hunnerdean

I'm rebuilding an 86 351 windsor and I'm looking to upgrade the cam and heads. I'm almost set on Comp cams magnum 280h with 9:1 compression. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good set of aluminum heads for this cam? Any help with what I should also replace as far as lifters, pushrods, and rocker arms would also be helpful.

George1861

Alloy heads conduct heat very efficiently, litteraly sucking energy(heat=energy) out of the combustion chamber. To offset this you have to up the C/R 1 point. 9:1 in alloy gives same result as 8:1 with iron heads. You'd have to go 10:1 to get expected results of 9:1 in an iron head.
You'll need new lifters with the new cam. Check with the head's manufacturer as to rocker arms & push rods. A lot of aftermarket heads have things that wont accept OEM parts, you need to know what will & won't bolt on before buying. Stuff like intakes, ex mans/headers, rocker arms, valves, ect.

hunnerdean

I knew fitment was going to be an issue when buying everything. I'm looking to buy assembled heads so I'm not worried about valves. How can I know if certain headers will fit with certain heads? How will I know if a certian intake manifold will fit? And will both non-emissions and emissions heads work on this motor?

George1861

You have to contact the manufacturer & get a really detailed explanation of what bolts on & what doesn't, & make sure of thier definitions also. Full explanations might be in thier catalog, online or paper, but don't assume you understand what thier definitions are. Saw an article somewhere that said defintions aren't always as obvious as they sound. Emission heads from ford had a port on the back that a tube bolted to, easily blocked/plugged.

hunnerdean

Ok. thanks for the replys this has really been helpful. Its definitly going to take sometime getting everything sorted out.