I have never believed that really we needed aluminum heads for Y`s. Thats the kind of thinking that makes the scrub guys so annoying, just throw $$$$ at it to go fast.   Aluminum heads would of course make more power but wouldn`t really separate good mechanics and racers from the guys with more money.  After all if we were all really serious about racing in non bracket type classes it wouldn`t be Yblock Fords no matter what.

But what would be a lot more fun to play with and would be much less expensive to get into small scale production would be replacement type Hilborns with provision for Electronic spray nozzles.  Well need may be a bit strong but that is just my former and current thinking on the state of the Y world.  Are you listening Frank

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.

I agree.  At this point I could use efi more than aluminum heads.  I have had a similar vision to yours.  Hilborn style efi.

Does an aluminum head always make more power?  I've figured that an iron head would do better relating to power production, provided that the heads were otherwise identical.  My reasoning is if aluminum gets rid of the heat faster it will result in power loss due to the extra heat lost through the head.  I have noticed that many times an aluminum head will have a smaller combustion chamber which I have assumed confirms my thought - raise the compression to get the power back. 

Lawrenceville, GA

ok, kept my mouth shut as long as I could.

I agree about efi, Doug. Go for it.



I came very close to spending the dough on converting an old hilborn setup.

But why not just contact Hilborn and pitch the idea to them? They used to have the old molds? although it is probably a different company now, and the mold would take a bunch of changing Frank and John and Ted, probably have already figured this all out, long ago.



HILBORN does make a setup for flatties, sohc motors and small and big block fords. about 5-6 grand.



My Iron heads were done by John Mummert and they flow great. And i'm out of my league here but have always read that theorectically Iron will make more HP, ALL THINGS ELSE BEING EQUAL. So I think you are correct, Charlie.

Anyway, I like this thread.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

Charlies correct.......Theoretically. Iron does transfer heat more slowly. therefore more of the heat becomes torque as opposed to a hot water heater. There have even been Aluminum heads cast with cast iron combustion chambers to circumvent this issue. Most of the time we just cast very thick decks and chambers and reduce the chamber size for more static compression. Seems to work. Also, remember you typically remove 40 to 60 lbs of weight from the front of the car. In a drag car that's a huge advantage.

  As far as the injection goes.......Who wants to bankroll it?

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

I trust everyone has seen the set-up that "Lord Mr. Ford" is building.....its nearly the one you want, right?......

A little clever milled billet design work and a CNC machine tool could very nearly duplicate the Hilborn design without a casting (in my opinion).

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I love the look of the Hillborn injector system, but it's got throttle blades so close the the valves, I'd like to see something more like the SEFI intake on the 5.0; really long runners. In fact, I'll bet you could use the factory upper intake manifolds from a 5.0 on the properly designed lower for a y-block. It's not the most elegant looking intake, but it works like crazy. And you could use the rest of the 5.0 system to complete the package; sensors, wiring, ECU.



Obviously, the exhaust gas crossover won't be needed, and that's where the injectors would need to be.




Best regards,



Paul Menten

Meridian, Idaho

Hey Doug.  Welcome back.

Total agreement on EFI being nice to have.  There’s the same issue with EFI as with the heads and that’s getting it tooled up and into production without it being somebodys’ pet project or passion and where the design costs would be put up and/or absorbed by that individual.  But I’m on a head kick only because the usuable cores suitable for performance are fast being used up.  Too many of the cores are now cracked, rusted down, or just simply have no rebuilds left in them.  And with the non-posted heads only being suitable for stock compression rebuilds, that brings the number of cores suitable for a performance build down even more.

 

A replacement head in either aluminum or iron would solve this problem and at the same time incorporate some more modern technology in port flow, combustion chamber design, and spark plugs.  When the head project was originally proposed to SpeedSmith (now defunct), the chamber cc’s were to be smaller than stock to overcome some of the ineffieciencies of using aluminum.  I’m very aware of the problem with the heat transfer with aluminum and for the most part, the reduced weight of the heads as well as increased flow properties will typically overcome this for a net gain.  As Al brought up, with everything being equal other than the weight, the cast iron heads will generally outperform the aluminum versions.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

well, guys. I am in the planning stages of constructing a custom intake to use the ford 5.0 sefi on the 292 in my truck. I am tryn to figure out how to construct it so that i can use the upper intake for the 5.0. thats one thought  anyways.

here's my plan. please share what you think.

custom intake

modified tfi dizzy to fit the 292

ford racing wiring harness or painless's 5.0 fuel injection set

modifed firing order either with a chip or the tweecer

mustang tank setup up for efi

the only thing i am not sure of yet is as to what kinda material to use. thinking sheetmetal might work but wouldnt tubes to a flange work better for flow reasons?????

well, see anything i missed????

1964:

The thing that struck me from your list is the modified firing order comment.  Wouldn't that require a special camshaft?  The Y blanks probably would not have lobes where you need them.  Also, aren't the sbc guys making special cams so they can use the same firing sequence as the Y and the flathead?  Supposedly a performance advantage.

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Biggest problem with 8-point injection with Y is location of injectors.





If I build EFI with original Ford stuff, this might be one answer.

Custom intake manifold without that Ford upper side.

Injectors are inline when fuelrail are not a problem.





...this is just idea.


Hyvinkää, FI