New SOHC Heads from Robert Pond

[jayb]

I spoke with Robert last week and also today, and he is nearly ready to sell his first SOHC head castings.  The first four pair of heads have been machined and sent out to some key customers, including Keith Craft, who will be assembling one set of the heads and verifying the flow numbers.  According to Robert the heads as delivered should flow over 400 cfm on the intake and 300 cfm on the exhaust at .650" valve lift.  The heads feature CNC porting as delivered and a modern heart-shaped chamber that Robert said was 85cc.  This means you can run a flat top piston on a stroker motor and still get over 10:1 compression. 

Robert says retail price on the heads is $5250 for the pair, which seems like a bargain when compared to the competition, given the port flow numbers and the chamber.  Robert has 20 pair of castings at his shop, and can have them machined and ready to deliver within a couple weeks.  As far as I know, there is no advance deposit required to purchase these heads (LMAO!!!)  Here are some photos I acquired today of these heads:

[Ford428CJ]

Thank you Mr Pond!!! Those look very nice and well made.

[machoneman]

Very cool Jay and a big thanks to Robert Pond.  And no advance deposit, LMAO at that too.

Oh, and your companion post over on the old Forum....bound to stir the pot, I say!

 

[jayb]

Well, I wasn't trying to stir the pot, just wanted to let everybody know about Robert's heads.  After what I've been through I think the deposit thing is kind of funny 

[Qikbbstang]

Wow not only producing them but making them Bad-To-The-Bone as well with killer ports and chambers.  With retail price on the heads is $5250 for the pair if one were to be fortunate enough to have a windfall land in their lap, can ALL the parts for a FE-SOHC be obtained w/o resorting to buying a piece here and there and needing to win auctions on eBay?            ...............On the other side, it would be hard to figure anyone casting SOHC intake manifolds.

[jayb]

Actually, Robert Pond already has front covers and intake manifolds available.  The intakes are essentially duplicates of the Ford 2X4V SOHC dual plane intake, and sell for around $1500, and the front covers sell for around $850 if I recall correctly.  Robert also has valve covers.  You can get all the parts you need for an SOHC from a variety of sources; a good single source stop would be Doug Garifo at Precision Oil Pumps or Barry Rabotnick at Survival Motorsports.

[GJCAT427]

Jay, Has he had these pressure checked? I see spots in the runners that look like sand pits. Maybe just dirt other wise very nice looking castings.

[jayb]

I didn't specifically ask Robert that question, but I don't think he would release porous castings.  He does a lot of standard FE head castings and as far as I know there aren't any porosity problems with Robert's parts.  I can personally vouch for the quality of Robert's block and front cover castings.

[e philpott]

will this be factory rocker ratio ??... if so will a high rocker ratio version be available later  ??

[jayb]

It's got to be for the factory rocker ratio, because there isn't a high ratio rocker available.  At least not until I build one LOL!

[WConley]

I'm in love!   

Those sure are beautiful pieces.  The flow numbers look bad-to-the-bone too!

- Bill

[Qikbbstang]

I always thought you could get just so much in the bucket. So how does one alter ratios on a OHC engine when one end of the rocker rolls on the cam (a rather fixed position camshaft in the head) and the other end of the rocker must kiss the valve tips precisely.  Rocker ratio changing is not all that complex where you have a pushrod but .........

[Bart]

They are great looking pieces and can't wait to see a pair in the flesh.
Do any of you guys know what is the best way to order a set of these heads?
Thanks fo your help.

[ScotiaFE]

Give him a call.

http://www.robertpondmotorsports.com/index.htm

[babybolt]

Billet aluminum caps, the way it is supposed to be.  If Ford had billet aluminum back in the day before CNC, they would have used it instead of cast iron or ductile caps. 

The "easy" way to change the rocker ratio in a SOHC would be to use a smaller diameter rocker shaft, possible on stock head with offset bushings.

Just wondering if anyone has gone to the Flathead/351W firing order yet on the SOHC camshafts?