440Source Heads - Lightly Ported

[Musicman]

There's a fella on another Mopar site who recently purchased a set of the 440Source heads and did a little work on them. I just thought that I would share the information with you folks. (I've ommitted some of the chatter between the two of us and stuck to the raw facts)

This was his responce in his initial post...

I just got my stealth heads in. the castings look good.i found 2 things wrong 1- the chambers are fine for a 4.500 bore cylinder,but they need to be welded for a 4.375.#2-the valve job on the heads are for a 2.08/1.74 valve.they have the bigger valves but not the valve job.this is why my flow #'s were not close to the advertised #'s.i got 266cfm & 205cfm @ 600 lift using a 4.500 bore stand on a 1020 bench.

This was his second post...

Did a good 3 angle valve job on the intake side , a 32deg back cut on the valve & blended the chamber. picked up 10 cfm from .200 -.700 lift with no other port work. the exhaust has a 30deg top cut, and a 45 seat with a radius.picked up 8-10 cfm from 200-500 lift & 16 cfm at 700 lift.just blended the valve job & chamber.i dont want to sound like im busting 440 source's chops,im still pleased with these heads,but another problem i found was the seats were not driven all the way down. they were about .010 to high. i plan on hogging these things out this weekend & reflowing them monday.

I asked him about the condition of the locks and keepers...

They looked fine.they were 7deg[they will be replaced,of course]. my brother bought a set of indy heads that had really bad retainers. the installed height varied by .020 on some.they were replaced with comp cams.just proves you can get sub standard parts anywhere.

This was his recent post with the flow numbers after a little minor port work...

Here are my flow #'s for my stealt heads.i didn't try to port these things to the max,because it defeats the reason for buying these heads in the first place. For the money spent vs flow potential, i think they are a good deal. i also compared these #'s to the mopar performance aluminum head and the stealth flow better.

int .100-82cfm ex .100-81cfm
.200-178 .200-147
.300-231 .300-169
.400-274 .400-194
.500-292 .500-211
.600-300 .600-224
.700-301 .700-231

Updated post says more work to come...

I still have to weld up the chambers so the gasket will seal,this will hurt the flow a little. I used a 4.500 stand [its the smallest we've got]so the #'s will be down a little if you use the correct bore for your application. We use a 1020 bench which is alot more accurate than a 600 bench, also the 600 bench will read higher flow #'s on the int side than the 1020.

My friend mentioned welding the chambers to fit a 4.375... as it turns out, he was trying to fit a FelPro-8519PT1 gasket (4.41 bore) to the Stealth heads and they were a little tight in the usual areas. I asked if using the recommended ROL-HG31130HT (4.500 bore) or a FELPRO-1039 (4.590 bore) would work.

I think the rol & the 1039 would work. my gasket overhangs around
the intake valve. The chamber is right for a 4.500 bore. I dont know why
440 source had it cast that big, maybe it was cheaper production wise
to do it that way. I dont want to weld alot in the chamber because you
run the risk of pulling the seat registers out of round.

He has decided to try the ROLHG31130HT...

I also talked with 440 source, a guy named Ken. I told him of some of the things I found.
He said a few heads did get out with the valve job not up to snuff. I told him I was very
satisfied with the heads, and Im not bitching or moaning and that I just wanted to let
them know what I had found. I'll look into the ROL gasket...that sounds like a better solution...
maybe even notch the block.

[mally69]

Good info, thanks for sharing..  Since mine aren't put on yet I wonder if it would be worth the extra cash to have that done to them before I bolt them on.  Wonder how much that would cost..

[Musicman]

Your answer is just a few phone calls away   
It's always a good idea to have them checked out anyway.

Mike

[firefighter3931]

Thanks for posting Mike. 

Like any cylinder head there is allways room for improvement, the Stealths are no exception. 


Ron

[dadstoy66]

Thanks for posting Mike. 

Like any cylinder head there is allways room for improvement, the Stealths are no exception. 


Ron

I agree 100%

[Musicman]

Just posting a bit of extra information here...  My friend mentioned welding the chambers to fit a 4.375... as it turns out, he was trying to fit a FelPro-8519PT1 gasket (4.41 bore) to the Stealth heads and they were a little tight in the usual areas. I asked if using the recommended ROL-HG31130HT (4.500 bore) or a FELPRO-1039 (4.590 bore) would not be better than welding, grinding and machining. I will post this information above in the initial post as well for the sake of future continuity.

[Musicman]

He decided to try the ROLHG31130HT that 440source sells... and that should work out just fine for him..
If not there is always the "even larger bore" FelPro-1039, the 1105, or even the 17059 Marine gasket ( a few guys on Moparts have used this one, because it's about 1/2 the price of the others).