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Head games

2K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Flade 
#1 ·
Trying to decide on what heads to use on my 94 GT (Cobra clone) Convertible.

Car is a daily driver but I’d like it to have some better power for fun weekend driving and to match the cobra body kit.

I mostly drive it around town with occasion highway trips so it needs good street manners and a decent idle.

Currently it has the stock 5.0 & T-5 except for a CAI and short throw shifter.

Parts I’ve assembled:

94 Cobra intake
BBK 76mm 24lb inj MAF
Ford 24 lb injectors
70 Mm BBK Throttle body
Comp Cams XE 264HR-14 Cam
Crane cams 44308 Hydraulic roller cam springs
Hooker shorty headers (ceramic coated)
BBK off road H-pipe
Magnaflow Cat Back

I still need lifters and rockers.

I plan to keep the EGR, but remove the smog pump and pipes.

I have a set of GT40 heads, but with all the other parts I am thinking I might need something a bit better breathing.

I am thinking something in the 165 -170 range would be the right size?

So now the questions:
1. Do I have the head sized right for my planned application?
2. The TW170 heads seem to be the Gold standard. How do Edelbrock, Holly, and other heads compare? I am hoping to find a used set to keep in the $600 - 800 range max.
3. Has anyone used the Skip White heads? Were they decent?
4. How does my over all plan look? Is everything balanced and appropriate for my intended use? Did I miss anything?

Thanks for any insight you can give.
 
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#2 ·
in your price range all aftermarket heads are going to be the same. Just try to get your hands on the biggest heads you can.

you should really port that intake tmoss has excellent details on doing so - http://tmoss.efidynotuning.com

A healthy well running properly tuned hci 302 will never survive on 24lb injectors. I've tuned several hundred of them and never not once did I ever have one that didnt peg 24s. You should upgrade injectors. The maf doesn't matter since youll be getting it custom tuned.

Here is an excellent write up that tells you most of what you need to know

http://www.efidynotuning.com/pre.htm
 
#3 ·
in your price range all aftermarket heads are going to be the same. Just try to get your hands on the biggest heads you can.

you should really port that intake tmoss has excellent details on doing so - Tmoss Porting

A healthy well running properly tuned hci 302 will never survive on 24lb injectors. I've tuned several hundred of them and never not once did I ever have one that didnt peg 24s. You should upgrade injectors. The maf doesn't matter since youll be getting it custom tuned.

Here is an excellent write up that tells you most of what you need to know

Pre Tune Information / EFIDynoTuning
Thanks, I’ll look into bigger injectors, what size do you recommend?

I’ve talked to TMoss and he recommended not porting the intake unless I upgrade the heads to flow greater than 210 CFM. Once I pick the heads I’ll look at their flow and readdress if needed.

Thanks for the link. Lots of great info there.
 
#9 ·
Dude is a legend in the Mustang tuning community.. If he says you need at least 30s, i would suggest you follow his advice. Not telling you what to do but do you really think you know more than Decipha?

When it comes to injectors, I would recommend you buy siemens 80s. You will most likely never outgrow them, even if you decide on turbo and e85 later on. There is no disadvantage to having large injectors and the injector data for the 60s and 80s is everywhere so its quite easy to get the data needed to tune. I know too many people to count who have started with 24's and bought 30s then 60s then 80s.. Odds are with 80s youll only buy them once..

If you decide to go this route.. Under no circumstances should you buy them from Amazon, Ebay or any place like that.. You will get knockoffs and they cant be tuned.. PowerAdderSolutions is the place to get them.
 
#5 ·
Looking at some online calculators, with stock fuel pressure of 39psi, 24lb injectors should support up to 326 brake horsepower. My target is 300 RWH.

Will I be able to reach this with 24lb injectors at 85% duty cycle?
What flow fuel pump will I need?
At this hp level I don’t think I would need to upgrade the fuel rails or add a regulator. Am I thinking wrong?

Thanks
 
#6 ·
Injectors are not rated for rear wheel power. They are rated for flywheel power. I think 24lb injectors will be too small. I'd look to 36lb/hr units. When looking at injectors sometimes it's cheaper to get larger units. I've seen 30lb units for, say, $400 and then find 36lb/hr units for $350. The 30's may be what you want but there is no reason to not run the 36's and save $50 bucks. May even be good to go slightly large. You can run less duty cycle and you have a small buffer should you need it for future tuning. I don't know of any downside to going slightly larger. Going massively larger may be a bad idea though. Running 80lb injectors when you only need 24's is probably not advisable.
 
#7 ·
IMO any injector under 42lb is pointless if you're going to be tuning the car. Don't forget you'll be needing to upgrade your fuel pump as well. 190 or 255lph will do you just fine.

What are you looking as far as budget goes? It's hard to spend your money when we don't know how much you're working with ;)

As far as heads go, get some 190cc heads. Whether its AFR, TFS, canfields, or brodix it really doesn't matter. One upside about the TFS 11R is that PTV clearance is pretty stupid big with stock pistons. Cam selection is much nicer when you know you have good room (Always check PTV though). Pretty much all of the $1500?+ heads will get you in the same ballpark. If you're leaving the cobra intake unmodified, you may want to check the head plans though.

The 264hr is a pretty small'ish cam for some decent heads. Going a bit bigger, especially on lift would be beneficial. However, that stock t5 may thank you if you don't.

I've used one set of skip white heads. We bought them bare and assembled them at the shop. Quality was good, better than some of the other offshore parts of similar price. I can't speak for their valve and spring package though as I've never seen them.

At the end of the day, if you're buying heads, skip right past the 170s and go with 185 or 190cc.
 
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