Ford Cleveland NASCAR cylinder heads

[Ratu]

I understand that during the 1990s Junior Johnson was involved in the development of a set of cylinder heads for the Cleveland engine for NASCAR application. They were unusual in that they featured straight inlet ports with the pushrods going through them (in somewhat analogous fashion to the famous FE Tunnel Port). The heads were listed in Ford motorsport catalogues at the time. There were pictures of them and they were offered to the public (so they must have had Ford part numbers allocated). The heads were raced in ARCA by Dick Trickle for a while. Then they were banned, so that was the end of them. Some have explained that there was a shortcoming inherent in the design which would have limited the potential and others have taken a different view. Whether the regs banned them, or they didn't meet expectations, the outcome was the same. They were rare then and not around racing now.

Does anyone have pictures or a copy of the old Ford Motorsports catalogue? It would be good to see pictures of these unusual cylinder heads.

[PackardV8]

How different were they from the Boss 302" Tunnel Port heads?

[FuelieNova]

I can remember Dick Trickle telling me about them when he came to Wi Dells to race one weekend. He sure seemed to think highly of them.
I would love to see a pic of them.
Tom

[Walter R. Malik]

I understand that during the 1990s Junior Johnson was involved in the development of a set of cylinder heads for the Cleveland engine for NASCAR application. They were unusual in that they featured straight inlet ports with the pushrods going through them (in somewhat analogous fashion to the famous FE Tunnel Port). The heads were listed in Ford motorsport catalogues at the time. There were pictures of them and they were offered to the public (so they must have had Ford part numbers allocated). The heads were raced in ARCA by Dick Trickle for a while. Then they were banned, so that was the end of them. Some have explained that there was a shortcoming inherent in the design which would have limited the potential and others have taken a different view. Whether the regs banned them, or they didn't meet expectations, the outcome was the same. They were rare then and not around racing now.

Does anyone have pictures or a copy of the old Ford Motorsports catalogue? It would be good to see pictures of these unusual cylinder heads.

1995 or 1996 Ford Motorsport SVO catalogs - page number 41 - part number M-6049-T351.

[Walter R. Malik]

How different were they from the Boss 302" Tunnel Port heads?

A lot different:
They were aluminum with squarish intake ports having removable centers and no water in the ends with big wide rectangle raised exhaust ports.

[FuelieNova]

So they must have taken a different block, cam etc?
Tom

[NebrRex]

I understand that during the 1990s Junior Johnson was involved in the development of a set of cylinder heads for the Cleveland engine for NASCAR application. They were unusual in that they featured straight inlet ports with the pushrods going through them (in somewhat analogous fashion to the famous FE Tunnel Port). The heads were listed in Ford motorsport catalogues at the time. There were pictures of them and they were offered to the public (so they must have had Ford part numbers allocated). The heads were raced in ARCA by Dick Trickle for a while. Then they were banned, so that was the end of them. Some have explained that there was a shortcoming inherent in the design which would have limited the potential and others have taken a different view. Whether the regs banned them, or they didn't meet expectations, the outcome was the same. They were rare then and not around racing now.

Does anyone have pictures or a copy of the old Ford Motorsports catalogue? It would be good to see pictures of these unusual cylinder heads.

Isn't that about the time the Yates heads came out? If it is earlier than that Maybe contact Ernie Elliott or the Woods Bros. .


.

[Ratu]

Hi Walter

Wow! I'm impressed. You certainly didn't waste any time locating a reference for them.

I tried finding pictures on the web using the reference you provided but there isn't anything turning up in my searches. I guess these heads really are very, very rare by now. Did you have previous experience with them?

Do you have a copy of one of the catalogues with any pictures?

Regards

Ratu

[Mummert]

They moved alot of air about 25-30 more cfm than a Yates. The the removable pushrod insert is about an 1.25" long and shaped like an airfoil. They were an improved tunnel port design but they suffered from the same thing all tunnel ports do, momentum problems. The average runner speed is too slow and the and the pushrod speed is too high.
For a Tunnel port to be successful the height of the port has to be much shorter than the width of the port allowing for reasonable area reduction at the pushrod.
The picture in the SVO catalogue is an unported version, the pushrod inserts are unrefined, so you don't get to see it the way Junior did it.
The valves were quite a bit longer than a Yates heads so weight was a concern.
The valve layout was like an SBC so the intake ports were close together.

[Walter R. Malik]

So they must have taken a different block, cam etc?
Tom

NO, not the block ... used a Cleveland block or Ford race block but,
they were E I I E E I I E port layout, like a Chevrolet, with a dedicated intake manifold, cam core and valve covers; needing custom headers.

I do have all the Ford Performance catalogs back to '93, (up to 2016), in my library.

[wwmtlineman]

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/r ... &FORM=VIRE this one ?

[blykins]

Thanks for showing my Tunnel Port engine!

[frnkeore]

So they must have taken a different block, cam etc?
Tom

NO, not the block ... used a Cleveland block or Ford race block but,
they were E I I E E I I E port layout, like a Chevrolet, with a dedicated intake manifold, cam core and valve covers; needing custom headers.
.

I would prefer to say it was like a Ford Flat head, Ford & Linc Y-blocks or even the Olds, Cad or Pont. All came before the SBC

[Walter R. Malik]

So they must have taken a different block, cam etc?
Tom

NO, not the block ... used a Cleveland block or Ford race block but,
they were E I I E E I I E port layout, like a Chevrolet, with a dedicated intake manifold, cam core and valve covers; needing custom headers.
.

I would prefer to say it was like a Ford Flat head, Ford & Linc Y-blocks or even the Olds, Cad or Pont. All came before the SBC

Absolutely correct ... the SBC is just the most recognizable to many. ...LOL.

[Ratu]

Hi Walter

Please post the pictures of the head from your Ford motorsports catalogues. I'd really like to see what they looked like. Thank you for this.