planning a mild, street 426 Max Wedge engine build for a friend, & am looking for advice on which head is better quality out of the box ? looking at prices, the TF 270's are about $300.00 more. are they worth the difference ? also, will any solid valley plate work with either head ? or specific plate for each ? probably have many more question going forward & really appreciate you guys help. Thanks, Tom

Seems to me the trick flow 240 would be a better fit for a 426 ci. Street/strip engine. And best bang for the buck. I'm yet to hear from anyone using the 270 except for Andy Finkenbeiner doing some dyno stuff. The trick flow stuff from what I have read is ready to go out of the box. Indy stuff is definitely not.

using original max wedge intake

Indy EZ-1 heads - but have them checked over - not sure if the TF 270 is actually a true MW head

I would use the EZ-1's to get the MW port. We have them right now on a 512 using the oe crossram. Works great!

Are you sure you are comparing apples to apples? The EZ head isn't MW size unless you buy it that way and it is more expensive than the entry level head which is unported.

I have both heads and the TF head is much higher quality out of the box. You can't run the Indy head out of the box, it has to go to a head guy who takes it apart and fixes it. The guides are sometimes super loose in the Indy heads or the valve job isn't finished properly. The TF heads are very nice right out of the box. Still a good idea to take them apart and double check everything but you most likely will not need to fix anything.

Are the TF 270's worth $300 more than EZ-1's in ootb form?
Yes.

It remains to be seen whether or not the TF's would have more potential than the EZ's, but OOTB, the TF's are currently the top dog IMO.

I'll agree with that since at the moment I'm not aware of anyone who is porting the 270 heads for max power. The EZ heads have been around a long time and various shops have CNC porting routines for them. The very best EZ heads probably flow 40+ cfm more than the OOTB 270 heads.

So if a person wants an entry level head that has lots of room for improvement then I suppose the EZ head is the way to go. If you just want a nice CNC ported head out of the box then buy the 270 head.

Buy your Indy EZ's from someone like Porter.

This, plus I run the EZ-1s with a cross ram. No valley plate needed. Just some spacers for the end rails.

If it's any help I am running the 270's and had them ported by Larry Smith at flow2tech. They flowed 278@.700 on his bench and 284 on my local builders bench. The same bench flowed my 240's at a smidge under trick flows rated flow (330@.700 I think it was).
I can't speak to how well they perform yet as I am still dialing in the tune and haven't had them to the track yet. I can attest to the quality of the manufacturing though. And I can also say that the quality of customer service from trick flow is head and shoulders above what you will ever get from Indy. They were cool enough to swap out my 240's for the 270's 6 months after I had purchased the 240's and didn't even charge me a restocking fee despite the fact I had purchased them through a different distributor. Pretty solid customer service if you ask me.

not looking for anymore power from whichever head we go with. really just need heads that will allow him to use his original crossram intake & exhaust manifolds.

For street use I opened up a pair of Eddy RPM's to match the intake. I'm sure it's not ideal race stuff but runs fine in my buddy's 64 Plymouth on the street. .550"hyd roller, stock 63 carbs and intake, 10-1 440 short block, headers.
Doug

well can a source stealth head be opened up to work with a max intake ?

yes

I opened up my Super Stealths to Max wedge, but they take .650 offset intake rockers.

Buy a set of SR Max Wedge port size heads and run them
There is a local 1964 dodge 330 bracket car running those heads on his 440 short block with headers and non stock carbs, it runs good
I raced a 1963 415 HP M.W. in NHRA stock for many years ending in 1988, the better heads make more power and run better also

can't you just bolt on the max wedge port intake to a standard head and it work? would it not be the same as when someone uses a 340 intake on a 318 ? not a perfect match, but people do it & it seems to be O.K.

I have seen so many people buy a old OEM Max Wedge intake manifold and bolt it onto a set of stock port size 440 heads and wonder why their car didn't run any better with two carbs.
It is called "reversion" which a real power killer
Same thing on buying the reproduction 440 cross ram intake on stock type 440 heads, not good results either
BTW, putting a 340 intake manifold on a set of 318 heads will not work well either

if I could just bolt on the intake to a set of stealth heads & it work, that would be fantastic. remember, this is not a race car by any means.street only. engine will be around 10.5 to 1, with small MP .528 solid cam, and max wedge Manifolds.so would it work ?

[quote=titan]can't you just bolt on the max wedge port intake to a standard head and it work? would it not be the same as when someone uses a 340 intake on a 318 ? not a perfect match, but people do it & it seems to be O.K.