I seriously don't think so but it should. how about quit rambling like above and give us a good show, those heads should be done by now it has been at least 2 yrs since your "guy" has had them. what is the new excuse now same as the last 5-6-7-8 years, don't comment we all know. Professor Grumpy lol Yeah I named myself because I can back it up.
I've been watching vids on porting just to get an idea of the common areas to address no matter the make/design of the head. Im seeing commonalities amongst head designs that need addressed in both aluminum and iron heads, and thats what I want to see, common areas to smooth and areas best left alone. Im doing this on the cheap as I dont have a head "guy" dont got the cash for that I do most everything myself, except for the machine work. Gotta pull the engine anyway to install my SRE pan, which I REALLY dont feel like doing, but alot of times I dont feel like letting the dog/s out, but if I dont we'll have **** in the house
Anyhow, I wanna read about 350 guys running their cars at the track, N/A, Turbo'd/Blower or Nitrous this season. Whip that nasty 350 LOLOL
I wondered about that also. Let's say that during porting, they remove .020" from a specific area. Why cant they just cast them this way?
The only thing I can think of is the casting process doesn’t have that accuracy of .010, .020 etc. so the casting is made more “meaty” probably same as engine blocks, the final specs are all achieved thru machining
I understand some responses like Jim Blackwood's post to where he said some people just didn't see much bang off the bat and if they did make a big difference it could lead to to much flow for some builds. Thing is people seemed to be disappointed when TA posted the flow numbers. I totally understand TA's commitment and all the time and work they put into them and especially with trying to make a head work on a block that was limited in size. Instead of just casting a AL head close to stock, they worked with valve angles to fit bigger valves and closed the chamber. I guess now i'l ask is why didn't machine off .010 or .020 more on the first stage heads? if casting can't get that accuracy.
It's a real shame that aluminum heads aren't to the SBB what they are to the BBB. I dropped a full second off my ET and gained 11 MPH in trap speed just by bolting them to the engine that came with my GS when I bought it. The gain wasn't just the heads, I also switched to the SP1 intake and AED 1000HO carburetor. 13.22@101 to 12.12@112.
It’s not nearly that simple. Head porters are now finding the potential of these heads using trial and error with hundreds of hours of experimenting. As was done with the TA BBB heads once my guy was done fixing them TA went back and released new casting incorporating those improvements so that the end product was improved. This isn’t as simple as watching YouTube head porting vids and grinding on heads.
The TA 350 heads flow nearly the same as the stock vortec sbc 350 heads of the late 90s. The numbers are ok but they will need to show serious gains to support a big HP number. It should be relatively easy to build a streetable 350 that is around 350-375 hp. It'll be tough to make 450-500 horse that isn't a real rowdy build.
That gain relates to about 100 HP. So, wasn't much of it also going to larger valves and higher compression than the heads you removed? And did you also increase the rockers from 1.5 to 1.6? Just curious how it might be broken down to just the heads alone. Probably hard to quantify, though.
I got 395 @6000 with ported iron heads on the dyno in 1994. You should get that bolting those heads on after blueprinting the engine and doing the usual upgrades, intake, cam, pistons, 10.5 comp. Why would you want to port the heads more if they are as good or better than my ported heads. You add a 75 shot of nitrous and hit a high 11. I went 12.30 at Buick nats at Quaker in 2020 on a 75 shot.
THATS what Im talkin' 'bout!, I, along with other 350 guys Im sure, were hoping these heads were AT LEAST a 50 or more hp gain outta the box, TA says 20 to 30 as cast, ok thats decent I guess, but I wanted more, so I opted for the Level 2 porting, 2.02 intakes and such for another 2 grand or so, I'd be all in at 5 grand or more, a year and a half ago when I ordered them it was a non issue, since then I lost my job, started a new one, had to procure health ins. on my own, blah blah blah, and Im thinking " This is stupid, 5 grand?????" Had everything happened way faster......... order the heads and a month later there at my door, yes I'd be sporting aluminum heads! Thats what happens when you have time to think. Larry are your heads "as cast?"
No, when I bought my TA heads back in 2006, I bought them from Greg Gessler. I added the entry level2 porting. The heads were 2400.00 assembled, and the level2 porting was another 300.00 (a no brainer) These were the flow numbers, My best time slip with a Q-jet and SP1 was 12.200@ 110.65, and a 12.119@ 111.98 with the AED 1000HO and SP1. Fast forward to 2010. I removed my heads and SP1 intake, and shipped them to Jim Weise. He built my current 470 short block, and did some additional porting to the heads. The result was this, Best ET to date is 11.54@ 115.00
My original all iron engine came in at 9.4:1 SCR. Greg Gessler milled the TA heads .040. The chambers were 59cc. That brought my SCR to 10.4:1. Just bolting them on with a Gessler prepped Edelbrock Performer intake and TA 1.6 roller rockers put me solidly into the mid 12's at 107 MPH. The SP1 intake and AED 1000HO carburetor got me the rest of the way. When Jim was finished porting the heads, chambers came up to 61cc. My current motor has 10.53:1 SCR with 30cc piston dish/valve reliefs.
Which cam, headers and exhaust system were you running with that combo that ran 107 MPH? Kind of makes one wonder how Motor Trend got one to run 105 MPH back in 1970 doesn't it? Had to be a specially prepped motor. I know it was a low optioned GS but still!
My all iron motor with stock Stage1 heads, KB118 cam, and MT headers into 2 1/2" exhaust ran a best of 13.22@ 101 MPH. Just bolting on the Gessler TA heads and Performer intake put me into the mid 12's at 107 MPH. Motor trends test car was 3800 lbs. My GS weighed more like 4200 with me. Oh, and I had a switch pitch with a TSP 12" converter, and 3.73's.
I guess it was super tuned by Bill Trevor? Buicks special tuner. Smallest tires and yes no options. I believe they even disconnected the front sway bar along with other suspension and tire pressure tricks.. This article has been floating around here.
Yes, the suspension tricks would account for the better ET but the 105 MPH would have had to be some additional horsepower. I'd bet that motor had a different cam and some headwork in addition to some timing and carb tuning. Lot of 455 motors being built today don't get that kind of MPH with mild cams and tuning.
