jays heads are the best flowing and highest potential power makers. You need to think carefully before using them on a street engine.

At the other end of the scale would be the un-ported Ebocks.. Take some weight off  economical and a small performance increase over iron..

I would rank the other 3 in the middle, all of them have about the same potential. It then becomes a matter of price, availability, personal taste, and relationship with the vendor/builder..  I would not hesitate to bolt any of those 3 on a hot street/strip FE. AFIK there are no issues with quality or support on any of them.   But, what the heck do I know..  I am a Y block guy

[Keith Stevens]

I have to agree with Royce. I know many of you are here are true drag racers. You're all out. Jays heads don't fit a tower car. I believe Blue Thunder heads have some exhaust port differences that didn't work, or required custom headers.  I picked up a set of KB/Edelbrock stage II heads that were used for one season from a member here. They have .225 -1.75 valves.
I was pleasantly surprised when I used the camera to take a look down the ports to find they line up almost exactly with the factory MR intake.
If I had a complaint, and it seems somewhat common is that the valve cover rail is low. They have no issue up over 6000 rpm and the engine actually runs cooler, not to mention a 55LB weight reduction off the shock towers.  Always good on a Mustang.

[jayb]

Let me clear up a couple of misconceptions about my heads:

1.  They do fit a shock tower car, the SE version has the exhaust port outlets in the same place as a stock medium riser or CJ FE.  Bolt pattern is the same as a CJ.
2.  Port cross sectional area of my heads is nearly identical to a stock medium riser port.  As a result, despite their excellent flow, they do not sacrifice port velocity.  Which means they are entirely streetable.

When I get the time, hopefully in a month or two, I will be putting together a 390 stroker with my heads, to show viability as a 600-650 HP street engine.  Given the superior performance of my heads, I should be able to reduce cam and compression to very mild levels, and still hit those power numbers. 

[Keith Stevens]

Thank you for clearing that up Jay. In the original post during development it was stated they would not work with tower cars. Can you use a 6114 Hooker header with them like a 428 CJ as well?

[jayb]

You are correct that the first version (what I refer to now as the RE, or Raised Exhaust version) would not fit a shock tower car.  I decided to make a second version, SE for Stock Exhaust, that will fit shock tower cars.  My rationale was purely selfish, since I have a couple shock tower cars I want to install the heads on    Since performance from the SE version was very close to the RE version, I decided to make both types available for production.

Those headers you mentioned will fit.

[Joe-JDC]

I have tried to stay out of this fray, but some points need to be made to clear up what works best, especially for the price.  You absolutely cannot beat the TFS head for flow, quality, and price out of the box.  They flow 330 cfm, cost less than $2K, and with a little work can flow 345-360 cfm.  Next, the Keith Craft Stage II heads flow 338-340 cfm, cost $2600.00 last time I checked.  No body will talk about the Pro Ports, or give a flow number, but they cost north of $6K with quality retainers and springs.  The CNC'd Edelbrocks usually come in several stages at 310/340/360 cfm ratings, but those I have flowed are shy of those numbers, even with 2.250 intake valves.  BBM CNC'd were a disappointment, also at ~330 cfm, Pond CNC were down, Patrick CNC were down at ~320-330 cfm and turbulent until .800".  The BT MR with a 2.190 intake will flow 360 cfm as cast, and with CNC program 390-400 cfm, the Survival CNC will flow ~365-369 cfm, Jay's head as cast was up by 20 cfm over all these heads into the 420-430 cfm range.  At 75 years age, I am retired, but still have logs of all the heads I have flowed over the last 25 years, just last month had my SF-600 flow bench gone through with Super Flow to verify everything is working properly.  They no longer will be supporting the SF-600, so it will probably go into moth balls along with me. 

I have been to EMC four times, helped on several teams which finished 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th in different years.  My personal engines finished 2nd and 6th.   Joe-JDC

[CaptCobrajet]

So I just read this thread.  I'm not going to try to sell my heads on here.  A person should do research and make an informed decision.  "Patrick CNC" can't accurately describe a pimple on an elephant's ass of all of the different programs we have.  I have revised the "Street Pro Port" seven times over the course of the time Edelbrock has been doing those castings.  When a person comes here for heads, the first things to figure out are budget, and how they intend to use it.   From there, I try to inform them to the best of my ability and do something to maximize their "bang for the buck".  There are five intake ports, two exhaust ports, and two combustion chambers that we generally sell in Ed Pro Port castings when selling cylinder heads or top end packages. I have a few other ports that we use in class legal or max effort race apps, that are cost prohibitive.......if not working within rules, it just isn't a sensible way to go.

"Street Pro Ports" have stock MR location intake and exhaust flanges.  I don't advertise numbers.  I sell heads that work.  Just for information purposes, I had Bischoff flow a Street Pro Port as a "3rd party".   320 at .500, 347 at .700.  Exhaust 240-ish in the stock location.  I don't need to go into any more detail here, but the ports are in the MR location, and they don't look like anything else mentioned here, and they do not cost $6K.  $4200 is current pricing for standard seats and 72cc chambers.  From there, there are MANY options. It is possible to get Econo Pro Ports for $3500, or max effort class-legal heads that are 15K. Raised and relocated exhaust ports flow 255 to 280 depending on port and valve size.  It all depends on goals and use. From 55cc chambers, to Oval Port and High Riser intake ports that will flow 400+ cfm, depending on where they are flowed.  I never see more than 390 here on any of my ports, but other folks have benches that read higher than mine.

We also work on many other brands of heads.  We just finished R&D on the next generation BBM heads. They are better than current offerings with only a 2.100 intake valve, and notably superior to any current stock location shelf available heads with the optional cnc package. They should be available in the Fall. 


Posted for information and clarification.  I'm not sure why every topic in which my stuff is mentioned always results in one or more experts on here, without fail, making false assumptions or misleading statements about my junk.  Sometimes there are trade-offs to accomplish goals.  Often, a max flow number is given up to get more meat where it needs it.  Sometimes ports are smaller, with high velocity by design, so quoting a flow number doesn't tell the whole story.  If you just buy a flow number, you may not get what you need.  Lots more to it. 
BP.

[Keith Stevens]

Thanks for the information, Joe. I didn't think the heads flowed that well from KB. They are the 2.25-1.75 variant. I dumped the supplied springs being I wasn't running a roller cam. I didn't pay 2600 for them either. I stumbled on very fair deal.

I think Barry R's heads are up in the 2400 range without valves. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I also know there was a problem with supply for many who bought them had waited for months and months. I know those issues were resolved with the purchasers on the SAAC forum.
Blue Thunder is another that has been hard to obtain parts from in the last few years. I haven't spoken to Francis is probably 10 years, so I am not sure why.

[Stangman]

Kieth Barry’s heads are 2500 complete. That is the non CNCd version. I think a lot of people are having problems with supply right now. And that’s with a lot of things. I believe Brent was having problems getting parts also. I think it’s a country wide problem now not just automotive.

[MRadke]

Blair Patrick - It's good to see you post on here again, if only for the clarification on heads.

[fryedaddy]

i was thinking about having my bbms cnc'd.but after Joes comment about them being a disappointment cnc'd, im second guessing them,even wishing i had bought something else.i bought them just a month or two before the trickflows came out.what to do,what to do.

[67xr7cat]

i was thinking about having my bbms cnc'd.but after Joes comment about them being a disappointment cnc'd, im second guessing them,even wishing i had bought something else.i bought them just a month or two before the trickflows came out.what to do,what to do.

I have to say I have tried to stay out of this thread as "best head" is a loaded question. I depends on the application and exactly what you want to accomplish.  A 400cfm head can be a dog on the street if the port is low velocity, but guys buy it because of the number. 

I think Joe was trying to give an answer, but to some extent did a disservice in what he posted. I think you need to keep in mind it is his opinion and based on his experience, testing, and biases too. Honestly the last part of his post where he felt the need to post up his past accomplishments and how long he has been porting just turns me off.  Are a lot of guys who are accomplished don't feel the need to do that. Your work should speak for itself.  Now I am not trying to take anything away from Joe, what he has done is notable, but just because he was not impressed with a head on a flow bench would not make me automatically discount them. Everyone has their own way and many times more than on path will lead to a good result.

I'd say if you have them and they should meet your goal then use them.  If you are not sure I'd either try them and see or talk to a few who know and work with them a lot and those who are using them as to their experience, then make your own informed decision.  I can say Blair Patrick knows the BBM heads well and am sure he would give you his thoughts on the matter. Just remember we race cars not flow benches and the total package matters. -Steve

[Jb427]

My bbm cnc heads flowed ok had them tested here in Australia they flow just shy of 350cfm at .700 on a 4.250 bore i am happy with them. I may of gone another way now that i have found out more info on people who port them and i wish i spoke to people about my cam choice. I am happy with everything it should make my goal of 600 and i have room to change camshaft down the line.

[351crules]

Blair Patrick - It's good to see you post on here again, if only for the clarification on heads.

agreed 100%