Does anyone run a set of the Flo Tech Heads part number 7223000? They are about $750 for the pair. I know you usually get what you pay for but wanted to see if anyone actually has them and likes them. Id be running them on a 351w street car n/a with a drag day thrown in every now and then. Any feed back would be appreciated thanks!
Typical budget head. Almost bought a blem'd set from my local speed shop before I found my RHS castings. Lots of sharp edges everywhere. I see lots of the Chevy stuff.. not so much the Ford stuff though. A few quick observations and things discussed with others(pro head porters too) about them over the years. Don't care much for the swirl type combustion chamber on a performance motor but Ford and a few other OEM's did ok with the design up to moderate power levels. There's a reason that the majority of aftermarket castings don't mimic them and it has to do with trading outright flow capability for better efficiency and emissions. The people that will argue with that are generally far too caught up on static flow bench numbers that don't match up with a running engines dynamic flow realities. Pretty good casting design for up to around 350 FWHP. Decent amount more if they're massaged on a bit or better yet.. fully ported. Budget heads parts/components are lower grade to increase profit margin. Makes perfect sense and is the way it's always been and always will be. As you already said.. you get what you pay for and rarely ever receive much more than that. Building bare castings will cost you more from an initial investment standpoint.. but a dropped or broken valve and/or having to remove the heads due to oil control issues will cost you far more in the long run. I've heard more than a couple guys say that the springs on those heads are not up to the advertised spec's either and they often end up replacing them anyways. While many of the budget heads have improved as of late.. core shift and machining quality control is still an issue that needs to be watched out for. Talk to enough people and you will hear about severe enough core shifting of the intake ports that requires blueprinting/normalizing and/or gasket mod's/matching to fix them. Not disassembling a budget head and checking the various geometry and valve guide clearances can and often does bite people right square in the ass. Adds more cost if you get held up during an install or have to take them into the shop.. kinda like playing Russian Roulette with your engine if you're so trusting that you believe anything is ever a true "bolt on and forget about it" type thing. Higher priced parts have better quality control and increase the trust factor but it's still prudent to double check everything before final assembly. Always better to shop with the brain having absolute control of the wallet. Research takes time but can save you money in the long run. The fact that you asked before you bought them on a whim shows that you already realize that. Good luck on the hunt.
I`m beginning to feel pretty good about my Roush 200s.David Taylor runs a 69 Ford Fairlane at Dinwitte(VMP) and has a set on his car.His mtr. is a little bigger than mine w/ more cam,a Super Victor w/ a 1150 dominator on it with the same amount of machine work I`m going to do.However,he has stock front springs,no tubs w/ 28x9 in drag radials & weighs 800lbs more than I do w/ caltracs out back.My car has full tubs,racing front springs,a narrowed rear,12 point cage w/ sub frame connectors & is basically just set up a little better.He went 10.40s all day & then after they qualified to go rounds the trk. made them run 1/8 mi,he still turned 6.70s.I talked to a retired racer there who was in his 70s,quit about ten yrs ago,& told him what my plans were for my car.I said if it would go 10.50s I`d be happy,he said don`t sell myself short,it should easily go low 10s which is what I want.It`s obvious that with bigger valves,port work & good parts the 200s can make some power,they are heavy but durable.Now if I could just stop having all this bad luck I could get back to buying parts.
Dan, we got a bunch of stuff on Craigs now that can get you there, building another one now and can't use them.
A couple buddy's of mine went to the PRI show last year and met the guys who own Flow-tec. They are what's used to be Patriot and guaranteed their heads or money back. I'm sure they would be fine for what you want to do.
