Shelby GT350 R heads done by Valley head service

[cjperformance]

Great to see these heads being brought back to life and in great hands too. Nice work !

[pamotorman]

No, just bead blasted.

because of the static electricity generated by bead blasting how do you get all the beads out of the water passages ??

[KnightEngines]

Blow out with compressed air, then spray wash & blow out again being pretty thorough.
That'll get spray washed & blown dry at least another 2-3 times before assembly - wash after guide & seat work, wash again after porting & sanding, wash again after milling before assembly.
It's all gone by then.

[KnightEngines]

Flowz:

Intake - exhaust

.1 - 60 - 52
.2 - 118 - 102
.3 - 165 - 129
.4 - 194 - 151
.45 - 198.5 - 157
.5 - 202 - 161
.55 - 204 - 163
.6 - 204 - 165
.65 - 204 - 165

[cjperformance]

Flowz:

Intake - exhaust

.1 - 60 - 52
.2 - 118 - 102
.3 - 165 - 129
.4 - 194 - 151
.45 - 198.5 - 157
.5 - 202 - 161
.55 - 204 - 163
.6 - 204 - 165
.65 - 204 - 165

Only one Z of flowz ! More grinding mate

[Carnut1]

Thanks Tony!

[KnightEngines]

Nah, that's plenty for this engine, a solid 20cfm more than it really needs!

I'm not gonna mess with heads of historic value any more than I have to to make them suitable for the purpose! - I kept grinding to a bare minimum & mimicked the finish on the untouched sections, they don't really look to have had anything extra done.

[pamotorman]

No, just bead blasted.

because of the static electricity generated by bead blasting how do you get all the beads out of the water passages ??

I used a trick I saw at a GM engine assy plant. they filled the aluminum L-88 heads water passages with aerosol shaving cream to make sure no machining debris fell from the heads into the engine.

[MadBill]

And of course then suck it out with a wet vac, rather than blowing it in...

[KnightEngines]

Ordered the cam for this after much thought - had to 'sound' right, had to allow for the too big exhaust valves & ports, had to take into account the restrictive intake & only 6-7psi boost.

So I went with 236/229 @ .050" on 112 centres, .520/.480" lift.

That's my best guess as to what'll work nice, shot in the dark really LOL.

[cjperformance]

Nice choice I say. With the 6-7lb boost thats going to make steam mate.

[piston guy]

Knight Engines,

Those heads were done by the pallet load at Valley and Mondello's , Lockerman's , "Fudge" , Slover's and anyone else Shelby thought might have an edge. The "banana" water ports were welded up at Hydro head in the south bay. That is an indicator they were Shelby American offerings. Yes they were installed on the 36 R models initially as well as Cobra race cars and all the spare engines , plus engines sold to independents and cylinder heads sold though tha Shelby catalogs.My point is there were many done "back in the day". I still have a pair myself. The head was outdated with the creation of the C6FE "GT40" head in '66. But because those heads were difficult to obtain , guys used these. The GT40 head was good for about 30 more cfm than the reworked HP 289 heads. Original valve sizes were 1.875 on the intake and 1.625 on the exhaust , not 1.840 and 1.600 as you have mentioned. The heads were often milled by .020-.030 for CCing and truing purposes. This usually brought them down to around 48cc's. The heads are also subject to external cracking below the exhaust ports and above the lower head bolts.
Value is a double edge sword. They are obviously hipo 289 castings and unmolested heads have been selling at higher prices lately. I would value them the same as the "stock" hipo head value.

[KnightEngines]

Cool, don't feel too bad about grinding on them a bit now, + less guilt about putting them on a car they weren't done for.
Will add to the cool factor of the car without being sacrelidge!

This has progressed, heads are assembled with new Manley valves, Crane springs & retainers etc & ready to bolt on.

Custom Racetech pistons arrived, short motor machining is done & she's almost ready for balancing.
Waiting on the rebuilt harmonic balancer - the GT350's had a unique balancer, so it had to be rebuilt, lucky there is an ol fella in town that can do them.

Most parts are here, including a repo bolt kit, correct code paint etc etc.

'Cobra' rocker covers, alloy sump, intake manifold & front cover are out getting wet blasted to get them close to factory finish.

Custom grind cam will be here friday.

Planning to assemble long motor late next week, blower kit is still a couple of weeks away but when that arrives we'll fit it all up & strap it to the engine dyno.

[dwilliams]

the GT350's had a unique balancer,

Eh? Not the 289 HiPo one with the separate counterweight pinned to the timing gear? Or the thick-rimmed one some four-barrel engines used?

[KnightEngines]

I don't know to be honest, owner says it's a unique balancer & must be retained, guy rebuilding it has never seen one before.
I usually just turf the old junk & fit new aftermarket ones, never paid much attention in the past!