New Trick Flow FE cylinder heads & Intake

[Qikbbstang]

Thank you Hemi Joel for taking those great pics.....*

 It is interesting exactly what configuration Trick-Flow went with -------- single-plane pretty much says hard core racing. 
           You got to figure they are not piggy-back cast at Edelbrock or as mentioned not the cheapo-Chinese models and likely manufactured wherever the rest of T-F's lines are made.

  *Whenever I carry a camera around a trade show all day I always get an irresistible urge for Asian food?

[Katz427]

I did get a reply from TFS, basically the general specs: 175 cc intake, 113 cc exhaust and 70 cc chamber. The minimum bore is listed 4.05 inch. This is the street head and like the 460 eveything can be made larger to increase flow but then they do not fit the 4.05 bore. Available late summer 2017 is best guess now. Now this is good news but, another wait and it seems like almost everything one orders is on "backorder" these days.

[andyf]

The Trick Flow heads now show as available on the Summit website. Flow info is posted in the Trick Flow catalog. 332 @ 0.600 lift and 338 @ 0.700 lift. Prices seem fair too. I have a set on order, I'll post pictures when they show up.

[chilly460]

Will be very interested in how these work out once folks get their hands on them.  I keep a spreadsheet of published flow numbers on some of the readily available FE heads and track average flow for .200-.700" to compare, if (big if) the TFS flow as advertised, they'd be more than competitive with out of the box BBM and Felony.  They'd be right there with the CNC BBM and Felony heads, and competitive with Blair's Pro Ports. 

I'm sure folks will point out that "we don't race flowbenches" and such, I'm just comparing published numbers and runner volumes as that's the data we have, remains to be seen how they truly stack up. 

I'm just happy to have another choice out there.  At $1920 a set they're set between Ebrock and the other offerings.  I'm sure they'll have bare offerings at some point, as I think builders and a lot of guys here like to spec their own parts and probably get a better valve job/guide clearance/etc in the mix. 

[blykins]

I have never seen a Trick Flow head flow as advertised.  When I pull the spark plug out, the numbers match up though.   This has been for Windsor heads and Clevelands.

I have no trouble getting advertised numbers out of the other heads......CHI, BBM, Survival, etc. 

[chilly460]

Yep, that's the big caveat.  I suppose it's wishful thinking, at least on my part, that TFS will have heard the "rumors" and got their flow bench squared away.  They've been publishing happy numbers since the intro of the Twisted Wedge, but their stuff has always performed so it's something most folks overlook. 

Fully admit I'm no expert, I've ported one set of 460 heads and diddled around looking at other ports so I know just enough to be dangerous.  I just received my BBMs yesterday, looking at the quality of the casting and port shape, not really sure how an FE head with the same volume runner and stock bolt on architecture would be more than incrementally better than a BBM.   That's a mouthful, and again I'm sure people can point out errors in my thinking.  I'd love to be proven wrong as it only helps if we have better performance options out there. 

Again, it's a bit academic to compare them, I'm really just happy there's another option and that the FE development as a whole is moving forward.

[blykins]

Even Trick Flow's in-house porting service (Total Engine Airflow) is way off on flow.  I tried a ported set of Twisted Wedge R heads from them once and they were so far off that I called the guy. 

I imagine that the TFS FE heads will be similar to the BBM head or Barry's head.  To be honest, I'd rather support Doug or Barry.  TFS really doesn't give a poop about the FE engine.

[andyf]

The Trick Flow heads I've worked with all flow as advertised and make excellent power. I've used TF heads for a bunch of articles and have been super impressed with the quality. The last set of dyno tests I did with the Mopar 270 heads made 775 hp with out of the box heads. That is on a pump gas 470 inch engine running unleaded premium. Seems pretty good to me for heads that came out of a box.  http://www.hotrod.com/articles/dyno-tested-vacuum-pump-help-engine-make-power/

It will be interesting to see what the TF heads do on a similar 482 inch FE. I'm sure it isn't going to make the same power but it should be in the 600+ range.

[Joe-JDC]

I have been porting TFS heads since the very first ones came out(TFS/KPI), and the CNC ported heads have always been a few cfm lower on my flow bench than advertised.  They have gotten better the last couple of years, but still after I do a calibration check on my bench, and flow their heads, they are down from the advertised flow.  I just finished a Victor Dominator for a FE forum member in California with Medium Riser port size of the 7224 Edelbrock gasket, and it averages 500 cfm.  It is going on a set of CNC ported BBM heads, and should be a very powerful combination.  Will be interesting to compare the TFS intake to the Victor 427.   Joe-JDC

[CaptCobrajet]

I'm going to order a set and test them on my bench so I can see for myself how they stack up to my junk and other data I have here.  I would also like to look at the volume.  Not sure how long it will take, but I'll get moving on it just for my own info.  I will report my findings from my own testing honestly and accurately.  Stay tuned.......

[cammerfe]

When TFS was owned by the Smith Brothers, they created the 385-series head because there was NO aluminum head available and one of the brothers was a pattern-maker/designer and saw an un-explored market. I was writing for Super Ford at the time and got the first set of castings they produced. The casting was done by a local foundry that was familiar to them.

When I got them, they were all machined but the valve guides and seats were in a plastic bag and needed to be pressed in place and fitted for the valves. I took them to Holbrook's shop and 'Birdy' did them up. The second and third sets went to Roush for evaluation. He told me who to talk to, at 'The Skunkworks' on the bottom end of Southfield, to get the results of their work-up. I believe I wrote two or three articles about them for the magazine.

As I remember, they did better in the way of flow, with minimal work, than was possible from any iron head, no matter what was done to it, but I don't have the manuscripts any more and the magazines, if I have them at all, are buried somewhere in a box.

I believe the Smiths sold out to Summit.

KS

[Joe-JDC]

Summit site says if you order today, 01-08-18 shipping date for heads or intake manifold.  So they get your credit card now, for possible January shipping date.  Sounds like they got the cart before the horse, so to speak.

[andyf]

When I look at the Summit website it says the flat tappet heads will ship tomorrow with a price of $888 per head. Seems like a good deal to me.

The intake shows a shipping data of 1/8 and a price of $500.

[plovett]

Where are you guys finding the Trick Flow FE heads on the Summit site?  I looked using their menu and couldn't find them.  Am I just retarded?  Wait, don't answer that.   But where are the heads?

thanks,

paulie

[chilly460]

It's not easy, I grabbed the part number off the TFS catalog and plugged it into Summit to finally find them.  They're not listed in Trick Flow's online catalog, just the PDF version. 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tfs-56417002-c00