So after years of asking all the wrong people (apparently), I cornered Jim S. from MP last week and asked him specifically about the whereabouts of the W5 core boxes and whether we could ever possibly see a re-release of the W5 head.

Here's the "real" story.....

Apparently there were aprox 1400 sets of W5's cast, and of those Jim said maybe 1000 sets had to be scrapped due to terrible casting/machining issues. MP lost ALOT of $ on that deal, $100K+ loss which has made them real gun shy about the W5.

On a brighter note, he did say the core boxes do still exist and he knows exactly where they are at. Both the small chamber and normal chamber head could be re-released, if demand was proven....

What I was telling them, was there has been a resurgence in popularity in the past few years, and people are paying more today for a new in box set than they did back when the dealers had them. Plus with the fact that TTI now makes and off the shelf W5 header, and that the INDY intake can be adapted to work etc, the market is there for them.

The W5 had two critical flaws..... first the castings were horrific. This can be corrected by using a new foundry. Unfortunately Zeus went bankrupt or out of business so they are no longer using Zeus for their aluminum which is a shame. They are now using I believe CMI in Ohio.

The second was the machining which was handled by Arrow, and unfortunately is STILL being done by Arrow, but I forsee some changes coming there.

So if we could get new W5's cast at CMI with CNC machining done anywhere other than Arrow... we could have a pretty decent head, hopefully without all of the issues the 1990's versions had.

My reasoning for bringing back and extinct head would be as follows:

There really are'nt alot of "big" head choices out there for the 400+ inch motors. You have INDY with their 360-1 and -2 series heads.... and that's about it. There are no new W5's, the B1 Brodix stuff is relatively smallish, Edelbrocks are small port heads, the magnum stuff is small, and the W2's are smallish and MP keeps making less and less W2's and the ones they do make are being pushed toward T&D/Jesel only rockers, 48* bank angles, 15 degree valve angles and small chambers. They don't make a nice larger chamber W2 anymore with 18* angle and old style W2 race rockers. The Large port commando is out there, and it was supposed to be the W5's replacement... it is a great piece, but it's not quite the head a W5 is. It's limitations are in the Ex port design/header bolt pattern (TTI W2 headers don't fit exactly right), the standard 340 intake port window (non raised port) and the tiny heavily shrouded 51 CC chamber that comes cast at 3.90" bore size. Small chambers are great... except when you have 415-450 inches and a flat top piston. So I see a need for a 60-65 cc chamber, large raised port head that utilizes the old school W2 race rocker gear.

Erson, Jesel, T&D, Crane, Harland Sharp, Norris, and MP all still make & sell the W2 race rocker gear. So rocker choices are not a problem with the W5 head. (the INDY 360-1+2 series stuff on the other hand is hampered severly by a lack of rocker choices)

TTI, and Heddman now both have off the shelf W5 specific headers. Which for the duration of the W5's back in the 90's did not exist. So in other words when the W5 heads were avail, there were no headers... now there are headers and no heads to be found to use them...

Same deal with the rockers, back in the mid 90's, the W5's heyday, Ersons, T&D and Jesels for W2/5 did not exist. We have more rocker choices for these heads today than ever, and they keep discontinuing the heads????

Intake manifold availibility.... None of the Mopar W5 intakes were ever really a killer setup, but with todays advent of the INDY 360-3 intake and now the new Edelbrock Super Victors we finally have some good intakes that can be made to work on a W5 head. MP could work with Edlebrock (which we know they already are on the BB intake stuff), and come out with a new MP M1 W5 intake, taking the Super Victor and modifying it and putting a MP logo on it, and you'd have a great piece to compliment the new head. So it would not be a case where they would have to tool up an all new intake again for the old W5, they could just use existing intakes with slight casting/machining mods.

It would be nice if they also made some mods such as installing 11/32 guides with a .502" OD rather than the Arrow specialty .494" od 3/8 guides. CNC oil drainback slots, and possibly a slightly larger as cast exhaust port would all be nice added features they could do. I would also put in larger OD seats than the original W5's had so we could use a 2.10" or 2.125" valve without having to change seats.

Cast them at a good foundry out of quality aluminum, machine them at a state of the art cnc equipped shop that can hold decent production tolerances, and try to keep them in the original $1200-$1300 price range. I think based on people I talk to every day that there would be a substantial market for such a head. (Several hundred pairs a year sales) MP told me they need to be convinced of that market before they would think about doing something like re-releasing those heads. So I guess that was the point of my post.... The folks at MP DO read what is written on this board and get a feel for what is going on in the state of the hobby here. Basically I would like to see for myself and I'm sure MP would also be curious to see what peoples thoughts are on this subject of a possible re-release of the W5 cylinder heads, if they could guarantee proper quality control.

We are a small 2 man shop and we've worked on aproximately 40 sets of W5's over the past 2 years. And I see alot more people on the internet and at tracks all around the world who are running W5's today. 10 years ago you hardly saw any interest in W5's, it seems their peak usage is today, even though they have not been available at dealers since 2000?

So this is kind of an open forum...... with the main question being, if they re-released the head with good castings and machining in the $1200-$1300 bare /pair window how many people would be thinking seriously of purchasing them in the future? thoughts/opinions.........

Well I for one would love to see it.Was sad the day I found out the W5 was done.I have run them on my engines from 1993~present.The head was so bad when first broght out all the BIG Name engine shops in the early 90s told me I just got robbed.So I set out to prove them wrong and I guess I got lucky as my first set did not leak and run well.But no oil drain backs POOR intake for the heads and NO help from MP it was had to always make it work out.But like Ryan has said now we have headers, Intakes amd rockers for this head that work well.It is aq killer street/bracket race head.(much more user friendly than W7,8,9...)I have done lots of R&D on the W5s and I think W/a better starting point you could make 20~40 more HP than the old W5s.Just to show a W5 vs W8 motor we made 15 pulls on my W8 motor 365CI(4.175by3.33) and 15 pulls on my W5 motor 362CI(4.060by3.50)On the same day the W8 motor was only about 90HP better that nice but you are talking about an $8000 W5 motor and a $25000 W8 motor.So I guess in the end I would LOVE TO SEE NEW W5 HEADS!!!!!! So thats my vote LOL Brett Miller!

I couldn't agree more. Realistically, what head is the small block mopar bracket racer going to put on his stroked small block. Choices are pretty limited for a light SB Mopar.

When you look at te selection of the big port chev heads, it makes you wonder where all the big port chrysler heads are.

Personally, I have seen a couple sets of W5's in action as well as W2 stuff, and the W5's really run but they are few and far between. If I had to buid a high doller small block right now, Indy would get the nod at least for the parts order.

I would buy another set Ryan.Maybe two.

Also Ryan can MP make a W5 head with a larger intake runner for the 420-450 CI motors something like in the 235-245 cc intake runner?I felt my W5 heads where a little small for the CI that I was running.

Count me in, that would be awesome. I have W2s but was thinking of trying to track down a set of W5s for my future stroker build.

With the onset of the BIG SB's that are so common re-releasing the W5 would be as much a homerun as the BB Eddy head has been to the BB guys. I cant see it failing. I am CONSTANTLY looking in the mags and classifieds and swap meets for a good set of W5's but to no avail. We've got the ability to build 440+ CI SB's and other than the over priced (in my opinion) Indy's, theres nothing to top a motor like this. Please MP, if you're listening, DO THIS!!

Thanks Ryan for the info.

I was touting the W-5 heads yrs ago and got bashed at every turn...
if you took the time to properly fix them..
they are a great head..
make lots of power...
they have alot of potential.
and could actually be a very economical head...
like you stated due to availabilty of valve train.
teh 52* stuff...is still out there and seems will be for a long time.
ive purchased 2 sets of large prt commando's trying to duplicate the performance that the w5 afforded..
thats alot of work...that doesnt come cheap.
not even counting the specialty parts needed to complete the set up.
especially the non existant header flange.
the W-5 is as close to a bolt up as you'd get...considering its a large port type head..and works for a 52* block.
with what youve mention'd the descision seems logical...
and with the push for the super size smallblock combo's from mopar ie 440"...
they'd be running up against the wall with out it.
again....with whats out there..
they always seem to be missing a piece of the puzzle...
producing these heads again would be the smart thing to do..
all the excuses are pretty much gone now..
id buy a few sets...thats for sure..
dont discount the cost factor as well...
1200-ish ...PLEASE....and THANK YOU...
cheapst.

I have 1 good set But i like to have 2 more set's of same quality.

This is the second best news I've heard all year (second only to the new Chally). Count me in for a set to go on my 408 R3 block. Cause I REALLY don't wanna have to give the business to Indy...

Thanks Ryan, I'm looking foward to seeing my set you just finished .It would be nice to see MP make them again.I thought mancini had a few sets 6 months ago or so . A better quality casting would be great!

Sounds like a very logical marketing plan. There was a W5 top end for sale at the Woodburn Mopar meet last weekend. The guy wanted $3500 for ported heads with 1.6 Erson rockers and a 4500 flanged MP manifold. Nice looking setup.

If MP won't do it maybe they'll sell you the core boxes! Make some changes to them and get into the head business. You'll probably need to raise $100K in cash or so to get it going but I bet you could make it fly. If you do one thing really well the guys will beat a path to your door.

i'll keep my fingers crossed i would buy a set right now the only thing stopping me is i can't get a replacement head if i needed one. if they make them again. put me down for two sets if you talk to him again ask him where my 340 block is

At that price I would definitely be a player. I have Indy ported Edelbrock heads on my stroker and it is all torque and no HP. I brutalize everyone down low and then it runs out of poo at the top end.

I'm in Australia & can assure the powers that be the interest in W5's is still there, so what I'm saying is the overseas market has potential

BTW, that's one of the reasons why I've held back on doing a SB stroker for myself, with the departure of W5's it left a big gap in choices

just for the records i do remember about 4 years ago, when Ryan was trying to locate a brand new set of w5 heads for me it was like half a year just to find a set of w5 at that time... one small block mopar guy can always use a nice set of w5 heads...period

P.S i know at least 4 guys that have wanted to buy the w5's from me, and a said no way jose... find your own set...

This woud be good for everyone but me, My CNC W5's are worth there weight in gold if they start making them again my heads will be worth far less than they are worth now. Supply and demand baby

I guess I could take one for the MOPAR team

They are a great head for the 408/416" motors

I do think a bigger intake port volume and bigger valve would be needed for bigger cubic inch motors.
But there are not that many guys building big stroker 440" 59* motors is there??????

Oh well I know with RyanJ leading the charge us smallblock guys have alot of good things to look forward to. Keep it up Ryan

Fix 'em and you can count me in as well...and a few of my customers too no doubt!!

those would be a nice future up-grade for me when I wear out my commando's, I say do it, the brand X guy's have a bazillion different head's to choose from,,,why not us?

I planning to build 340 stroker so...

Indys are littlebit too expencive and edelbrock...well they are good but too small and dosent have mutch potential

If new w5 would cost something like that you said and quality would be good...i would defenetly be intrested.

Well if Chrysler had gone to a GOOD foundry when
they started that project they wouldnt have lost
a ton of money which I know was a hard thing to find
back then. I myself own 1 set of the OLD castings
whick make a great paper weight and a set of the
newer castings that work well but I am always looking
for heads for numerious projects that I am working
on, so sure I would love to see them get back into them

I'd be definately interested. I would also like to see a basic 48* version if that were at all possible. I think it would be a good option for those racers wanting the option of running a 48* or 59* R block.
AL...

At that price they would be a good way for me to get deep in the 10's. I would like a set.

Sounds like a great idea,ryan.i know vic is wanting another set or two right now..

Ya, I would buy a set also. My next motor will be a big cubed 59* motor, more than likely 426 up to 440 cubes.

Lee

the question on the 48* blocks???

The answer is easy, they fit like a champ after Ryan elongated the pushrod slot because I have a 48* R block with my W5's on it. This is great cause you never no when you might want to throw some W9's on.

Because you always want to go faster

"Cast them at a good foundry out of quality aluminum, machine them at a state of the art cnc equipped shop that can hold decent production tolerances"

Why do they need to be told this!!!!!
The market is waiting for them. The push for bigger inch small blocks is crazy right now, and the choices are becoming available because the other vendors see the potential. Bad taste or no (and $100K to MP is a hit, but if that's deterring a product that is needed from production, they need a new therapist) they should be able to tell there is a need.

I would buy two sets.
for a medium priced new stroker, that would put
3000-3400# deep into the 10s.
especially since all the other pieces are available now.

I bought a W2 setup in the mid 90s, when a fellow racer went with W5s he later told me that he should have kept the W2 stuff because of all the problems,with the original W5

couple other quick notes.....

Like Rick said, it's not really that big of a deal to modify a W5 pushrod hole to fit a 48 degree block, I know ou812 has done a set, I've done a couple sets like that, and W5Dart66's motor is a 48* block as well.

MP could change the machining process to make pushrod slots rather than holes, BUT the problem with that is, it is much harder to fix a pushrod pinch hole put it by the head porter with a slot than a hole. In a hole you just sleeve the pushrod hole.... with a slot, it's an epoxy fix. So I would almost rather see them be holes for 59* rather than a universal slot.

And I know someone before long will mention the 59* W9 and why I left it off the list of avail. big port heads.... well What most people don't realize is , just because they call it a 59* head, does'nt mean it really is. it still retains 15 dgegree valve angle, which requires custom pistons or piston machining, you still have no off shelf bolt on headers for a W9, no wet intake manifolds, all manifolds are dry and use valley trays and external water lines.... basically alot of hassles. plus the pushrod oil only big $ Jesel/T&D rocker gear. So yes, it is an option, but it is a big hassle option compared to a W5.

I think if MP see's that their is a market and that they could sell between 100-200 units a year they would possibly re-release the head. I don't think think their Commando sales would even come close to what W5 sales would look like today.

Also to sweeten the pot... something else Jim mentioned to me in passing was that the tooling for the R1A race blocks is still around and he would like to tool up and make those again. We would be talking both 59 and 48* blocks NEW from a dealer in the $1200 range. The R1A's used production tooling, and were cast by a Chrysler owned foundry. The R3 stuff is all cast at Motor Castings Co. in Milwaukee (same palce that does Dart blocks etc), and is based off of specialized tooling, and is then machined at Cummins. The specialized casting and machining is what drives the cost of the R3 blocks so high. Jim was telling me what Chrysler actually pays for those blocks, and I won't disclose it publically, but trust me, they are barely making ANY $ selling those blocks. Where as the R1A stuff can be done on production tooling and cost under $1000 each to produce. Allowing them to be priced aprox 1/2 of what an R3 costs, at your dealer. Now granted becasue it is production tooling, they will not be as nice as the R3's, but for guys who just want 4 bolt mains, filld in pan rails, thicker decks, etc. Without worrying about Siamese bores or big bore water blocks, these will fill the bill perfectly. if you need 4.180" bore and a wide variety of deck heights etc, then you will need an R3 still. But for someone wanting to do a 4.03-4.10" bore, 4" crank motor, with a solid block this would be the way to go.

Could you imagine hitting your dealer next year and being able to leave with a pair of brand new W5's AND a new R1A block for the smae $ you can now get 1 R3 for? if the demand is proven to be there, it could happen.

Everybody and their brother now offers 4" cranks, H beam rods, 4" pistons etc. All stuff that never existed back in the 90's when the W5 was discontinued. Now we need affordable race blocks and large port heads....

The heads ar ea stretch for the type of stuff I do, but the blocks I could have 3 sold already...

Ryan,you mentioned the jesel deal being expensive,the rocker gear is what 700 bucks,and is far superior geometry wise to anything i have seen ie erson ,etc,not to mention is bulletproof,i think its a great deal.and does away with the shafts...

having run both the erson and jesels,for very little difference in money,the jesel is way superior,and i like the ball/ball pushrods as well...just my opinion,but i would do it the exact same way over..zero valvetrain problems at 7500 rpm pass after pass...hard to beat....

Those blocks would sell like crazy.

i like the x mainly because its production looking up top,and racy down low...plus roller lifters pop right in it... plus i am old and like old stuff lol

I would sure be interested in a block. W5 heads don't know about right now.
Ryan - Where can I get the Erson rocker arms for my W2's. Tried several places today with no luck.

I think the a new version of the W5 head would sell like crazy, you can count me in for a set!

oh yes please, I want a block also

was thinking the other day of a set of heads for a back up to my battens and would buy a set of w5s if they made them again.so make some and wacth them sell.

I have the W-5 heads off of Ross Hartleys' old super gas arrow. one of them is broken completely in two. this car ran 8.60's with a factory 340 block.
I need one good head to try and match up all the extensive port work.

Indy says they may be able to weld it back together for $1000 bucks but with no guarentee.

I would really like to have a new set of W-5's

if this idea was to go ahead what sort of time frame are we looking at here, a year?

with the new casting technology..
the "Foam filled casting core" type
the quality of the casting has gone way up.
no core shift..
seems to me this method would fix most of the core shift and poor casting issues...
i dont know how that figures into the old tooling core boxes /parts that are apearently still around..and being refer'd to in this thread
but since youd need the licensing from Mopar to make any of these parts.....they need to do something..

on the w5 heads if they just offerd a head with out pushrod holes machined you could do it either way 48*/52*...no?
cheapst.

Hmmmm...casting an R1 block with X markings...why not cast XXX just for fun

I have been looking for an R1 block for awhile now to put together a spare motor. I have a complete rotating assembly waiting to drop in one. If I could buy a new one for 1200 I would be set.

if they do make the heads and the blocks they must be available(in stock ready to ship). i have been waiting 9 months for a 340 block if dart made one i would have had one already. if i had to wait 9 months for heads i would get indy's. I love the fact mopar performance makes speed parts but they are usually made of unobtanium. they need to understand. if the part is at the warehouse and won't take months to get we will buy them!!!!! i probably have more mopar performance parts on my car and in my basement than mopar has at their warehouses.I'm not bashing them i just wish they had the parts in the catalogue at the warehouses so i could buy them!!!

For me it is not really a cost factor that bothers me all that much. I mean Mopar stuff is always more expensive to buy. What get my Goat is the fact that you pay good money for something and is is basically junk!! You buy a resto block and can't even bore it past 4.00 before hitting the water jacket!!!!! then they give you a hard time returning it. Or you but a set of brand new heads and the leak from everywhere??? So what I'm trying to say is produce the stuff but make sure the quality is there or count me out!!!! Better yet produce a excellent core, something without core shift and let someone else do the machining. I think Barton does this !!! Matt

Well I will put this back to the top.They are thinking about doing this so if you want to put links to other mopar sites or tell any one now is the time. Thanx Brett Miller.

I heard from a Chrysler source that they list some parts in their catalog that don't even exist. They are just trying to determine if there is a market for them. What better way to P.O. your customers?!

My old Arrington heads used W2-W5 exhaust patterns. In fact the subplates from my W2's were a perfect match. Seems to me these heads were perfect for strokers as I ran them at 48 degrees with nitrous. I would have liked 18 head bolts but this gets into rule issues in some classes. 48 degree stuff gets into rule issues in some classes also. Seems to me that W5 heads with the intake runners raised on up, the rocker pad raised longer valves. And come up with a new intake that would fit the "NEW W5" as well as W7-9 combos. I know I am asking a lot as the likelehood of a return of the W5 is probably slim. But, why not make it better. It's sad when bowtie boys can get complete race heads for less than $1K. And we are expected to invest $2K for something that is not as good. Mopar gave us a better starting point raised cam wide pan rails tall decks everthing wanted by brand X guys to make strokers we already have made in the blocks. If the repo blocks had been made like advertised they would have been perfect for these kind of builds. One problem I run into is when at SEMA or PRI I get rediculous answers to why MP done something that basically screwed the sportsman racer. I am reaching into a more hardcore market but take the alluminum block for instance it is a nightmare and cost the customer double to complete than the other brands. And when you ask that question the reply is well if we had it to do over again we would have done this. Not only did they redesign it but they raised the price and still did not give us what we wanted. I have a set of W8 heads that are at CFE and it is going to cost a fortune to repair. If they were chevies I could purchase them done for half the money. Everytime I think I have found a new casting for sale advertised drag race heads they turn out to be circle track stuff. I think any W5 offering would be a great opportunity but in my experience with MP it will never happen.

Ryan, I know of the perfect Foundry!! It does have the state of the art machining capabilities also!! Also they are capable of large quantities being put out daily!!! From start to finish and my husband is the plant super there!! Let's get MP guys to visit them how do we do that?
Jackie

The reintroduction of the W-5 head would be great. I think that the W-5 was simply ahead of its time when the ease of building big inch small blocks was simply not that affordable. Here we are in a day and age when the common small block is 400 inches +.. MOPAR, We need this head reintroduced with some of the updates such as Ryan Johnson and Leon Hudson talk about!!!!!

Any word on these projects? Time to consider off-season upgrades.
I know this is an old post but, I think the intrest is still here.



BTT

Ryan
On a 420"-430" street/strip stroker, say 11.5-1 or so compression and a 265-275 @ .050 flat tappet cam. How much more power would ported W-5s make over a ported set of Edelbrocks?

Heads Likely

Block definitely

As long as the notorious QC issues are dealt with appropriately.

yes that would be a good move on chryslers part if they released some economical power parts.as we all saw the edelbrocks sold pretty good i believe mainly because they were new and the price wasn't bad instead of reworking old used heads.i have a good set of '98 w5's on one motor and 2 sets of newer style w2's on two other motors and i am very happy with the easy power results of all 3.if mopar did retool for some parts i would love to see some aluminum large port w2's as well.boy what a choice we would have then!

I would buy a set of W5s again.

I have a set and would buy another or 3 if available,,waynebo

i would love to buy the w5's also
and the block sounds good...

Steve

It all sounds great to me. I am fixing to post my Brodix for sale and would love to be able to run a W-5 setup.

W5 heads and X blocks...

I tried to revive this thread......looks like almost
two months ago.

Any news on the R-1/X blocks or updated W-5 heads?

i would buy a set.

steve

I would love a set of new quality W5's, as well as a R1A block. It would sure help with what I want to build right now.

The R3 is really nice, but I can't afford one.

BTT .....get this done MOPAR!!!

BTT.........I guess this is a dream..... oh well they are always day late ......

Well I do know someone that might be interested in the core boxes and doing something with them....
So MP or anyone that has power, feel free to contact me.
The guy I have in mind builds heads for fords right now, but is looking as we speak at doing something else...and I'm trying like Heck to get him into the sb mopar market!!

I myself am ready to take the next step up from the eddy heads and late last night I made a good deal(I think) on a virgin x block just 60 miles from me from a ford collector who got some moparts he has no use for.

I guess four of us aren't going to change their mind.

I'll keep it in "My Favorites" anyway.



R.I.P.

Pay no attention......

..

humm never seen no motor plates like them?? what do they have to do with heads ??? or should we be looking at the head in the back ground ???

Maybe "turbo or 'charger plates"???? hhhmmmm.

Or Aluminum w2'''''''''''''''s (Batten maybe!)

Actually, we are now involved financially on a new SB Race block project, and if it ends up going well, we may look into casting alum heads in 1-3 years. Would be some sort of W5/Early 1995 W7/Diamond/Arrington style head. Basically would be a rip off of one of those designs, one thing for sure, it would have W5 header pattern so people can run the TTI W5 header or the Heddman stuff. Don't want to cast something that uses custom headers.....

But we'll see how the block casting/machining process goes first.

BTW the pics of the motor/mid plates were for AndyF to look at, since I can't attach pics to a PM. But looking back, actually yes there was a W5 accidentally in the background LOL. They are laying all over the place here.

Ryan put me on the list for a block!

LOL...

Hopefully it will run 10's when it hits the track soon.

.....and it did. Pretty much right out of the box. Car hit the track in October and I think by the third pass it had run a 10.21 @ 134. 60ft was horrid and my dad has only shifted it at 6400 so far. Won't have to beat on this one to run 10ohs.

j body what cubic inch is your motor ? give us some specs. im running ported eddys didnt gain anything last year over my steel heads on my 410 ci maybe i need more flow something around 300 at 600lift. i want to look at w5 harder any spec info on nonported and ported ?
thanks don

good info, just saving it for later.

bump! Anyone going to produce these soon?


I don't understand the argument of "chrysler would rather see these destroyed than fall into the hands of a competitor"... they aren't making them so WHO THE HELL AT CHRYSLER CARES if someone else has them.

I'd buy a set for sure.

Mopar Screwed the Pooch when they released the
W-5s the set I ordered back in 89 or 90 were pure junk that made me shy away from the W-5 ever since my W-2s have always served me well

I had a set of the later cast W5s and thought the heads was a good, now the intake was different story and custom headers that was a lot of money. Given the available gear today, I would buy them agian and it wouldn't be as expensive with headers at half the price of custom and probabaly produce more power with better rocker gear and intakes.

Anyone who did work @ MP that had any interest in the W5's has now been laid off & works elsewhere, so don't expect them to ever do anything. They have bigger things to worry about these days like staying in business.

Ryan if they are not going to make anymore then why will they not sell the molds and let someone eles take the heads over .I see someone is making the 420 intake now why not the W5 heads

I have no doubt Mr. 420 intake could aquire the core boxes for the 5's, as he has aquired other "things" from MP/Arrow but I don't think he feels there is big enough market for selling W5's to justify it... maybe I'll mention it to him sometime, but he has enough BS on his plate right now with his other projects.

Mabye the boxes will be sold at a bankruptcy auction...

Ryan is 100% correct, everyone is gone that was involved and when they were still there I was told there would never be any more W-5 stuff.Period. The powers to be wanted to sell the newer stuff.

As far as pricing goes if they do not make huge amounts off the aftermarket parts (way higher than the 3 times mentioned in the earlier post)they simply won't make it.

That said,prices now that the D is not calling the shots may moderate.They did not get the whole thing at all.Maybe Fiat will be more enlightened.

Maybe someone will read this post like edelbrock and buy the core boxes, W5s have major potential and there are a lot of 59* blocks floating around

two things come to mine we have b1bamc but they are to big have big ports ,there was talk about sb victors , the guy who makes the ford chi 3v heads is a mopar nut ,if we get the numbers we should persuade some one to do it

Ryan. How much flow difference is there between max ported Edelbrocks and max ported W5s? You and I talked about this when I was looking at the set of w5s locally but I didn't ask about flow potential.

A little bump. With all the high performance small block parts available to the public now would be a great time to bring these back.

Personally I think it would not be worth Mopars time or money to re-issue the heads. There may be a lot of talk on here about buying a new set, but the fact is when it comes time to pony up the $$$$ few will or can afford it. I have a complete like new W-5 top end set up, from HS rockers Arp studs, ferrea valves, springs, sheetmetal tunnel ram, even their choice of headers with adapter plates, etc, etc, etc, I've tried to sell for a while now with only 3-4 inquiries and they only wanted to see pictures of the ports and see how the work was done to them so they could TRY to duplicate the work done to them... the heads I have make serious HP, have less than 40 passes on them, and have all the best parts, my car went 9.50s all day long with them at 3200lbs and 370 cubic inches, pretty small by todays standards... you couldn't buy the parts for what I want for everything let alone the machine work and porting, hell, the intake alone cost $3000, yet noone can step up to the plate??? So for someone to fork over $1200-$1500 for just plain heads then spend another $1200-$1500+ for porting, $900-$1300 for rockers, $400+ for valves, $400+ for Springs, retainers, seals, intake, machine work to be able to use them, etc, etc, etc, I just don't see that happening on a large scale basis for Mopar to justify re-issueing them.

Do you have any pictures of the port work?



I've had 3 sets of W-5s and sold them without using them.
When I'm done with factory heads, I'm going straight to 48º.