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I'm building my 351C and took my heads to
Mcbetts Racing on L.I. they told me that the
heads were to big for street use and would only see the advantages of these heads over
7000 rpm. He sugested installing "spoons"
into the intake ports,thus giving more low
end response and better driveability. Is there another way of achieving this, such as
"port plates" and where can I get them?
Thanks. Also, what would be a good intake
manifold to go with this setup.
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The spoons are usually called 'port plates' and apparently do help on non-racing cars. Several shops sell them. If you were satisfied with your Pantera before, use the heads you have and add an Edelbrock 'Performer' 2V intake with your present carb. Or, use 351C 2V heads available at any wrecking yard dirt-cheap. The same intake will work for both 2V and 4V heads. A 2V intake mismatched onto 4V heads will vastly improve your low end acceleration & 'drive- ability' as well as mileage but will fall flat on its face above 5200 rpm. The manifold mismatch acts just like port plates to increase low end air velocity. If, like me, your engine doesn't spend much time in the upper rev ranges any more, this is the cheapest street driving fix you can find. And its not as permanent nor as expensive as changing heads.
I agree.. Don't change your heads. the port plates work. Call MPG in colorado. 303 762-8196. I have flow bench numbers if you want them, with and without the plates. Most machine shops don't know squat about these old heads. Find ONE expert on them and don't listen to anyone else. The ports are not too big. The heads flow better than all the iron heads out there for Chevy and Ford. And better than most of the un ported aluminum. You not driving the thing around at 2000 RPM anyway are you??? So build the stock heads and keep it above 3500 when your driving it hard. You'll be glad you did.
Didn't know you were running a stroker engine. In that case, your builders are out to lunch as the 4V heads work better with big-inch engines than with the stock size. As Jr Wilson said of his 427 Silver State motor, ..."the heads really come alive when you open the motor up to 427 inches....". After all, the 351C is really a short-stroke big-block engine; the ports & valves are almost identical to the Boss 429- 460 engines, and they have no 'low-end' problem IMHO.
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