Playing with some old Bulldogs

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RAMM

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Had a set of these sent to me to see if I could do anything with them. Boy are they in rough shape. Cracked rocker stands, stripped sparkplugs and broken through pushrod pinches. Still I picked a "good" port and put them on the bench just to see. They have some weird features in the port to be sure. I filled the port with clay and it took quite a bit before the flow started dropping off. I will add flow numbers next week. J.Rob

BDexhaust.jpg


BDF1.jpg


BDF2.jpg


BDF3.jpg
 
Those appear to be the later “raised port” version.
The early ones had the intake port openings down near the deck like a stock head and used a regular valley pan.

I’ve ported a few sets, and had others here ported by others.

I’ll say it like this........ for me, there are other heads that would be direct competitors with those that are easier to get bigger numbers from.

Those heads would usually put up some pretty good intake numbers @.200, .300, .400 though.
 
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Did you pick up flow when you started filling the port? :popcorn:
Ran to the shop to do this and I picked up the flow sheet. J.Rob
|Sans Clay Flow

.1 74.2
.2 146.1
.3 203 very noisy
.4 252
.45 272
.5 290
.55 304
.6 310
.65 313
.7 318

Clay Filled Floor Flow

.1 75
.2 148
.3 203 much quieter
.4 252
.45 272.7
.5 290
.55 303.5
.6 310
.65 312
.7 314

RAMM2020Sign.jpg
 
Are these Bulldog heads the same head that was designed by the guy who did the AMC heads??? I can’t think of his name anymore. Or is this something different?
 
Bulldog heads were from Dick Bradshaw.

Same as who’s doing the iron blocks now.

On a very early set from MM, the exhaust port floors were paper thin.
As soon as I touched it with a burr it just blew a hole through it.

They got sent back, we were supposed to get replacements....... never saw them...... they welded them up.

The heads got ported, put on the motor, and on the dyno there was coolant leaking through the welds, so they went back again.
Waited months for replacements from Bulldog..... which never came.

That whole thing was a bit of a fiasco, but in the end I felt like MM treated my customer fair on it(heads were replaced with SR’s).
 
Bulldog heads were from Dick Bradshaw.

Same as who’s doing the iron blocks now.

On a very early set from MM, the exhaust port floors were paper thin.
As soon as I touched it with a burr it just blew a hole through it.

They got sent back, we were supposed to get replacements....... never saw them...... they welded them up.

The heads got ported, put on the motor, and on the dyno there was coolant leaking through the welds, so they went back again.
Waited months for replacements from Bulldog..... which never came.

That whole thing was a bit of a fiasco, but in the end I felt like MM treated my customer fair on it(heads were replaced with SR’s).


Ok...do you remember the heads that were designed by the guy who was into AMC’s? For the life of me I can’t think of those heads and his name.

Once you said Dick Bradshaw I knew that’s not the heads I was thinking of.

I forgot he was making blocks.
 
You’re thinking of the Brewer heads.

I’ve never seen any of those in person.

Bradshaw did a lot of the patterns for Indy way back when.
On the early Indy heads there was a DB cast into the top of the head.
 
You’re thinking of the Brewer heads.

I’ve never seen any of those in person.

Bradshaw did a lot of the patterns for Indy way back when.
On the early Indy heads there was a DB cast into the top of the head.


That’s it. Wow, I couldn’t remember that. I’ve only seen pictures of them. Was going to do a set for a guy, but he sold them and sent me some Pro Comp heads instead.
 
Ran to the shop to do this and I picked up the flow sheet. J.Rob
|Sans Clay Flow

.1 74.2
.2 146.1
.3 203 very noisy
.4 252
.45 272
.5 290
.55 304
.6 310
.65 313
.7 318

I think your bench reads a little lower than mine, that’s why I was wondering if you’d tested a TF240 head yet.
As sort of a “standard”.
I’ve tested maybe a dozen of them, and they’ve all been pretty close.

On my bench, 318 out of a std port size Bulldog would be a pretty good number.
So, if your bench shows lower than mine...... the numbers might look even better here.

I had a set here that someone bought that had been run on some engine that was used in some sort of magazine contest.
They were about 1/2 way between std port and MW port opening and had 2.25 intake valves.
The flow numbers supplied with the heads were quite high....... but I wasn’t able to get anywhere near them on my bench.
I think they may have still been the best ones I’ve tested @325-ish.
 
I think your bench reads a little lower than mine, that’s why I was wondering if you’d tested a TF240 head yet.
As sort of a “standard”.
I’ve tested maybe a dozen of them, and they’ve all been pretty close.

On my bench, 318 out of a std port size Bulldog would be a pretty good number.
So, if your bench shows lower than mine...... the numbers might look even better here.

I had a set here that someone bought that had been run on some engine that was used in some sort of magazine contest.
They were about 1/2 way between std port and MW port opening and had 2.25 intake valves.
The flow numbers supplied with the heads were quite high....... but I wasn’t able to get anywhere near them on my bench.
I think they may have still been the best ones I’ve tested @325-ish.

These have 2.19" 5.250" OAL intakes 1.810" 5.250 OAL exhausts. I have to say the S.S. and L.S. /Bowl are gorgeous , the chambers are amazing, plug angle fantastic. I can't wait to "fix" the valve job and re-introduce the pushrod pinch with 1" tubes. Yes that is what it's going to take-1" aluminum tubes. I will take some photos in the upcoming week of the reasons these heads are getting replaced by TF 240's. Basically it is going to cost almost as much to fix these as it will to buy some TF's. However I will offset the cost of the TF's to acquire these for an upcoming project. J.Rob
 
I’ll be interested in seeing the side by side numbers against the ootb TF240 from your bench.
 
I think your bench reads a little lower than mine, .

I don't know much about benches but as a former HVAC/R service guy, I understand the basics. Isn't there or why isn't there a simple / cheap/ duplicable standard by which you guys can standardize readings?
 
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