ford racing heads
- Thread starter 05likewhoa
- Start date
It all depends on your purpose, unless you are trying to do an all out N/A build where you are shooting for 380-390RWHP the Stage 3 heads aren't really going to be something to get. They are good heads with oversized valves, upgraded springs and they are quality pieces. That being said when Livernois built them they had a bad batch of Bronze Guides and some of them might have gone into the FRPP heads so I would wait a month or so if you decide you want these instead.
The ones on American Muscle are the CNC Ported and polished heads, they have the same valve, springs, retainers, guides, locks and seals as the production heads but Ford Racing CNC ported the bowls to increase airflow. When you get these heads you would be shocked at how great they look and perform. Alone I would say you might get anywhere from 10-20HP just from doing this mod.
But honestly if you are going through all of this trouble, you might as well get some good quality cams in there as well. If it was me I would go with a set of 127300 but then that would require upgrading the valve springs as well but you would get returns of around 35-45 HP. If that isn't an option then 127200 or Detroit Rockers cams would be a good idea over say Hot Rod cams or the muther thumper cams. The 127200 cams I have seen pickup around 35HP and the Detroit Rockers are around 25-30 HP, while the Hot Rod Cams and the Mother Thumper Cams are mostly sound only cams and gain you roughly 20HP from what I have seen.
Heads aren't really the mod to do for a lot of people, they require basically taking the entire engine apart down to the short block. So all of your timing components, timing chain cover, intake manifold, fuel lines everything has to come off. It may seem like a daunting task but it is very doable if you take your time and ask questions and follow the instructions in the workshop manual. Heads are going to be a piece to the puzzle mod as the costs involved in them are a bit higher then most people are willing to pay.
The ones on American Muscle are the CNC Ported and polished heads, they have the same valve, springs, retainers, guides, locks and seals as the production heads but Ford Racing CNC ported the bowls to increase airflow. When you get these heads you would be shocked at how great they look and perform. Alone I would say you might get anywhere from 10-20HP just from doing this mod.
But honestly if you are going through all of this trouble, you might as well get some good quality cams in there as well. If it was me I would go with a set of 127300 but then that would require upgrading the valve springs as well but you would get returns of around 35-45 HP. If that isn't an option then 127200 or Detroit Rockers cams would be a good idea over say Hot Rod cams or the muther thumper cams. The 127200 cams I have seen pickup around 35HP and the Detroit Rockers are around 25-30 HP, while the Hot Rod Cams and the Mother Thumper Cams are mostly sound only cams and gain you roughly 20HP from what I have seen.
Heads aren't really the mod to do for a lot of people, they require basically taking the entire engine apart down to the short block. So all of your timing components, timing chain cover, intake manifold, fuel lines everything has to come off. It may seem like a daunting task but it is very doable if you take your time and ask questions and follow the instructions in the workshop manual. Heads are going to be a piece to the puzzle mod as the costs involved in them are a bit higher then most people are willing to pay.
Yeah they are mainly for those that are looking to complete the puzzle so to speak. The expense really shakes away a lot of people from doing it for maybe 20 HP but with those cams and the heads I wouldn't be surprised if I saw 330-340 HP coming from a dyno sheet of your car in its current form. Your main power making mods are headers, intake & tune, along with the Stage 2 cams. With the heads you would increase the amount of air going into the combustion chamber and with better exhaust flow you would be increasing the inhale as much as the exhale of the engine so to speak.
With your cams making most of their power at around 4700 RPM the FRPP Intake Manifold might be something to look at considering it really starts to build power past 3000 RPM and keeps pulling up until redline . The draw back is that there is some low end torque loss but the 3.73 gears (I assume those are what you have) would make up for that. With this in your current form I would expect around 350-360HP and with the heads around 360-370 or so. Here is a link to some testing done on an engine dyno with various FRPP Products. This isn't really a mod for everyone but for those staying N/A I think that this is a good mod to have but I would really research it if you are interested.
Ford Racing Three Valve Intake Manifold Testing - Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords
With your cams making most of their power at around 4700 RPM the FRPP Intake Manifold might be something to look at considering it really starts to build power past 3000 RPM and keeps pulling up until redline . The draw back is that there is some low end torque loss but the 3.73 gears (I assume those are what you have) would make up for that. With this in your current form I would expect around 350-360HP and with the heads around 360-370 or so. Here is a link to some testing done on an engine dyno with various FRPP Products. This isn't really a mod for everyone but for those staying N/A I think that this is a good mod to have but I would really research it if you are interested.
Ford Racing Three Valve Intake Manifold Testing - Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords