32 valve heads

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Moving to the auto stuff, Many dont know it but the multi valve pushrod Olds W-43 was Very close to be coming a production engine.

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-...otaldisplayed=5


A neat 4 Valve OLDS W43 vid clip...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJMcpixWLO0

Weslake also made multi valve pushrod heads that the 32 valve Dominion and 32 valve Arao version heads were modeled after, just with there own ideas of using stock type int and exh setups.

http://speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopi...=339990#p339990


Gurney also made multi valve pushrod heads, I heard these engines made some really good power #'s back when they were made. Its interesting to see most all these multi valve heads use the same type valve adjuster setup, which this design helps induce swirl into the chamber.

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tec...formance-2.html


Valley Head Service also makes 32V pushrod heads that many that dont know better mistake for araos 32v heads.

http://www.valleyhead.com/thunder.html


Another multi valve example is DB industrys billet 3 valve hemi pushrod head with forked rockers and shaft system from the 80s that set records and killed ALL the 2 valve hemi head competion to the point that nhra had his multi valve heads outlawed because the 2 valve hemi guys could not keep up. Notice how simular the chamber is to the one mr Feuling is holding, I believe this is what Benz copyed for there multi valve.

http://dbhardparts.com/heads.html


Today one of the guys to look too for what multi valve tech can do is Mihovetz with his little tiny 280ci 4V engine with stock modded factory head castings beating 500+ci hemi's

I bet he will be into the 5.90s with it soon enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86uLwXstuWQ

Some 2 valve guys out there get all confused only comparing the port flow of 2V and 4V and dont get it that the real trick to 4 valve heads is the curtain flow area.

Here are some old 4v tech adds from the old Dominion performance inc web site. Hal from Dominion Perf past away just recently last year so only the Arao versions of these 32v heads are avalible at this point.

32 valve sbc heads











32 valve sbf heads





I understand Hal sold at least 2 doz sbf Dominion version sets and did make a few diffrent int port versions of them from out of his home based business so this is not inc araos 32v versions out there. I also know Hals friend got 2 more 32v pair / the last 2 32v sets last year when Hal past away recently, rip mr Carlson.

A few pics of my 32V dominion sbf versions on a 351W rpm maxx block...









428ci 32V MAXX



I forgot I got more info on my stuff here...

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/dom...ads-202413.html

If you have the cash and don't mind extra work, there is no good reason NOT to use multi valve heads.
Honda have used 3 valve heads since 1978 (2 int, 1 ex) Harley Davidson first used 4 valve /cyl in 1918
You don't need to lift smaller valves as far or have stupid heavy valve springs to control them to get high flow
2 valve/cyl can give some extra torque at very low rpm but anything spinning faster than 2,000rpm will benefit from multi valve (arbitrary number )
In my opinion, the main reason's they are not used more frequently are:-
1/ racing rule book
2/ extra expense when porting, valve seat cutting,etc
3/ builders are not comfortable using technology that isn't approved by race sanctioning bodies (see 1/ )

Thanks for the reply, and the 32 valve crash course. I have 2 sets myself, 1 Dominion and 1 Arao. the only difference is the rocker stand shaft heights, I wish I had 5 more sets for all my projects. I got goose bumps everytime I started my GN. What an animal. There was also a company named Covalt that made an awesome set of 32 valve heads for the BB Chevy and BB Chrysler. The kit was complete with cnc billet heads, valve train, valve covers, sheetmetal intake and pistons for $10k. I think thats the problem with the low popularity of the heads, the cost. We all know it doesn't have to cost that much to produce a set of heads. Back in the day to purchase a set of SB chevy heads was unthinkable now adays they're almost peanuts. The only difference in cost should be for the extra springs, valves, seats, etc. We all know that if they were more affordable everyone would have them. As for the those guys who frown upon the 32 valve are really closet cases that would love to have them and would truely appretiate their functionality. My next post will include the Covalt advertisement and pictures of my build.

If Arao, Valley Head, Covalt and Weslake took a leap of faith and flooded the market with 4 valve heads today the sanctioning bodys would buckle and 4 valve heads would be in. Then before you know it all the big name head companies would follow.

I would have multi valve heads in a heartbeat if I could afford them.
Cast heads should be relatively 'cheap' after patterns have been made but billet are going to be real expensive, the material alone is costly and CNC for 20~30 hrs per head is really going to bump the price.
First pair would probably run at around 100k or so, need to sell an awful lot to recover costs (few years ago friend was developing a V-4 Harley, 25k got part machined cases from some big blocks of aluminum, it hasn't gotten much further in last 5~6 yrs)
You then have to have special int/ex manifolds made.
All in all, 10K isn't too expensive as you also have to make enough profit to live/pay for machinery (way outside my pay grade though )

Hi guys, I agree with what your saying. On the subject of cost, some dont realize the Dominion 32v heads were cheaper than Araos, I think because Arao had problems with getting some components/rocker? parts. The 32v Dominion heads were avg about $4000 grand a set, This is what my billet sbf sets cost new. This is cheaper than new 2 valve brodix ford heads, other 2 valve billet heads are running around $9000, some of the new sbf/sbc billet hemi head kits are about $15,000. Considering none of these heads are high production items there cost is not out of line.

rockster, you mentioned the covalt 32v heads, these kits were starting about $9000











BG also is making a multi valve pushrod head with valve train simular to some of todays diesel setups, interestingly araos hd 4 valve head has a simular setup.

http://www.competitionplus.com/2005...w_products.html




http://barrygrant.com/pages/news.as...id=bgproducts05


http://www.barrygrant.com/pages/ima...eIntrosheet.pdf

http://www.barrygrant.com/news/articles/trg.html

kind of makes me think of gm's multi valve pushrod prototype. Though imo, a/the shaft systems are better for high rpm.





Like GM, Ford also designed there own new prototype multi valve pushrod head for the sbf back in 89-90 but then instead desided to go with the mod design. Ford even had a simular 3 valve layout pushrod 427 "Calliope" prototype in the 60's.







Here is a bit more interesting info on Olds W43 engine that almost made it into production if it were not for the politics back then.

http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/t...that-never-was/

http://www.oldsmobility.com/oldsmo/....php?f=44&t=157

http://www.oldsmobility.com/oldsmo/....php?f=44&t=173

In 1999 they were ~$9K. Are they in production today and how much?

Why do I get the feeling that a post listing what he has for sale is next?

I'll just drop an LS-3 or LS-7 in my Camaro and have THE latest and greatest that the General has to offer instead of messing with hobby horse cylinder heads.

Just to mention the harley 4 valve heads again, I am also heavy into the Feuling 4 valve heads and have a few sets including Feulings race version head which interestingly use the same size int valves and porsche 911 valve adjusters as most of these pushrod heads including the dominion and arao versions which help with inducing swirl into the 4v chambers.



I have a 4 valve Buell/Feuling head thread on the XLForum for these 4v heads with a bunch of tech info some of you with HD's may be interested in. There are some trick things many dont know about the Feuling 4V heads.

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/...splay.php?f=226

BTW... none of my stuff is for sale.

Kaz, I can't believe that you may be crazier than me when it comes to 4 valve heads, its good to see that, now I feel at home. I love that Covalt article. You know that company was sold and the 4 valve portion of the company disolved. I was able to track the guy down and asked to purchase a set of heads but it was a no can do. He didn't even want to talk about it. I couldn't believe it, I was devistated. To give everyone an idea where I stand when it comes to cars and parts, I'm a die hard chevy guy but also have an appretiation for Ford and Chrysler. I'm not bias at all, I'm very open minded to all makes and designs. Sometimes it doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell if something may be better. To jump on to another subject I see that some people may be a little difficult, as for the LS3 - 430 hp crate motor + computer and wiring harness = $ 7,700.00 , LS7 - 505 hp crate motor + computer and wiring harness = $ 16,500.00, Like I said i'm a chevy guy, but how does one justify a 75 hp increase from an LS3 to an LS7 for a difference of $ 8,800.00 ????? that doesn't even include any supporting mods. Now for $ 16.500.00 I could build a hell of an awesome Small Block Chevy making alot more than 505 streetable hp

Oh, you must be one of those "hotrodders" that only buys new. Sorry.

Its been alot of fun getting into this multi valve pushrod tech, I dont hate 2v stuff, I just got bored with it and remembered that the multi valve pushrod tech is proven and is what I wanted to get into. I am the same as you, I LOVE ALL muscle car brands and had most of them/types at one time. It just worked out that I ended up saving more ford crap than anything else lol. If I were richer I would have/collect them all.

cool rockin, there are a good amount more 32v sbc heads made that are out there (way more than the 32v sbf stuff) so it is more than feasible to find used 32v sbc sets also for reasonable prices. I have seen used sbc Dominion 32v heads from time to time selling for prices of $2000 and up.

Here is a hotrod mag wright up with tech on the 32V dominion sbc version heads some here might find interesting.

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/...or mance_test/