Blue Thunder Heads

Can someone school me on the BBF Blue Thunder Cylinder heads?. The car I purchased a few years ago came with these on them (501 BBF).. now since a lifter failure I'm trying to rebuild the total engine..reusing my heads and intake.. Thats about all that is reusable..lol. Anyway I took my heads to the local machine shop to have them checked.. they're okay..also asked them to CC them and give me the valve size.. so far I haven't heard back from the. I want to make sure I get the right Pistons when I order them.. is there anything special about these heads that I should be aware of?. Thanks guys.. I'm learing a lot about the BBF from the site..lots of knowlegable people here!

[quote="1faststang"]Can someone school me on the BBF Blue Thunder Cylinder heads?. The car I purchased a few years ago came with these on them (501 BBF).. now since a lifter failure I'm trying to rebuild the total engine..reusing my heads and intake.. Thats about all that is reusable..lol. Anyway I took my heads to the local machine shop to have them checked.. they're okay..also asked them to CC them and give me the valve size.. so far I haven't heard back from the. I want to make sure I get the right Pistons when I order them.. is there anything special about these heads that I should be aware of?. Thanks guys.. I'm learing a lot about the BBF from the site..lots of knowlegable people here![/quot

I don't know which ones you have, but mine have chevy exhaust ports, and 230 intake, and 188 exhaust valves, whoever is working them should know what they are.

I don't know which ones you have, but mine have chevy exhaust ports, and 230 intake, and 188 exhaust valves, whoever is working them should know what they are.

I'm pretty sure they have Chevy Exhaust Ports... Hopefully the guys checking them know.. but I doubt it.. no one here in Canada seems to know anything about them..lol

1faststang wrote:

I don't know which ones you have, but mine have chevy exhaust ports, and 230 intake, and 188 exhaust valves, whoever is working them should know what they are.

I'm pretty sure they have Chevy Exhaust Ports... Hopefully the guys checking them know.. but I doubt it.. no one here in Canada seems to know anything about them..lol

Do they have square ports, or oval? The chitty ones are square, but are suppose to flow better.

342g wrote:

1faststang wrote:

I don't know which ones you have, but mine have chevy exhaust ports, and 230 intake, and 188 exhaust valves, whoever is working them should know what they are.

I'm pretty sure they have Chevy Exhaust Ports... Hopefully the guys checking them know.. but I doubt it.. no one here in Canada seems to know anything about them..lol

Do they have square ports, or oval? The chitty ones are square, but are suppose to flow better.

They're more square than Oval

like this... http://www.survivalmotorsports.com/images/Blue_Thunder_Cobra_Jet_Chevy_Exhaust_Top.jpg

That would be the chevy exhaust port . I used to have a set mine were closed chamber 74cc and came with valve sizing intake 2.250 exhaust was 1.800 . your machinist should be able to tell you what you have as far as cc 's and valve sizes .

maverick532 wrote:That would be the chevy exhaust port . I used to have a set mine were closed chamber 74cc and came with valve sizing intake 2.250 exhaust was 1.800 . your machinist should be able to tell you what you have as far as cc 's and valve sizes .

Thats what I'm thinking mine are.. but want to make sure..Thanks for your help!

cool40 wrote:like this... http://www.survivalmotorsports.com/images/Blue_Thunder_Cobra_Jet_Chevy_Exhaust_Top.jpg

Yup...Just like Those!

About 4 years ago, Art Francis redid his line of big block Ford heads.
There are probably 20 or so different versions in one way or another.
1, OEM production exhaust flange outlet
2. raised Cobra Jet exhaust flange outlet
3. B.B. Chevrolet exhaust flange outlet
All of THOSE 3 versions were each available with 3 different combustion chamber sizes 74cc, 80cc, & 100cc.
THEN the intake ports of the raised Ford flange and Chevrolet exhaust flange were redesigned and at that time those versions became only available in 78cc & 100cc combustion chambers.
Also at that time the larger combustion chamber OEM exhaust port heads were deleted and those OEM exhaust style heads are now only available in 74cc combustion chambers.

If you have used Blue Thunder heads without knowing their origin then they need to be completely checked-out and measured to find out what exactly they started out to be.

Where abouts in Canada are you?

rmcomprandy wrote:About 4 years ago, Art Francis redid his line of big block Ford heads.
There are probably 20 or so different versions in one way or another.
1, OEM production exhaust flange outlet
2. raised Cobra Jet exhaust flange outlet
3. B.B. Chevrolet exhaust flange outlet
All of THOSE 3 versions were each available with 3 different combustion chamber sizes 74cc, 80cc, & 100cc.
THEN the intake ports of the raised Ford flange and Chevrolet exhaust flange were redesigned and at that time those versions became only available in 78cc & 100cc combustion chambers.
Also at that time the larger combustion chamber OEM exhaust port heads were deleted and those OEM exhaust style heads are now only available in 74cc combustion chambers.

If you have used Blue Thunder heads without knowing their origin then they need to be completely checked-out and measured to find out what exactly they started out to be.

Thanks for your knowledge!

jasonf wrote:Where abouts in Canada are you?

Halifax Nova Scotia Canada

maverick532 wrote:That would be the chevy exhaust port . I used to have a set mine were closed chamber 74cc and came with valve sizing intake 2.250 exhaust was 1.800 . your machinist should be able to tell you what you have as far as cc 's and valve sizes .

Here's what the machine shop told me

73CC
2.250 Intake
1.880 Exhaust

And yup they do have Chevy Exhaust Ports

What would be the best type of piston to go with to give me around 13.5 or 14.1 Compression.. with a 0.30 over Bore??

How much stroke?

dfree383 wrote:How much stroke?

Was thinking of going with a stock stroke and building a 466.. or going with a 501/521... still unclear what I'd like to do. Just want the car to work as good as my old 501.

1989 back halfed/ladder bar Ford Mustang that weighs around 2800lbs with me in it and the following Mods..

D1VE Block (501)
Comp Cam .715/.710 lift
6.800 Eagle H Beams
Eagle Crank
Blue Thunder Heads
Approx 11:5:1 Compression
Crower Roller Lifters
Edelbrock Victor 460 Dominator Intake
1050 Holley Dominator Carb
Powerglide
5300 Stall
Ford 9"
Strange Spool with 4:30 Gears
C12 Fuel

Sure I'm missing a bunch.. but I was hoping for the car to run around 9.60-9.70's@136-138mph.. just about where it was with the 501.. Can it be done?..

You need to slow your roll and figure out what your going to build and how much power you need to meet your goals.

Get the heads flowed and see what they need to be on top of their game first..... The build the rest of the engine and select the parts you need. Your just throwing around parts with out a real plan for true success.

dfree383 wrote:You need to slow your roll and figure out what your going to build and how much power you need to meet your goals.

Get the heads flowed and see what they need to be on top of their game first..... The build the rest of the engine and select the parts you need. Your just throwing around parts with out a real plan for true success.

Ohh I know I'm rushing.. Just trying to get back in the game ASAP..Was top 5 in points at the local track. I would build the identical engine to what I had.. just trying to see what the experts on here think.. since my knowledge on the BBF is very...very small.