Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance Interest in head work...

Well...i own a 1999 Cougar V6 MTX. I am not new to cars, or modifying them. Over on the cougar board, I have posted about getting my heads poirted and polished. I know a friend who does alort of engine work, and will port and polish the heads with a 3 angle vavle job for $750. A port match and opening up the ports in the lower intake manifold plus a polish is $250. Upper prices have not been set. He is not just anybody, he dies professional work. I know him since he owns a probe, and iused to own one. He did a lot of work on his probe and recently dynoed it at over 300whp...yes i said 300whp. It's on his first gen pgt turbo...all work custom done by him. He does excellent work.

What will be done to the heads for me and most likely for anyone after me...a full port and polish, new stem seals, new guides, checked all springs and adjusted the seat heights, recondition the valves, have the valves coated by HPC, resurface the heads, magnaflux them, bead blast them, and a nice 3 angle valve grind.

I should have them done within 2 weeks, and hopefully a port matched lower intake manifold, and Larger injectors...I will dyno before and after the install and post my findings. I hope to gain in the range of 20-50whp...so about 25-63crank hp...

If you are interested, I will be passing around his email and phone number right after my set is done. I purchased an extra set of heads for him to use since I can't b without a car for too long. He is located in Oregon...but parts can be sent through the mail to be worked. He does intake manifolds, TB's, heads, etc...all parts will be flow tested...

Hopefully this is good news for any of you interested. I can't wait personally.

My goal is 225-250 crank hp to begin with...then move along farther if I choose.

I would like my cougar to run a consistent low 14sec 1/4 mile on street tires. One day I'd like to see 13.9 all NA and on street tires, and without touching the block itself (no 3.0L or new pistons/rods, etc.)...but only time will tell.

yes its now 4 in the morning, but anyways that sounds pretty sweet and very tempting to get mine done. hook us up with the dyno when its all done! oh yeah, does he do any cam work?

If your doing all that to the heads, why not install the bigger 3L valves (35mm I think c/w 32mm stock), some high RPM springs/retainers (you will need to be running up to 7.5-8K RPMs to get that 250 HP N/A), and SVT cams (or even hotter custom cams). Then can use a 35mm (modified) 3L lower intake and have Extrude Hone open your upper intake to about 35mm as well.

I will be VERY interested in this if he can come close to that $750 per set for the rest of us. I've been getting quoted near that for the heads too, but mine are $750 EACH!!! Also see what he can quote for cutting the larger 3 liter valves in place. I have a set of those I need done at the same time...

I questioned different valves, and it was decided the stock valves were good enough, and trying to fit the slightly larger valves were useless. The Duttweiler (is that the name??) car used the stock valves and made over 300hp...so the person doing my heads is following their approach to the heads. He can do whatever you laik, of course for a fee...he could build an entire engine if need be, but for now I'm sticking to the head and intake manifodl work.

BTW, that price of $750 is your price. And yes it's for the set, for everything listed above. I got a slightly lower price (not much) to test the heads. I will Pre and Post dyno them, and then if I make 5 hp, or 50hp, then he'll probably have a lot of business...

Personally, I still need larger injectors.
And I don't want to do the 3L swap, for a few reasons. My car was born a 2.5 and will die a 2.5...I don't have the money to buy and install the block...and my 250 crank hp goal is without touching the block. If I Go for the block work, I better peak over that 250hp number.

I should have the Heads within 2 weeks...possibly by the end of next week...

But I will need install help...I live in NJ, and really need help installing them. I'm afraid a shop will kill me in labor...but if that's what I gtta do, that's what I gotta do.

I'll keep you posted...

"The Duttweiler (is that the name??) car used the stock valves and made over 300hp".

Actually -COMPLETELY DIFFERENT RULES for a turbo (he made 450HP, BTW). The guys (racers) that have made 250-270 HP on a N/A 2.5L (Chris Reinke, Al Mirko, etc) all used big valves, higher CRs, hotter cams, and 8000RPM redlines. This is what makes me think that to (possibly) hit 250 HP with a stock CR - you will need to reach high into the rev range and need all the breathing & cam you can get. All tied together with a carefully dyno tuned ECU program.

But good luck. I certainly could be wrong & hope to hear of excellent results. I have little doubt that youll get significant gains with a good P & P/valve job combined with thoughtful intake and exhaust mods.

another point to be made is that a RACE car is nothing like a street car.

1) TORQUE moves the car, not horsepower

2) how much time do you REALLY spend in the higher rpm range?

3) 1 or 2 horsepower on the top end means alot more to a racer then you or i.

4) race engines are lucky to last 500 miles (there ARE execptions to the rule, so lets not argue that point)

I was contemplating getting a set of 3.0L exhaust cams as BNOON said the had a longer duration or lift...either way they are different...and something like that could help me reach my goal. I would love to have a set of higher compression Pistons made for my cougar, but that's not happening yet.

Does anyone know id the SVT cams are different or the same to the stock duratec ones? I have been told soooo many diferent things, I have no idea what's true, and what's not.

Also, anyone know about the injectors...which years are top feed/side feed...I need a set of larger injectors, and no one really knows which ones will work in my car...what a pain. BTW, my Cougar was made 12/98...

The SVT has diffrent cams in it, so replacing them would also mean the valves (I think)
Having the Heads flowed at such a hi angle would give you some hp but then your throwing all you low end power away.....
I would just suggest you get some SVT heads.
But that is just my 2cents

Make sure he concentrates on low-lift flow #'s too. That is where a lot of the low-end power comes from. Adding larger valves and unshrouding the valves will help achieve better low-lift flow.

...Brings back memories of porting stock ET7E heads for my 5.0 Capri in my garage. Going to GT-40 style valves (1.84/1.54 vs 1.78/1.45) in a stock head was a great power gain before all the aftermarket Aluminum heads came out.

Regards,