[eschaider]

+1^ on what Karl said. You are getting race car engines and street car engines confused in your head which will cause damage in your wallet.

What saltshaker said about the BBM heads requiring less timing is noteworthy. BBM does not use a period correct combustion chamber. They use a modern high swirl, shallow chamber which allows them to produce an impressive combustion event while using less timing and delivering similar results.

The other benefit to using a new production head is the new design castings are more robust, they are new and they are built for unleaded fuel usage. Current generation castings (for the most part) have improved upon the original Ford casting. There are those that have not and will provide you both a period correct and a strength / longevity correct casting.

Not to beat a dead horse but don't forget the original OEM castings were not meant to run on unleaded fuel. That means you will have to do some massage on the exhaust seats just like Detroit did when unleaded fuels became the new normal.

For an out of the box head the BBM is hard to beat and easier to find than two identical good condition period correct heads. Where you will get into the deep end of the swimming pool is when you start turning the out of the box BBM head into a race car BBM head. You would be smart not to go down that path most significantly because you don't have to.

Buy two BBM heads use them as is. Get appropriate pistons for the c/r you want. Build your engine and don't worry, be happy — as the song says.


Ed