R Model Heads, Cam and Intake

[gt350hr]

  No Don didn't break "all" of the SK aluminum blocks . I still have the one I bought from him as a complete engine. SK aluminum 351C heads as well. I bought it in '78. Kasse freshened it and Don sent it out from Atlanta on a Delta jet. I still have the shipping bill as "I" had to pay it!

[gt350hr]

    Scott your BFF is Jay Cushman for Gurney Eagle stuff. He owns the rights to them now.

[shelbydoug]

   as there was a "continuation" head cast 20 or so years ago.
   

     As far as period aluminum cylinder heads for the S.B.F. I'm looking for a set of the Gurney-Weslake/Eagle cylinder heads (and related parts) for my TVR!  Anybody got any?         I could be your bestest pal!     

     Scott.

You are a much more sick and twisted individual then I originally suspected Scott? I must be MUCH more respectful of you in the future!  Cary on!

A Griffith TVR or just a TVR?


Only EVER saw one set of those. They were on William Wonder's GT40  #103 when he brought it to an SOA meeting in '76 in CT. He was with a female F1 driver but I cannot recall her name though. I've got pictures of that somewhere here. but where?

Those heads had the Weber 48 ida's mounted right to the heads. Kinda cool when you are just driving along 'OBEYING THE SPEED LIMIT"     and a GT40 pulls up along side? One of those unique "for your eyes only" life experiences?

[shelbydoug]

  No Don didn't break "all" of the SK aluminum blocks . I still have the one I bought from him as a complete engine. SK aluminum 351C heads as well. I bought it in '78. Kasse freshened it and Don sent it out from Atlanta on a Delta jet. I still have the shipping bill as "I" had to pay it!

Common? It was all aluminum. How much could it have cost to ship? 

SK...OK...forgot...68 casting date, not engineering number. I don't have a museum vault to go check an actual sample. Apparently some do? Go figure?

What you gonna' put that in pal? 

[csxsfm]

Don Roberts (rip) had a lot of "special" parts - heads, 4 bolt 289's.  What was his connection?

[gt350hr]

 Being a SCCA champion and long time Cobra racer opened a few doors. In later years Click's money helped. He had allot of "friends".

[gt350hr]

  No Don didn't break "all" of the SK aluminum blocks . I still have the one I bought from him as a complete engine. SK aluminum 351C heads as well. I bought it in '78. Kasse freshened it and Don sent it out from Atlanta on a Delta jet. I still have the shipping bill as "I" had to pay it!

Common? It was all aluminum. How much could it have cost to ship? 

SK...OK...forgot...68 casting date, not engineering number. I don't have a museum vault to go check an actual sample. Apparently some do? Go figure?

What you gonna' put that in pal? 

$438 in '78 dollars was allot! It's been in a front engine dragster , 7.73@ 177 ( Top Fuel racer Shawn Langdon's mom in '79) , then in a rear engine dragster 7.33@182 ( me driving) then in a '78 Mustang II 8.66 @ 162.( me driving) now it's "out to pasture".

[shelbydoug]

  No Don didn't break "all" of the SK aluminum blocks . I still have the one I bought from him as a complete engine. SK aluminum 351C heads as well. I bought it in '78. Kasse freshened it and Don sent it out from Atlanta on a Delta jet. I still have the shipping bill as "I" had to pay it!

Common? It was all aluminum. How much could it have cost to ship? 

SK...OK...forgot...68 casting date, not engineering number. I don't have a museum vault to go check an actual sample. Apparently some do? Go figure?

What you gonna' put that in pal? 

$438 in '78 dollars was allot! It's been in a front engine dragster , 7.73@ 177 ( Top Fuel racer Shawn Langdon's mom in '79) , then in a rear engine dragster 7.33@182 ( me driving) then in a '78 Mustang II 8.66 @ 162.( me driving) now it's "out to pasture".

So it looks like the original flimsy Ford aluminum was not really an issue for those blocks? That one certainly must have seen some rpm? Did you run the SK heads with it?

The iron "Nascar" block, aka, the "Australian block" is much thicker through the main bulkheads then the production 4 bolt 351c blocks are. Is the aluminum SK block like that or like the production casting?
It would seem that your block has certainly seen some very high rpm and survived or did it retire because it broke one too many times?

What do those heads look like? Are they "Pro-stocked" with raised exhaust through cut in bar stock?

[pbf777]

A Griffith TVR or just a TVR?

      Well, mine is "just" a TVR       , it's a '76 3000M series which I actually prefer, as I can actually get into (at least at this point in life anyway) as they're stretched a couple of extra inches in the middle so that Americans can fit, plus they're more pleasant in appearance as they don't look so much like something that was cut-down in length perhaps somewhat amateur in execution as do the Grantura models. It currently has the Ford Essex 3.0L V6 engine and right-hand drive as these were not imported to the U.S. (U.S. version was 2500M with the Triumph 2.5L I6), with a total production of 654 units produced over approximately five year or so period.

      And................. the Ford 289/302 engine "just-drops-right-in-there"!       Well, at least reasonably easily as far as V8 engine swaps into sardine cans go!   

      I just wanted the F-O-R-D engine version to start with, and if I can put together a S.B.F. with a little Brit flavor I would make it into a 5000M version (actually no such thing from TVR), although I might be fudging there just a little!   

      Soooo.............anybody got any Gurney Weslake/Eagle heads just laying around collecting dust?   

      Scott.

[shelbydoug]

I like the Griffith 200 but just like the F15, I'm not made to fit it.

I altered my Pantera to fit and actually it was the solution to all of the other possibilities. Frankly, the Ford GT is too small to.

I still remember being able to buy a complete set up from Gurney. Sometimes it doesn't pay to have a good memory?

Good luck in finding the heads. That would be a cool set up, especially with a stroker in it.

The only thing is that chassis has a very bad reputation of not going where you point it under power.

When I asked Kopec about the three Griffiths that showed up in Nowalk, he said, "those guys are all dead. They crashed 'those things bad'." So my Pantera with the Webers, A3 heads, lowered floor pans and 180 degree headers makes more sense. That thing ANY idiot can go VERY fast in and survive with no one being the wiser. It just tracks very well.

It's also very cool coming up on cars from behind and the rear license plate staring me in the face. It's 42 inches to the roof.

[TA Coupe]

Let's not forget about the Mirage GT40 aluminium blocks like I used to have Which Jay Cushman now has.  I purchased it from Dyno Don about 40 years ago or so and at the same time I bought his dual dominator intake which I had to go over to Randy's house and pick up. He was a bit pissed about that because he had tried to buy it from Don a couple of times.Here's a couple of pictures of it and a picture of an Indy dry sump block that I also sold to Jay.  I sold him the complete engine as shown in the pictures.

[gt350bp]

Picked these up about a month ago. Don't look like they were ever bolted onto an engine. NOT MINE!

Don
gt350bp

[shelbydoug]

Picked these up about a month ago. Don't look like they were ever bolted onto an engine. NOT MINE!

Don
gt350bp

I'm in lust for them!

[427heaven]

Talk about the GOOSE that layed the GOLDEN EGG... That's it, Stuff that dreams are made of!

[gt350hr]

Let's not forget about the Mirage GT40 aluminium blocks like I used to have Which Jay Cushman now has.  I purchased it from Dyno Don about 40 years ago or so and at the same time I bought his dual dominator intake which I had to go over to Randy's house and pick up. He was a bit pissed about that because he had tried to buy it from Don a couple of times.Here's a couple of pictures of it and a picture of an Indy dry sump block that I also sold to Jay.  I sold him the complete engine as shown in the pictures.

    Only the carburetors Roy . I already had an intake and one original carb from Don Araki (rip). In the end it saved me money because I ran the dual plane regular Holley T/A intake with a pair of "SK" 720s .
   Randy