Technical Are heads worth the cost on a flathead?

I'm a cheap skate but I like the look of a nice painted motor with casting nos picked out in white and a set of chrome nut covers , my cars are street only currently have 4 flat head motors road going 2 are Ford's Ford's , but I prefer the money inside the engine so it's good and reliable , I'm thinking some of those lovely looking aftermarket heads are. Like padded bras look great but underneath just normal standard stuff

 

Yep.

 

Nothing wrong with a padded bra as long she's a female wearing it.

 

In my day, 'she' was a female!

 

That tool/cutter fixture pictured a few posts ago was made by KR Wilson. It was used when certain heads were used on different motors and valve clearance had to be opened up to use them. They pop up on Ebay every so often.

 

Big stroker engines do fine with stock heads but stocker 221/239 run like a bag with a 2 or 3 carb set up been there on a few motors even at sea level

 

The same thing could be said for anything on your car- Wheels, paint, interior, air cleaners. If one doesnt have the coin, then those pieces are definitely not worth it.

 

From what I have read about 10hp gain with Speedways prices Offy heads $100 a Hp Edelbrock $80.

 

Alchemy asked about the cutter so I swung by the machine shop and got a picture. The tool is designed to bolt onto the head and clamp in a vise. The cutter is externally piloted and can be driven by hand or powered. The cutter has what appears to be about a .125” radius so it leaves the chamber nice with little blending required. It says on the box, “to provide valve clearance on Ford heads when using early heads on late engines”.
When I arrived, my friend Willy was assembling a 1904 Ford opposed two cylinder engine slated to go back into the 1904 Ford that he has been restoring for a customer. As I got my pictures, he showed me the SOHC 427 Ford engine he just got in to rebuild. Cast iron heads so it must be an early one. Always something cool going on there.

 

I owned a 265 1956 Chevy in 1956 and I raced everything that had wheels. Never saw a flathead Ford in any configuration, any type of modification, that could run with my Chevy. The only Ford that ever beat me had a SBC in it.

 

The Rick Schnell flathead powered dragster "Slider" can do the 1/4 mile in 7.65 seconds. Better have a real long look at the front end of that dragster because that is the last time you are going to see it!!

 

Oh, boy. Here we go.... Totally missing the point when bringing up SBC’s. Plus, didn’t the ‘55 265 with a 2 bbl have something like 160+ horse?

 

I thought we were talking about alloy heads on FHs?!
The day will come - might already be here - where the rarest and most unique looking FH is one with iron heads.
As a newer guy to this scene, I would prefer to mill iron heads to desired spec and might even prefer the looks a bit. To me, the unmistakable benefit of the alloy heads is the weight savings. Weight savings is always a nice performance benefit - gas mileage, acceleration, and stopping.
JMO
D

 

Well we were talking about Heads on a Flattie, and took a detour. It appears to branch off from two groups. The thrifty , cheap group- Their own words) and the other side that wants looks, speed, style, ,performance.. No right or wrong... everyone builds their rides according to budget , skills, and period of their cars.

 

Does any know if there are tests out there that show any cooling differences between iron and aluminum heads?

 

The HILLBILLY test shows that the cooling properties of aluminum are better then cast iron, thats why they dont make cast iron radiators.

 

Haha. Not in cars anyway....

 

for my 2cs put the new alu ones on look great and are made out of better matl,

 

I like both aluminium and iron heads.
In my own build i will keep iron heads for my lightly blown 221cu

 

I have always been a fan of the aluminum heads, I never considered not using them on
flathead build. Do I think they made a big performance gain ? No, but they are nice on
the eyes. Just do what you want and can afford. This view makes me smile whenever I
open the hood.