Must be everyone is busy working on their cars, and just getting outside with the nice weather. Business has been great the past couple months, so I know many are working on their sixes.
I have been totally swamped, both at work and with the parts biz. Spring time is the busiest time for me, in both areas. The construction pace really picks up this time of year down here, particularly in home improvements, but suppose its that way all over the US. I've been working six and seven days a week for the past two months. Finally got the opportunity to take a weekend off, but still may decide to work tomorrow for part of the day.
As for the parts biz, I've been very busy. Both in shipping out new orders, and in developing new parts. As you all know, I've been trying to get some alloy covers done for the past two years. Just couldn't hook up with the right people to get them done at a reasonable cost and within a decent time frame. But I found a new pattern maker with the right qualifications and it is now underway (finally). He is working on the pattern and should have it done in a week or two. I hope to have them in stock by mid summer, but still need to have the plates made before they can be cast. Also plan to make timing and air cleaner covers to match the new finned alloy valve cover.
The aluminum head is another story in itself. Been doing a lot of research on flow numbers and port design. Its very fascinating and sometimes way above my simple mind, but I'm learning as we go. I have talked with some of the best minds in the business, from engineers and designers, to machinist and pattern makers, and the casters. Each have their own opinions, but all have been eager to help and we have formed a coalition of experience and ideas that should result in an outstanding aluminum head. We have a pretty good idea of the flow numbers we can achieve, but I'm still not to the point where that info can be made public.
Last week I was in LA and took time to visit several contacts in person. We have been flow testing all the various heads (logs, OZ-2V, XF's, and others) in stock form and after modifications have been done to the ports. This way, we know what each head is capable of producing as well as their limitations. This gives us a great baseline of info to work with when developing the ports and chambers for the new aluminum head.
We will also be doing several dyno runs with the various heads. In a few weeks, I'll be going back down to LA for several days. At that time, we will be testing a 200ci and a 250ci, each with different combinations. We will start with a dyno run on both motors in stock form. Then will change setups, with matching cams, and see what happens. We have several heads to test, each with their own set of modifications. From a stock log, all the way to a heavily modified OZ-2V (ported & polished, oversized valves, 4V throttle body, EFI, and a turbo). I hope to test all three of the headers I stock as well. It would be great to know how each effects the performance in various applications.
Once the new aluminum cylinder heads are completed and ready to market, I may post a good portion of the information on my website, as I'm sure you guys would love to see all the numbers for yourself. Then you can make an
informed decision when choosing which, cylinder head and induction combo, is best suited for your application. And which is the better value for the performance level desired.
I was seriously considering importing the cast argie heads as they are very cheap to purchase, and import. But with the announcement of the argie aluminum head and working on my own aluminum head, decided not to invest the cash needed to produce the specific intakes and headers. Seems everyone lost interest in them anyway.
For you big six fans, I saw something that was extremely rare. Many years ago, Ford developed a SVO "D" port cast head that was being tested for a market in OZ. It is my understanding that only four of these heads were produced, which wound up sitting in a warehouse for many years. All four have made their way back to the US in recent years, two of them are in the hands of one of my contacts. There are plans to test these heads and compare the numbers to the production heads in the near future. Eventually FSPP plans to produce an aluminum head for you guys too, but that won't happen until later this year or sometime next year. I simply can't afford to have to many fires burning at once and need to concentrate on the projects we are currently undertaking. But plans are in the works.
Maybe I should have started a new topic for all that info. I just got carried away. OH WELL.
i need to learn to keep my FREAKIN mouth shut. Got off the highway on my way home from the office...top down, 85 degrees. Take off moderately from the toll booth and BANG no more forward gears.
tow home
