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All things considered. I am seriously considering going the aftermarket head route. After adding up all the cost of new valves, keepers, machine work, etc…. I feel ill easily be into the aftermarket aluminum head range. If someone was trying to build a period correct restoration, I see these factory heads being perfect for that. But I’m not. So I need to do some math and decide which way I want to go.
I went with TFS cnc. Very pleased with them.
 
I went through the same issues you seem to be having. Machining is expensive and to do it right is costly. I found the a company called Speedmaster makes a set of new iron castings of the Cleveland 4V heads with a choice of roller studs or OEM rocker posts. I went the roller route. The cost seemed to be reasonable considering all the work that needed to be put into my stock heads to bring them up to speed. You might want to check them out.
https://www.speedmaster79.com/engin...sembled&enginemake=Ford&family=Ford-Cleveland
 

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I went through the same issues you seem to be having. Machining is expensive and to do it right is costly. I found the a company called Speedmaster makes a set of new iron castings of the Cleveland 4V heads with a choice of roller studs or OEM rocker posts. I went the roller route. The cost seemed to be reasonable considering all the work that needed to be put into my stock heads to bring them up to speed. You might want to check them out.
https://www.speedmaster79.com/engin...sembled&enginemake=Ford&family=Ford-Cleveland
Looks like a very good price and far less hassle than rebuilding your own at ? cost.
Not that I'm in the market for new heads, but very interesting.
 
Like rcadd1ct, I went with Trickflow heads, too. 62cc chamber and 195 cc runners. They were a little more than the budget alternative, but I am very happy with them. I didn't need the monster high volume runners, as I wasn't building a high rpm motor, but I did want it to be fun to drive. In conjunction with the Lunati roller cam and lifters, it actually produces more power than I originally thought it would.
 
They look nice but I didn't see any flow numbers. I went with CHI. They are tough to get but unreal...............
 
Like rcadd1ct, I went with Trickflow heads, too. 62cc chamber and 195 cc runners. They were a little more than the budget alternative, but I am very happy with them. I didn't need the monster high volume runners, as I wasn't building a high rpm motor, but I did want it to be fun to drive. In conjunction with the Lunati roller cam and lifters, it actually produces more power than I originally thought it would.
Same TFS 195cc 62cc chamber roller cam heads for me for much the same reasons. Worth the money in my view. The motor will go together in March when the cam gets here. Should be an easy 400+hp and very street friendly.

Rob
 
They look nice but I didn't see any flow numbers. I went with CHI. They are tough to get but unreal...............
Someone posted up some flow numbers on the Cleveland's Forever FB group. Another person posted some comparative dyno numbers. The OP may want to do a search to take a look at that data.
 
Regarding those Speedmaster / ProComp heads, be sure to do your research on them. The general consensus of the Cleveland community is that they can be made to work, but you're best off buying them bare and having a machine shop rework and build them. By the time you done that, a set of Trick Flows is about the same price.

IMO, the best bang for the buck aluminum Cleveland head is the Trick Flow.
 
Speedmaster are sketchy inless you build them with quality parts. The castings may be ok but the rest of the head is junk. I would even be worried about guides and seats coming apart. Old saying, you get what you pay for.

I used AFD aluminum heads in 408 build. I love them. Expensive but flow great.
 
Be aware that these numbers are tricked out so no apples-to-apples comparisons can be made to other heads. Notice that these are with a bore size of 4.125" which is far from the typical 4.030". I assume these are flow numbers in an aftermarket block. That's an additional almost 0.1" of bore that would help flow around the valves.
You can see the CHI 4V numbers here: https://www.chiheads.com.au/shop/heads/4v-ford-cleveland/
 
IMO, the best bang for the buck aluminum Cleveland head is the Trick Flow.
Are the Trick Flow heads meant to be used with intakes designed for 2v heads? I think that was the main reason I crossed them off my list (because the only 2v style intake I have is the Air Gap), but I'm facing quite a bit of port matching to adapt a Torker to the AFD's I have.
 
Are the Trick Flow heads meant to be used with intakes designed for 2v heads? I think that was the main reason I crossed them off my list (because the only 2v style intake I have is the Air Gap), but I'm facing quite a bit of port matching to adapt a Torker to the AFD's I have.
Yes they are port matched to the 2v intake….at least on my cnc ported version
 

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Same TFS 195cc 62cc chamber roller cam heads for me for much the same reasons. Worth the money in my view. The motor will go together in March when the cam gets here. Should be an easy 400+hp and very street friendly.

Rob
Hey I was planning on putting the same heads on my block just a top end change. Heads, intake, carb. If you don’t mind what cam did you use ?
 
I am using Howards hydraulic roller cam retrofit kit pt# HRCCL233215-10. Intake lift .571, exh .577, intake duration 270, exh 278, 110 degree lobe separation. It's not an overly aggressive cam. I didn't want to go to a non-stock stall converter at this time so this should be good for my purposes. Once I figure out my direction on the transmission it's an easy upgrade to a more aggressive cam if I want.

Rob
 
Are the Trick Flow heads meant to be used with intakes designed for 2v heads? I think that was the main reason I crossed them off my list (because the only 2v style intake I have is the Air Gap), but I'm facing quite a bit of port matching to adapt a Torker to the AFD's I have.
If you’re not going to use your airgap manifold, I would be interested in it.
 
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