Are the Wildcat Engineering heads adaptable? I'm guessing their single plane intake is not, at least not without a kludge of spacers to adapt for deck height.
Re: Re: HEADS/INTAKE Jim, do you mean that they are already casted, like it says here (start at Mike Bucy's post "350 Alum Heads" towards the bottom of the page), and they will be released next year ? Or do you mean that development and/or deposits will begin next year ? Like the others, just curious.
Re: Re: Re: HEADS/INTAKE I mean nothing will happen on the 350 alum heads till sometime next year. Jim Burek
Work load and funding. These projects are expensive. And I hate to say it but sometimes Buick guys are hard to deal with. Just as an example, when it was announced that the cadi head was coming out, there were commitments for probably 50 sets that were sold even before production, They are doing I believe the 3rd run now. The olds guys jumped on the bandwagon and olds heads are already in production as well as chrysler heads. But the Buick guys seem to drag along here and want new product, but when someone steps up to do it, they all get scared and play the let me wait and see game. I've seen this happen on all sorts of reproduction parts for the Buicks for years and years. Not just engine parts, even stuff pertaining to the bodies. Any way, you have people that are interested in bringing out new product, what they are not interested in is being a warehouse for the new parts. Jim Burek P.A.e.enterrpises
Over on realoldspower.com there is constant bitching by some of the more senior members about how the Olds people all say they want new heads, blocks, intakes, etc, etc. When the new products are made, no one will actually put down money until some one else buys them first. It's interesting to see a Buick guy that thinks the Olds guys "jump on the bandwagon". Third production run of Caddy heads? Woof! I thought that engine was a stone! Life's more fun since I opened my mind to the alternative GM engines. (Lord help me, I had a dream a couple of nights ago that I bought a 460 Ford!)
There is one sure way to get sbb heads made....... announce that someone is making them.,...... and then two companies will pop out with them, just for the enjoyment of sheer competition I guess. :laugh: Mike
I guess I never got involved because I'm still not quite clear what features the heads will hold head cc size, runner size, valve sizing, 2 valves or 4 per cyl. accept chevy rockers, addt'l head bolts -- ? its one thing to say "I'm interested", but I'd like to know what I'm interested in.... just alum alone isn't enough for me Did I miss a thread?
Interesting.....the '70 500" made 400HP and 550 ft/lbs. Even the 472" had 525 ft/lbs. We can only WISH that the stock 455" had as solid a block as Caddy came out with!!
Ditto on (most of) that! At this point, the only thing we really know is that the heads... will be Aluminum. I am not trying to be coy. Really. While I can be somewhat sure that they are going to be std. 2 valves per cyl., what else do we know? Are they going to be "set up" with flow numbers more akin to street use, or are they going to be "Big Cam, Double Pumper Holley, Single Plane Intake, Low Gear, etc." Race Heads? We know that there is interest, but how can we commit to anything yet? Signed, Still Interested Too!
well, for what its worth my list of desired specs (not complete by any stretch) would be based around a mid to high performance street setup, not numbers/features for the track. - keep the features low to keep the price as low as possible - I'd think that a high priority would be the ability to bolt on chevy rockers, chevy valves, chevy stem seals, etc. to take advantage of both low price and loads of selection. but does valve location make this impossible? - rocker studs - unshrouded valve design, and oversized valves (if the valve size complements the flow numbers and the target cam/carb setup) - combustion chamber in the low 50cc's, matched and balanced across all 4 bowls (the desired effect would be to get compression up into the high 9's, very low 10's in a stock motor) - std spring seat sizing with room under to cut oversize seats But before we get too far here with all this disney-like wishing, the real bottom line would have to be a decsion/consensus on the flow numbers - are they based towards agresssive street use with a grind/blend design incorporated thats been proven, and still leaves material in place for more bowl work -- or are they oriented towards the track from the get-go. I think the target use would have to be decided on first really before anything else. So... street or strip? my .02 would be street - not only because thats more what I'm after, but because the strip people can continue developing the heads so that they will work at the track. If initially developed for the track then the street people are not going to be able to use them at all. The downside is that street heads may be too cost prohibitive for the track people. after the outlay of a large chunk of change it may be too painful to consider sinking another $1k+ into the heads to make them track ready. The downside to the track heads would be that they would only appeal to a smaller pool of buyers which may end up killing development due to overall lack of interest by enough people. thats my stuff, i'm sticking to it...
No, it's not dead, I stated earlier that this would be a project for 2004. The interest is good. Jim Burek
hey jim, I guess I was thinking that there was lack of interest given that there was nobody else interested in trying to chime in on features for the heads. Do you agree/disagree that the heads should be targeted towards either street or strip?
DECISIONS-DECISIONS for me the main street advantage is weight - and this motor is ok there already - i think the street / resto guys are more liable to use the cast heads with some basic port and bowl work and they are gonna work fine and be durable , a known quantity . produce the new heads geared towards SERIOUS street use and bracket catagories , then you have the middle-money guys covered and the serious strip only cars are gonna be bigger budget anyway and if they have to spend a little more to do some extra work on the new heads no big deal . i'm not sure the "market" is low end , reality check , if i've got $1500 bucks to spend on a basic street car to gain an edge it won't be spent on alum. heads . but keep the "shafts" man , no sense havin' it look like a chevy when ya' take the covers off !! besides if ya sell more rollers the price may come down too ( i hope ) . del
The heads will be targeted to the street strip guys, we are not talking about an out and out race head here by any means. Jim Burek
Hello Jim, Are we talking about heads that would be more accurately matched with a single plane intake and ~ 3000 to 6000 RPM range? Thanks!
