several questions. i'm an old timer and dont know as much about the newer stuff as i do the older ford parts. i have a set of E7TE heads and a set of 1975 351W heads. both untouched except for being refreshed. which would make the best choice for performance on a 302 mav? will either of these improve on my current heads? if so, which? both seem to have 1.78 intakes and the same exhausts. (i thought that the E7s had 1.84 intakes, but these dont. what did come in E7TE heads?) both have hardened seats. i will be opening up the exhausts and smoothing the bowls under the valves. at present i have a set of 1974 heads with exhausts opened and matched and intakes matched, and thermactor lumps removed. most of the work on these is in the exhaust side. will either the E7s or the 351s improve on the current heads? with porting work, of course. thanx in advance dave
I don't know much about the E7 heads, but the 75 351w heads are good stuff. They are identical to the 69-70 heads that everybody is so ga-ga over, except for some emission plumbing. The heads have 1.84 valves, big ports, and small chambers. With porting, I would think they would be better than any head with 'E' in the date. You would need shoulder bolts or shoulder washers (your choice) to use them on a 302. Dave
The E7TE heads are supposed to be pretty good. They used them on the 5.0 HO in the Mustang. Not sure if they are better than the 351 heads, but if I remember right, they were. Either would be better than the 74 smog heads.
1975 is the year they downsized the valves in 351w heads...1.78 instead of 1.84. anyone know the combustion chamber size on them? thanx
mine measure 61cc...unshrouded valves and some mild chamber polishing. I'd figure it'd be around 59-60cc factory. BTW, yes mine were 1.78 valves too...D5AE castings, but they have the larger intake ports of the '69-'70 heads and also have smog bumps in the exhaust ports. I fixed that, though. Good heads, at least for factory iron castings. I put 1.94 1.5 valves ti valves in them, unshrouded the valves, and cleaned up the exhaust ports....also streamlined the valve guides. They pull well up to 6200 RPM where the cam signs off (mild cam).
You have several issues to look at. Your engine should have the pistons about .032" below deck causing low compression and possibly dished to boot. With the heads you speak of and no squish between the head and piston tops, the burn is not very knock resistant to lower octane fuel. The way to help this is of course to mill the heads or better, mill the block deck. The better heads to use are the 351 4v from 69-70 with the bigger valves and port sizes unless you don't need all the performance these heads should give. None of the stock heads have small enough volumes to get you much above 8.5 cr. Using a 289 heads shrouds the valves to much for their small chamber size. The big problem is the pistons and large deck clearence in these year blocks. Good luck.
Yea, they were 60cc and had the 4v ports as well. I could have sworn 1.84s hung around until early 76, but maybe it was just the ports and chambers that hung around past 73... I do know that 73s are identical to 69 and 70. 74 got the smog bumps and apparently smaller valves. Regardless, 69-75 are great 302 swap heads after porting. They flow better than folks give them credit. They are around 165 cfm after a basic porting. Dave
