FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => FE Technical Forum => Topic started by: 427HISS on August 18, 2018, 08:36:50 PM
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I have s pair, but don't know much about them. And if anyone has his history details about the Dove heads, please chime in.
What flow numbers, exhaust ports, etc....
Compared to Edelbrock, Survival's Edelbrock, Blue Thunder, even the latest from Trickflow and BBM.
Jay, have you tested the last two mentioned ?
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Did you get the Doves flowed?
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No, their mounted to the engine.
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Dove had problems getting good castings---and the fact that someone stole a big pile of rejected parts piled-up outside his somewhat rural shop complex and then offered them for sale (without mentioning the details of origin) didn't help either.
Jim Dove got most of the experimental stuff, and all the molding equipment from Ford when they quit producing FEs after '76. He had an excellent head for engineering and his own design studio in the building adjacent to his house---available through a second story enclosed walkway from his bedroom. He had a Super Flow bench in this studio and the ability to create models and flow them while playing with shapes and sizes.
He had at least three exhaust designs available on his for-sale heads, and Cammer heads with rocker pedestals moved in order to get more favorable rocker ratios than the factory, limited, designs.
His ability to mix-'n'-match combustion chamber shapes, intake runner sizes and shapes and ditto on exhaust runners was almost infinite. I worked with him on TP heads with a non-Ford combustion chamber and his 'Type II' exhaust runners so different from factory that they were re-spaced, re-shaped, and substantially re-located. They went in Brother Lon's '67 Mustang, in a series for Mustang Illustrated Magazine. The Mustang was also a cover car for Super Ford.
Since Dove offered such a variety, You'll have to tell us what you have.
KS
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Did Dove go out of business?
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Jim Dove is gravely ill and in-'n'-out of a nursing home. He is still clinging to life but what's left of the business has been handled by Earl, his long-time second-in-command and his brother. They have sold-off what's left on the shelves.
KS
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Any idea what they are gonna do with molds for parts?
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That was looked-into by someone I know some months ago. Nothing is obviously available as what's left is a royal mess. There isn't even enough money available to pay for a formal bankruptcy.
KS
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The someone Ken is speaking of was me. I went there with Kurt Neighbor last September to try to rescue as much of the casting tooling as I could, brought a bunch of cash with me. Three days earlier Larry Dove had told Kurt he was ready to sell everything, but by the time I got there he had changed his mind. I left empty handed, and I have been told that Jim Dove's son came and collected all the patterns shortly after my visit.
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I realize that Larry performed a lot of testing, but for the main street of his engines, did he tend to use the same valve sizes, intake and exhaust ports sizes, flow numbers etc ?
If so, what are they ?
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I realize that Larry performed a lot of testing, but for the main street of his engines, did he tend to use the same valve sizes, intake and exhaust ports sizes, flow numbers etc ?
If so, what are they ?
Its very hard to do what you ask. He made a few different versions. Likely a 290-300 cfm head, but even then, small changes in prep and valves can change numbers significantly. It'd likely be safe to say "flows more than an Edelbrock" but less than the CnC Survival, CnC BBM and Trick Flow. Of course peak flow doesn't tell much of a story either, but if you don't flow yours, that is about where you are
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Yes it is, but only curious on what he did to his heads, to be better than the originals.
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Please look at reply #3 above.
KS
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Old thread comes back to life but since I have a little Dove experience I'm going to chime in. Dove was pretty much the only FE in the game for years and had many good and unique pieces. Not knowing what exact heads the OP has means almost any discussion is moot with regards to flow etc. I will say, the website and advertising was "optimistic" if not flat out misleading regarding numbers although potential was there.
Porosity problems are well known but I haven't had any issues with the intake and 2 sets of heads I've used. One set of heads on my 428 has more craters than the surface of the moon but they make some power and don't leak. My T-wedge and other Dove heads are a lot nicer. I also have a set of Edelbrocks and wouldn't recommend anyone buy them unless you want something for stock performance or are willing to spend $$ to make them work. The experts can expound on the virtues of newer heads like BBM, Survival, Trick Flow, Pond and even Blue Thunder which are all immensely better heads IMO than a Dove. That out of the way, if you have Dove's and they aren't causing a problem then run them until they do.
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Jim also purchased the B9 molds along with FE but they were stolen before he got there
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My tunnelwedge is Dove #057. I bought it new a real long time. It resides in the wagon. Never a problem.
A friend bought one back in late 90's. It leaked like a sprinkler. He ended up having it powder coated to help seal it up. As far as I know it is still in use.
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Did he generally stay with the same valve size and what were they ?
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Did he generally stay with the same valve size and what were they ?
Very few people install valves in the intake manifold.
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Did he generally stay with the same valve size and what were they ?
Very few people install valves in the intake manifold.
Dude, don't give away the secrets.....
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Very few people install valves in the intake manifold.
I've done that a couple times - but never on purpose
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I have 3 sets of Dove heads, and the casting quality varies greatly. The C4AE-F high risers leak check great, look good with no porosity, and have no issues. The other sets are raised and relocated exhausts with raised intakes and they have pinhole leaks from porosity. I've worked with a set of Raised intake and exhaust std loc and they were unmanageable and castings so dirty they would not take weld. Scarfing out an area the size of a golf ball and welding up proved futile as the casting had so much sand in it. Bottom line is that they are not for the faint of heart. They can produce some fabulous numbers but are questionable quality. If you want a set with no fiddling, go elsewhere.