Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance New Heads and Stuff

The 4-cylinder stuff has been available for years. You can find it at http://www.fontana-automotive.com They have a midget engine program and sell parts also. Don't know the $$$'s though. After Joe sold the business he used one of the heads on a stock 153 Chevrolet block in an Opet GT for Bonneville. Did hurt it a few times.
I'm glad to see all the 4 and 6 Cylinder 8 and 12 port stuff coming back and hope it will all works out. All of it will be fun for the street where I believe more will go. Henry Velasco also made crankshafts for the 4. I saw a bunch of them over there a while back.......Good Luck

The Midget stuff no longer uses the traditional 4.400" bore spacing blocks or heads, so that older stuff is no longer capable of competing in that form of racing, and the blocks are made to use the current SBC head that has the larger bore spacing, so virtually overnight, this older cast head and block were obsoleted in that industry. But the good news is as you say, the street market will flourish because of it, and I should be able to accomodate them with there needs and desires for both the 4 and 6 cylinder crowds.

Didn't know they changed the bore centers...All I know is Joe ran one of the heads and injectors on a cast iron block because of the rules at Bonneville. I think something came apart on the lower end causing the block to fail....Still glad to see the stuff coming back....now if I can just find one of those Ansen 8 port heads to go with the original brochure I have somewhere......JD

It's still 4.40"

The race blocks and heads their using now has a 4.500" bore center, the OEM stuff is still 4.400".

Are these the new blocks and engines. ??, , ,

The block in the middle looks like one of Joe's new billet blocks, the pics on the ends are of much older stuff than I have. Here is one of the 4.500" bore spacing heads they are using: Here

Haven't posted here in a while - hello to all.

CNC,
You just posted a pic of the 12 port head on a thread in another forum.

Put me on 'the list' when you get these heads ready for production or ready to take orders.

What size are the guides, spring pockets, valves, runner volume? I did see you posted that they'll run BBC rockers. Do you have a link to the head specs?

Would you consider this head streetable?

Are cam recommendations the same as for the stock/lumped head?

You mentioned in the other forum that this head has potential for an additional 150 hp. If it is used in a lower compression setup (less than 11 to 1) what is the 'bolt on' hp increase estimates? (I realize there are alot of other components that affect this, but...just wondering of a ballpark estimate.)


If anyone thinks I should start a new thread for these questions, then let me know and I'll do it.

Back acouple of years ago you mentioned your involvement with Cotton Perry. I've directed alot of people (moslty SBC guys) to read about it and most everyone is dumbfounded with what he and his team were accomplishing 30+ years ago with a 292!

Jim, these heads originally were intended to be race heads, so most of the development and useage of them has been in that arena. The Duggan head, which is what my heads and Sissell's were originally derived from, have been used successfully in street engines, but still, due to the cost of them, historically most guys have used them strictly for racing.
The 150 HP gain was taken from an Inliner that upgraded from a race prepped cast iron lump head to a 12 Port head, and that was the gain he saw from the upgrade. So that just shows the potential of this head design, and like other manufacturers will say "Your results may vary". But a huge gain can be expected regardless of the HP level you are currently at.
One of many benefits with the 12 Port head vs. the cast iron lump head is that it yields a much higher flow rate at a lot lower valve lift. This is a plus because it allows the engine to make more power at a lower RPM as well because you can use a milder cam profile. Cotton's best lump head flowed 348 CFM, but it took .980 valve lift to get it, the 12 Port head can flow 340 CFM relatively easy at only .750 valve lift.
Since my heads are starting off as a raw casting, you have endless possibilities for valve size and porting packages, however, I think that a 2.02" intake valve would be the minimum you would be able to use. I also am considering making interchangeable casting cores for the intake ports. This will allow a head to be cast with a particular target volume more precisely, and eliminate a lot of time in trying to equalize each port, sorta' like having it cast in a ported configuration to begin with. Then have different cores to cast the head to tailor the customers needs, saving a lot of time in finishing the head as well.
The car in my avatar is my test car, so once I can test a few engine combos I can more accurately evaluate and give better guidance for engine builds.
As for the gains to expect from a milder engine using one of these heads, I don't know, but there are several on here that have also upgraded from a lump head to a 12 Port, so they might be able to give some feedback...I doubt they would go back to a lump head after using one though!

just a side note... the 4200 head with very mild porting on the intake side flows 320 cfm @ .450 lift...

Scott,thanks for the response and I would like to hear from those that have done the swap. Hopefully several will chime in.

No matter what I end up doing, this is exciting stuff. IMO, even if the gains on a mild engine are anywhere near 75-100HP vs a mild lump head, then it is an option that requires serious attention. With that being said, I have to figure in that I have finite finances and will have to weigh my options once you have prodution going and pricing available.

Keep us posted and thanks.

Is there any update?

Just staying busy, I have designed and produced some new products for some of the other Inline engine brand guys, but still ticking away at getting my foundry building renovated and up and going. I have some products ready to cast as soon as I have it finished.