[DeTomaso] Questions on 4v heads

[Asa Jay Laughton]

You -might- feel a difference in the bottom end if you swap intakes, put 
the port stuffers in and get a good carb.  However, with that said... 
you engine is tired and it's not going to give you any neck-snapping 
performance.  Changing heads at this point is silly, you might as well 
do a full rebuild if you take even one head off.  As Will pointed out, 
just putting 2V heads on won't buy you much, you'd get the same 
experience from the port stuffers.  And with with you have right now... 
it won't be much.

The -real- differences are made up with combinations that use the 
camshaft.  i.e. the right cam, heads, intake and carb.   The cam is kind 
of like the heart of the whole operation, if yours is tired, worn or 
stock, it's just not going to give you anything as far as performance gain.

So, in my opinion, if you want to experiment a bit, an intake swap is 
easy... no messy fluids leaking out.  So find a great intake and carb.  
Remove the old intake, use the port stuffers, new intake and carb and 
see what happens.  After that you're into a full rebuild.

Asa Jay

Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
&  Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
******************************
http://www.racingagainstautism.com
http://www.teampanteraracing.com


On 10/24/2010 06:51, Rob Dumoulin wrote:
> #1488, has 4v heads and, to my knowledge, has never been rebuilt.  She blows
> a minimum amount of oil smoke on some starts.  On the dyno 9 months ago with
> stock exhaust, an MSD ignition, and an edelbrock manifold and 650 CFM carb,
> she put out 237 HP at the rear wheels.  I have since replaced
> headers/exhaust and added port plates.  The car runs OK, but not nearly what
> I think it should do.  I have intake port stuffers that I have not put on
> yet.  As long as the engine is running OK, I'll be investing my time and
> money in other aspects of the restoration, but I would love to get all the
> HP I can while I can.
>
> I ran into the guy that did the dyno and tuning 9 months ago, Tony Gonyon in
> Orange Park FL, at a car show last night.  #1488 won the club choice award.
>
> http://www.claycountycruzers.com/index.php?option=com_morfeoshow&task=view&gallery=79&Itemid=130
>
> That's me getting the award in pic 138 and #1488 is on pic 93.
>
> Tony stated that I would be better off with 2V heads and a different
> manifold so I could get better port velocity. He stated I might be able to
> get an other 100 HP with the right heads/intake/carb setup.
>
> Any of you ever heard of Tony?
> Do you guys agree with what he said?
> Can I get notable improvement installing the port stuffers?
> How much more performance can I get from the tired old engine before I
> invest in a rebuild?
>