Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: LSP]
#2743398
02/16/20 12:01 AM
02/16/20 12:01 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
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mr_340
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I went to an SAE Motorsports Conference in Dearborn in 1998. I met Bob Mullen there and he told me he made a set of D9 Hemi heads, but Sox & Martin weren't interested. He said they were just waiting for the weight breaks to change. I've never heard anything about D9 Hemi heads anywhere.
I have that old A&W 340 manual from when I was in high school. I converted the 3"H2O numbers to the 28"H2O numbers and got within 1 cfm of the bare 915 heads I had flowed locally.
Floyd Lippencott IV
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: LSP]
#2743464
02/16/20 09:48 AM
02/16/20 09:48 AM
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 3 California
Charlie H
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Charlie,
Ever wet sleeve or furnace braze sleeves in any 340 blocks when at Mullen's? LSP, No, I don't recall working on any blocks. I'm not sure a Bridgeport was big enough to sleeve a block. Lots of head work: guides, seats, decks, Holley carb or two, intake manifolds, and even recut Hemi chambers that Jim Razor welded up after some engine failures with a big form cutter that Bob had from his days at Chrysler. Bob's father came to work there somewhere along the time I was there. He was probably in his 80's at the time and had some great stories from machining huge steel mill rolls. It was a fun place to work for a while, when I was between aerospace jobs. But I needed to move on. Bob just couldn't pay much and I was starting to look elsewhere. I ended up at Rockwell working structural machining in El Segundo on the B-1A and Space Shuttle.
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: Charlie H]
#2743504
02/16/20 11:43 AM
02/16/20 11:43 AM
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,314 Charlotte, NC
LSP
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I was only there once - my Dad ran Modified Eliminator back in the day, and we took his 426 Hemi heads in one morning back in 78 I think it was for a valve job. I was only 14 at the time, but Jim let me face the valves after showing me how, was such a thrill at the time. I asked about the 340 block, because my Dad dropped by the shop later, and saw that it had no cylinders in it, was just one big oblong hole in each bank, Jim had said that it was one of Glidden's blocks.
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: RMCHRGR]
#2743851
02/17/20 08:36 AM
02/17/20 08:36 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,894 Florida
Locomotion
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I was asking whether "Direct Connection" (not MP) back in the '70s was offering a ported iron head, I don't have any older DC catalogs around. If Mopar did offer something like that, I imagine they likely would have been done by Mullen. The W2 came out around the same time so it kind of does not really make sense. Maybe they were exploring stuff with factory heads? Dunno.
I have a set of the #269 heads. These were the MP OTC '308' heads without the smog holes. Same a s a regular 308 otherwise with 1.88 valves.
As mentioned, there were a few levels of ported iron heads they offered. I believe that was in the '80s though, not the '70s. I believe you are thinking of "576" heads. DC/Mopar Perf. had a few versions of them over the years - "stock", assembled/ported to different levels as well as a T/A version. From what I recall reading, Mullin was experimenting with OEM heads, including T/A, and the radical mods finally lead to just casting a whole new head, the W-2. I'm guessing that Mopar had a lot of OEM stuff avaialable when the W-2 came out. There was a major cost factor in changing to W-2's, so the OEM based heads still filled a niche.
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: 543Dakota]
#2869497
01/05/21 09:10 PM
01/05/21 09:10 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 27,471 So Cal
autoxcuda
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I have a 1975 Direct Connection catalog and these heads [ Direct Connection / Mullen ] heads are offered in the book !! 1976 the W2 was released so these were the last Oem [Mullin] offerings and that in itself makes these very unique.
I have reference to W-2 heads as early as May ‘73. They might not have been released for sale to general public. But seems like they were ready and waiting. By March 29, 1975 Mullen is testing “W-3” heads. That was after a “W-2 1/2”. Haven’t found a reference to W-4... yet. Could the ported 360 be a class deal requiring production castings? Or/and a more economical head using production valve gear to sell in DC catalog to hot street and bracket racers?
Last edited by autoxcuda; 01/05/21 09:18 PM.
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: 543Dakota]
#2874890
01/15/21 08:31 PM
01/15/21 08:31 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 27,471 So Cal
autoxcuda
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I have a 1975 Direct Connection catalog and these heads [ Direct Connection / Mullen ] heads are offered in the book !! 1976 the W2 was released so these were the last Oem [Mullin] offerings and that in itself makes these very unique.
By the DC catalogs it looks like these Mullen 360 heads were offered until 1976
Last edited by autoxcuda; 01/15/21 08:32 PM.
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: BradH]
#2977219
10/22/21 12:24 PM
10/22/21 12:24 PM
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 3 California
Charlie H
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Have one flowed on a bench, we might all be amazed! All the Mullen airflow work done at 3" H20"... and now lots of head specialists even question the validity of testing at 28" since it's often way lower than what the engine really generates for pressure. Makes my lowly SF-110 10" H20 standard look hi-tech compared to the old Mullen-era tests. I had some long discussions with Bob on this topic. While there will be differences in the measured results using low ∆P, the benefits of good port work from an accurate flow bench are likely more important than what ∆P is used. Bob's work led the industry when he was using 2 or 3 in/H2O and everyone was running many times that. Bob was a mechanical engineer and highly experienced in using flow benches that were of very high ∆P, much higher than the typical Superflow. I saw test data reports he had from his days at White Diesel, Ford and Chrysler. There's a good reason for going with low ∆P. You don't need soundproof rooms and hearing protection to work on the port while it's flowing. During port development, a technician needs to be able to use probes. High noise hinders concentration and work. With low ∆P, it's not a question of accuracy, but rather whether it is representative of the actual operating conditions. Accuracy is the fidelity of the bench to measure changes and be repeatable. While those early Superflow benches had higher ∆P, they had less ability to measure changes as accurately and repeatably. The question of whether Bob's bench was representative to real world conditions is exhibited in his succeses at the time, IMO. You can also look at aerodynamic testing. Aero engineers still use subscale test models and low flow rates for a lot of data. My brother is a windtunnel engineer at NASA Langley. And yes, there is a use for high speed tunnel data, but a large portion of data is gathered in low speed testing.
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: autoxcuda]
#2980273
10/31/21 03:30 PM
10/31/21 03:30 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
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mr_340
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I remember converting the flow Bob Mullen had at 3 inches of H2O on a stock 340 head vs. what one of mine flowed at 28 inches on a SF400. It was within one CFM of the same numbers after conversion. Different bench and different head. I think it's easier to find small gains with higher test pressures.
Floyd Lippencott IV
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: mr_340]
#3008429
01/24/22 08:36 AM
01/24/22 08:36 AM
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Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 348 Isle of Sheeps
Gtxxjon
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Wonderful subject and Bob Mullen is a god of Mopar lol.
This whole issue of flow is quite interesting indeed. David Vizard has used very basic methods for port improvement. Low Flow is very handy in port work but the consensus seem to like 28 inches.
We are talking 50 years ago with factory cast hipo heads ‘of the day’. Now we have a head for every occasion and mostly aluminium.
I nearly had the ‘deal of the century’ back in 2005. A good friend in LA took me to meet Hemi George in Sun Valley. I was on the hunt for a 426 hemi and he had some for sale. They were a bit pricey for me so he showed me ‘a builder 426H’.
It was a Bob Mullen experimental hemi in pieces. George said he has no idea what it’s worth, so I offered $15,000?
He said he would think about it and said “that was the price he wanted too”...
He then decided to build it himself.
It sold for $35,000 oh well, I was very close that time DOH...
Last edited by Gtxxjon; 01/24/22 08:38 AM.
Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero, thanx Horace!
There’s no point trying to fix stuff that ain’t broke,,, 'but if ain’t broke',,, you is not trying hard enough...
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: Gtxxjon]
#3008512
01/24/22 01:51 PM
01/24/22 01:51 PM
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Posts: 9,858 MI, usa
dvw
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I acquired this pair of T/A castings. The rocker pedestals are milled off. They look similar to a Mullen head. Any ides? Doug
Last edited by dvw; 01/24/22 01:56 PM.
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: dvw]
#3008513
01/24/22 01:54 PM
01/24/22 01:54 PM
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Posts: 9,858 MI, usa
dvw
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Re: mid 70's NOS Mullen small block race heads
[Re: dvw]
#3008600
01/24/22 06:53 PM
01/24/22 06:53 PM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,073 oregon
greendart408
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I acquired this pair of T/A castings. The rocker pedestals are milled off. They look similar to a Mullen head. Any ides? Doug Neat stuff dvw, I'm into all this day 2 stuff and am always looking for something similar to put on my day 2 69 swinger. Hard to find for reasonable prices anymore tho.
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