James,
I'd imagine there's a lot of us folks who would be keen on a decent set
of after-market heads, particular those running stroker motors. Indeed,
I've also talked with a company who is making very good heads for a
range of motors and it's certainly a very doable project. The catch is,
as you say, getting real interest and people prepared to put up some
cash.
Personally, I wouldn't be saying yes/no/maybe until I'd seen some dyno
and flow figures from a prototype set. Also important is the target
application; race heads are overkill for many, and maybe street heads
aren't enough for some... They would of course have to produce somewhat
more power than ported 4.6 heads to be worth 2000+ USD. Although, to put
that in a perspective, RPi "ultimate" heads seem to be around 2600 USD.
I don't know what sort of numbers you were looking for, but when I was
going through numbers, I figured 50 or so sets made a "from scratch"
project possible at a price a little lower than your target (which is OK
if you just want some good heads, but less so if you want to make any
money out of it...).
Cheers,
Richard.
On Tue, 2003-12-23 at 05:18, JJJ wrote:
> All,
> I don't want to get anyone's hopes up yet, but I've been in touch with a
> company that makes big-valve, improved flow heads for the Grand National
> Buick V-6, the little brother to out beloved B.O.P.R. Since they have done
> all the R&D for the the improved 6-cyl head, all they need to do is add back
> the one combustion chamber that was cut off in '64 when they made the V-6.
> This company has expressed interest in making the heads for Buicks and
> Rovers at a price point that is better than the Wildcat heads (~$4000.00).
> There 6-cyl heads go for ~$1600 a pair, so figure some increase.
> Anyhow, what it will depend on is the market size, so I'll tentatively
> need to ask how many of you are interested in an improved head, and would
> consider putting down ~$2000 (just a guess as price would depend on volume,
> somewhat). I'm not certain yet if that price includes the valvetrain.
> Also, if you all have some ideas for spreading the word to other
> potential customers, please let me know. If there is enough REAL interest,
> we could make this a reality.
>
> James Jewell
> Editor/Publisher British V8 newsletter (soon to be)
///
/// buick-rover-v8@autox.team.net mailing list
///
|