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White block head flow numbers

300+_T5R_855

New member
Joined
Dec 12, 2006
I have been working on a ported head solution for the 850's for a while now and finally have some good information.

I tested 3 Volvo B52XX heads

1 850 head
1 newer 70 series head with factory "D" ports
1 cj's ported and polished head (using a stock 850 head to begin with)

Here are the flow numbers.

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I was able to attain higher flow numbers, but they are all but unusable with current readily available camshafts.

These heads will be available for purchase outright or with core exchange. Pricing and information forthcoming on my website. Inquiries welcome before information is posted.

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Thanks for publishing the info....

What valve lift numbers are realistic? Do stock or any of the aftermarket cams have .300", .400" or .500" lift?
 
Thanks for publishing the info....

What valve lift numbers are realistic? Do stock or any of the aftermarket cams have .300", .400" or .500" lift?

.377 lift is about all that's available without custom work. Anything above .400 is noteworthy, but not useful with the cams that are available. NA cams are 9.6mm or .377 and turbo cams are 8.45mm or .332". Intake and exhaust profiles are the same. I have a custom ground set in my car that are .382.

I know there are some Enem (I think that's the name) cams, but I don't know their specs.
 
Wow. Unless I'm missing something, I was expecting a hell of a lot more out of the 20v heads.
 
There's a back story here, not getting in to all that, bottom line, a 16v head showed up last week in need of attention after someone else gave it 'attention':

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numbers to come in a minute (it wasn't quite the unadulterated disaster I thought it was going to be)

this is a rough first pass, I spent about 45 minutes total on this port (I called hockey after testing it first and spent an hour on the phone with him), and it's not finished, but the damage is minimized. I may see if sam can put a little weld on the flats, but that may be a reach. the divider in this port is about 1 7/8ths down the hole (which is substantially closer to the flange than a regular 16v, looks like this is a penta head)

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flow numbers:
out of the box (lift is in .050 increments, starting with .050, all numbers @ 28 in)
40
80
113
143
166
180
192
198
204

the low lift numbers kinda sucked, but the minimal amount of bowl work that was done to the head as well appeared to pay off in dividends here, as it just barely eeked out a stock automotive head, which looks like this:
44
84
120
150
173
182
187
190
192

The 'fixed' values, this is just addressing the divider and smoothing out some residual tool marks in the port, I haven't done anything up by the valve yet (which is where big gains can be had):
54
91
125
153
174
184
195
200
206

So, it's still 'choking' up top, but we'll take care of that soon enough. I mainly wanted to first see what gains could be had by getting rid of the wall in the port. I don't think many people here are equipped to even **** a head up this bad, but keep in mind it is certainly possible to go the wrong way with things either accidentally or intentionally.
Fortunately in this case I think it's a correctable issue, and I look forward to seeing this head put down some good numbers in the near future.

Just for reference if anyone is looking for a comparison (as I was)
 
What are the numbers typically for red block heads?


I know I know search noob sorry

I know stock 530 head are kinda low cant remember exactly what they are maybe around 150cfm on the intake side.

My 531 marine head running stock valve and ported and got it bench flowed tested, and it did 200 cfm. Huge improvment verse the 530 heads. Stock 531 are about 170cfm on the intake. The exhuast ports flow the same as the 530 heads
 
No flow figures for mine- just running standard turbo cams right now anyway, although I have a set of NA cams that I am debating whether to put one or both in.

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Made a very noticeable difference to the car in terms of how it went through the revs- from 4,000+ it was much happier.
 
If you're going to put the money/time into a ported head, personally I would use a late head with solid lifters and 6mm valve stems. Not really worth putting lots of work into the head that had the worst flow as stock and worst valve train IMO.

The ramp rates on the solid lifter camshafts are more aggressive, so the actual area under the curve in terms of valve lift is better. Static head flow numbers are definitely a part of the story, but they're only a part. Several other variables are worth considering when it comes to white blocks. That said it's easy to make good power on stock heads anyways. Like Bne says - having 5 (or even 6) ports to pull air through makes a difference. My T6 had no problems making numbers that stomp a 16v with a bone stock head and stock 960 cams. 190cfm per port is lots when you have 25-50% more ports. ;-)

Porting can make a whiteblock make more power on less boost, but you can easily make enough power to split the block in half on a stock head with a medium sized turbo.
 
Sort of agree, sort of don't- my head work was done to see what could be done whilst keeping the angled flange 16T.

It definitely had a big impact on the performance of the car with that, admittedly tiny turbo.
 
Sort of agree, sort of don't- my head work was done to see what could be done whilst keeping the angled flange 16T.

It definitely had a big impact on the performance of the car with that, admittedly tiny turbo.


Any numbers, datalogs, or track times to back up your claim or is this just your impression? No offense, but there are thousands of people on the internet claiming subjective gains due to all sorts of stuff.

The absolute best you can do is maybe improve throttle response a bit, and max out that tiny turbo at a slightly lower boost level. A motor with a 16T is not going to see much benefit from a ported head. Have a look at the size of the turbine housing and then have a think about how much effect making the ports larger is going to have.
 
I don't need numbers, datalogs or track times- I have anecdata.

It's all subjective to be honest- and I did a load of things at once, so being able to isolate the affect of the porting is totally impossible.

However, I'm operating on the (possibly totally mistaken, I give you) assumption that it couldn't hurt.

My tiny, bijou turbo-ette is connected to:

- Ported head, back-cut valves
- H beam rods
- Ported R exhaust manifold
- 3" Ferrita downpipe with 100 cel cat, 2.5" cat-back
- Ported throttle body
- Larger diameter MAF

Most of which is total and complete overkill, I admit.

However, with some bigger injectors and a grown up turbo* it'll make 400 horsepower.

Everything I've done has been with the intention of being able to support a much larger turbine at some point in the future, at which point the porting will hopefully have more of a part to play.

*Possibly a better intercooler also, but heh- it's nearly always cold and raining here in the UK
 
I ported a redblock 16v head to 371 cfm on the intake with biggr valves, new seats, a killer valve job, a nd welding.. catcams makes race cams, that support the power production at around 10000rpm... how much of the head design is the same? I used e30 m3 valves 39 to be exact... solid lifters are available too.... who has development money? Ill build it you run it!
 
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