New TFS Heads and Intake for Small-Block Ford V-8s Promise LS-Beating Power Gains

It’s OK, Ford guys and gals. Don’t let all the hype about Chevy’s 70th anniversary of the small-block get you down, or for that matter, the 60th anniversary of the big-block. The folks at Trick Flow Specialties have you covered with the release of its Twisted Wedge 11R 227 cylinder heads and intake manifold induction system. How’s that for a poke in Chevy’s eye? It’s not something the Chevy guys like to talk about, but the small-block Ford Windsor has dogged its small-block Chevy rival for decades, and Trick Flow Specialties has been getting under the Bowtie boys’ skin since it came out with the first high-po Ford small-block design way back in 1988. Yep. TFS has been on the vanguard of small-block Ford airflow technology since the early days of the Fox Body 5.0 revolution and hasn’t let up since.

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The breakthrough of the 11R 227—a tip of the hat to the cylinder head’s 11-degree valve angle and fully CNC’d 227cc intake ports—is less revolutionary than evolutionary. It takes lessons learned from decades of research and development and compounds them in a cost-effective intake-manifold/cylinder-head pairing that employs the latest developments in flow dynamics with top-shelf valvetrain hardware and CNC port work. In a nutshell, it’s race technology at a street price that, as the test data shows, allows the Ford faithful to be cost- and performance-competitive with all the Chevy LS and LT swaps and lets you go straight for the jugular without giving in to the Bowtie beast.

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If you are waist-deep in your Ford project and contemplating a small-block Ford, or lord forbid a Chevy swap, check this out: When TFS tested its new Twisted Wedge 11R 227 heads and intake on a 351-based 427ci stroker (12:1 compression, TFS Track Max hydraulic-roller cam, 1.72:1 roller rockers, 1 7/8-inch long-tube headers, dual 3-inch exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers), power peaked at 676 hp (6,700 rpm) with torque hitting 574 lb-ft. That’s comfortably in the upper echelon of what today’s top naturally aspirated street LS combos make, and even in the wheelhouse of what top competitors in the Engine Masters Challenge made only a few years earlier using the most advanced components available.

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The TFS combo begins with its 11R 227 cylinder head with high-flowing 227cc intake ports that max out at an amazing 342 cfm of flow at .650-inch lift. (Heads are available assembled for $1,499.99 each or as bare castings for $1,293.99 each.) They have CNC-ported 56cc Twisted Wedge combustion chambers, which are Trick Flow’s most efficient design yet. The intake valves are moved away from the cylinder walls to reduce valve shrouding and significantly improve flow at high valve lift. The relaxed 11-degree intake and 13-degree exhaust valve angles reduce chamber volume for improved compression and efficiency and provide extra piston-to-valve clearance for high-lift cams.

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The 11R 227 cylinder heads have high-velocity, CNC competition ported intake and exhaust runners that have been optimized on the flow bench and dyno-proven to perform at the top of the pack relative to competing heads when used with a hydraulic roller cam. Other features include 2.080-/1.600-inch stainless steel valves and premium-quality PAC Racing 1.295-inch dual valve springs and titanium retainers. Moreover, these heads work with stock pistons and lower-lift cams as well as Twisted Wedge–specific pistons with cams up to .600 inches of valve lift. They fit Ford 289-351W-based engines and are available fully assembled or as bare castings for the do-it-yourselfer.

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Having a great cylinder head, however, is only half the battle. Trick Flow’s matching R-Series 11R 227 intake manifold goes hand in glove with the 11R 227 heads—and better yet is available in both carbureted ($674.99) and port injected ($724.99) versions. Trick Flow did all the hard work up front to create a highly accurate port match to the 11R 227 heads and that makes it easy to make huge power numbers with a big-cube Windsor. The manifolds feature a spider-type, single-plane design with a raised plenum floor, CNC competition ported runners, and a 3,500–7,500-plus-rpm powerband. The carbureted manifold has integral bosses for adding nitrous and accepts Holley 4150–style square-bore carburetors. The carb-style EFI manifold has custom-machined fuel-injection nozzle ports that accept standard Bosch and Siemens-type fuel injectors.

Sources

• Summit Racing Equipment

• Trick Flow Specialties