Hi folks, I'm getting ready to bolt on my Gessler-prepped Bulldog heads that came from the last (and probably, final) run of them. I assume the company is now officially dead. Greg got some pretty good numbers on the intake ports w/o too much work, but the exhaust side, due to the big exhaust valve, took much more work and didn't yield any more flow than a good exhaust port job on a set of iron heads. Anyway, just wanting to get a little feedbck, tricks, or tips from anyone who has been running them. Thanks. --Craig Stangohr Aiken, SC
Craig, I have been playing with a set of Bulldogs and my findings are the same. Great intake numbers but rather lack luster exhaust. I also think the exhaust valve is to large plus the venturi is 92% of the exhaust valve diameter where it should be around 88%. If running these heads its probably best to run a cam with a much larger exhaust duration. This will help but certainly not fix the problem. Later
Question is who runs a Bulldog Block? I put a Deposit on one on Dec 12 2004 at the PRI Show. Many others have had Deposits on them before me or payed in full before me what is the deal? Are we Buick Guys and Gals ever going to get them?
Let's be careful not to hijack my thread! The Bulldog block issue has been discussed many times before. In fact, there was a recent thread about a month or so about that, in which one person threated to go after Bradshaw in both civil and criminal avenues. I wish this person luck. I'm no attorney, but I can't tell you the police are not going to be too interested in prosecuting this case from a criminal standpoint. I sympathize with all of you who have probably lost your money on the Bulldog blocks. While you do have the option of pursuing a lawsuit against Bulldog, I think that you will find that the time and money you spend on an attorney, filing fees, depositions, etc., will outweight your initial loss. Just been my experience. Now, back to MY thread. Thanks, John, for your input. I'm sorry I never got to meet you, as I think you are one of the Chitown boys, no? I was born and raised in Chicago, or Deerfield, an hour north. Moved down to S.C. 5 years ago. If I had known how nice it was down here, esp. during the winter, I would have moved here long ago. Yes, regarding the exhaust valve's being too big, that was Greg Gessler's opinion, too. He thought the bigger valve got in the way of being able to do a real lot with the exhaust port, though he said that for more money, of course, more could have been squeezed from the exhaust port. He just felt for my goal of 550 h.p., that what he did would get the job done. When the Bulldog heads first came out and Jim B. iniitially compared them to the T/A SE head, he said he thought the Bulldog head had a more "modern" combusion chamber--less prone to detonation. And I believe that in his initital venture into porting the Bulldogs, he was impressed with how the intake ports picked up really good flow with just minimal work. John, I am going to run the T/A 288-94 cam, which does have split duration. Along with my 1 7/8" headers, H-pipe, and noisy (old) 3" Walker Dynomax mufflers, I hope to do o.k. on the exhaust flow, though I would like to swith to an "X" pipe, if I can find a shop down here that can hang it high enough. In conclusion, the bigger Bulldog exhaust valve was good in theory, I guess. At any rate, it will be interesting to see if the Edelbrocks can be brought up to flow the intake numbers that the Bulldog can, though it is certainly possible. Cheers, Craig Stangohr Aiken, SC
Alan, Well, I hesitate to show flow numbers. They are too easy to misinterpret. I know that Gesslers, T/A's, and AMP's flowbenches have supposedly been all calibrated identically. But there are probably other variables that enter into the equation. If the air in the flowbench or shop is 80 degress, that would certainly be different than if it were 60 degrees. Really, it's almost a moot point, as there will probably be no more Bulldog heads ever cast. Plus, being a successful business, T/A will, and should, promote their own cylinder heads. Jim Weiss just posted some numbers from HIS flowbench--Edelbrock vs. T/A SE heads. On the Edels, he got 296/intake and 188 exhaust, at .500" lift. Gessler did my heads, and his flow bench might be quite different from Jim's, but I got about exactly the same exhaust number, with a better intkake number. On the T/A heads, Jim gave a figure at a higher valve lift--550". Jim showed 313 cfm, which is right about where I'm at with my Bulldogs. Again, WE ARE COMPARING TWO DIFFERENT FLOW BENCHES! In any case, I can guarantee that both the T/A head and the Edels took more work on the intake port than the Bulldog. Plus, many folks think the Bulldogs have the best designed combustion chamber. The T/A heads beat the Bulldogs on exhaust flow, hour per porting hour, but I think that the Bulldogs could come close to the T/A head exhaust flow with enough porting hours. So, let's keep everything in perspective. It's the entire combination that counts. Any of the aforementioned heads will support at least 550 h.p., or more, which is plenty for the street. Regards, Craig Stangohr Aiken, SC
Hi Jim, In Jim Lore's recent post "Elelbrock heads vs T/A ," he signs it as "J.W." So, I was just copying his post. Sorry about the confusion. Anything you would like to add to this "debate?" Regards, Craig Stangohr
