Let's talk cylinder heads

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I've always been the kind of person that reads about anything and everything involved with something I take an interest in. I've had the diesel bug for over 13 years now and it seems to not have an end to it. I've always been fascinated with cylinder heads and the many ways they can be altered. Myself I'm interested in 7.3 head modifications. I've read many gas and diesel discussions ranging from unshrouding valves to swirl in the cylinder. Could this be a discussion about if effects are similar between gas and diesel heads, what changes occur with valve sizing, just porting, port and polish etc? Or should we just knock off the casting burrs and feed them the giggle gas? Hopefully there are people on here who can shed some light on this. Thanks for looking
 

Magnum PD

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Your forgetting about using a turbo. When ur getting up above 700 hp, that's when head work can gain you some HP. Anything below that you won't notice it.
 

sootie

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There is a tremendous amount to be gained in head flow on a seven three. But more than that-cam changes are more important.


Funny that after all these years only a few people seemed to have grasped it... And not even the big name shops!
 
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That's where my inexperienced mind was getting caught up a little bit. I understand in force induction engines, you don't depend on your cylinder head, intake valve, or valve lift as much for your quantity of air. But there should a benefit to increasing the efficiency in these areas I would think. Do diesel cams and their degrees of overlap have more benefit rather then a high lift number like we would see in gassers?. I guess something I've always been curious about is in the gas world, the more HP you set up your boosted engine to make in its NA form, (aka cam, head flow, etc) the higher numbers you will see when the boost is introduced to the engine. Back to the air pump analogy I suppose. Is there any truth in that cool dense air travels through the cylinder head at a "slower" speed then a hot or heat-soaked charge?
 

TitoBandito78

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Forced induction is relevant but the 7.3 head is barely above sufficient for a n/a motor. It NEEDS flow work done on any nodded setup. And the cam is the other necessary part. The stock cam isn't designed for that much flow so it stands to reason if you double headflow you need valve adjustments via the cam.

It's expensive and nobody gives a shti except for guys who like 7.3s. But yes 1xxx up is there on fuel. But only if the cash is outlayed to get heads done and bottom end built.
 

Black AOD

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Forced induction is relevant but the 7.3 head is barely above sufficient for a n/a motor. It NEEDS flow work done on any nodded setup. And the cam is the other necessary part. The stock cam isn't designed for that much flow so it stands to reason if you double headflow you need valve adjustments via the cam.

It's expensive and nobody gives a shti except for guys who like 7.3s. But yes 1xxx up is there on fuel. But only if the cash is outlayed to get heads done and bottom end built.

What's a nodded setup? :D
 
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