Yes Mugsy, Jon was the guy I got. A real crank. I hadn't read the other threads so I was unprepared. What's worse, they must be on the east coast or something, since the call came in at like 6 in the morning. I wasn't even awake, and I'd hardly opened my eyes and gotten out the words "Ford Six" before he lit into me. I got out of bed, and there I am buck naked, pacing back and forth in the hall outside our bedroom, having a heated argument with this guy at the ass-crack of dawn, so God only knows what the wife thought about that. She's been pretty tolerant of this Granada business, but still...
RE: Mr. Explorer, you raise a good point. In fact just the other day I was counting up all the shekels I've been spending and it prompted me to go back again and take a look at the CI head, and see where I stood. Let's say you buy an "assembled" aluminum head, which includes a valve job, and you get it milled to your desired C/R but skip the option of any porting. That comes to $1,660 plus you need to add $285 for the intake manifold, so you're looking at basically $1,950. Porting adds several hundred dollars more if you choose it.
Mike's head prices include valves (but not springs), so to compare with what I've done:
$100 - price of head from salvage yard
$1,200 - porting and milling and valve jobs
$160 - stainless valves
$45 - 2V adapter
That comes to $1,500. If you already have a head laying around, or in your vehicle, I guess you could save another hundred bucks or so.
In the end I guess the difference is around $500 at the closest, but it could be more depending on the options you choose. Of course price isn't the only comparison. Mike's flow testing has shown an un-ported aluminum head already out-performs a ported large log head. So you're getting more performance for that extra $500.
It's true, after you spend all this amount $500 doesn't sound like much. I'd say it comes down to what kind of performance you're wanting. If I had been building a Mustang, instead of a Granada, and if as you say the availability issues were resolved, and if I knew then what I know now, I'd probably have taken a harder look at the CI head.
Luke
RE: Mr. Explorer, you raise a good point. In fact just the other day I was counting up all the shekels I've been spending and it prompted me to go back again and take a look at the CI head, and see where I stood. Let's say you buy an "assembled" aluminum head, which includes a valve job, and you get it milled to your desired C/R but skip the option of any porting. That comes to $1,660 plus you need to add $285 for the intake manifold, so you're looking at basically $1,950. Porting adds several hundred dollars more if you choose it.
Mike's head prices include valves (but not springs), so to compare with what I've done:
$100 - price of head from salvage yard
$1,200 - porting and milling and valve jobs
$160 - stainless valves
$45 - 2V adapter
That comes to $1,500. If you already have a head laying around, or in your vehicle, I guess you could save another hundred bucks or so.
In the end I guess the difference is around $500 at the closest, but it could be more depending on the options you choose. Of course price isn't the only comparison. Mike's flow testing has shown an un-ported aluminum head already out-performs a ported large log head. So you're getting more performance for that extra $500.
It's true, after you spend all this amount $500 doesn't sound like much. I'd say it comes down to what kind of performance you're wanting. If I had been building a Mustang, instead of a Granada, and if as you say the availability issues were resolved, and if I knew then what I know now, I'd probably have taken a harder look at the CI head.
Luke