308 HEAD QUESTION

[Deleted User]

Hello all,
I have just picked up a 308 SUPER POWER DOME Aluminium head at a local swap meet on Saturday and I was interested to find out what the difference is between the standard cast head and the super dome power aluminium head, it appears to have larger stud holes. Will this head improve performance ect ?

Any info would be appreciated.

P.S. Still looking for stainless steel trim parts for my 54 Hollywood.

Regards

Sean

RL Chilton

Sean-

There's more bad than good with the aluminum heads. Hard to seal. I would mic it and see if it's at least 1.940. If it's less, it's wall art . . . mostly wall art, anyway. Seems like for every Hudnut that's pro-aluminum heads, there's 12 behind him shaking their heads.

There is usually a higher compression ratio, usually around 7.0 to 1 as opposed to 6.5 to 1, but it is my opinion that you would do better with a 262 head (cast iron) on a 308 block.

[Deleted User]

If it has larger bolt holes it's for a 308 engine with 1/2 inch bolts or studs. Do not use on a 7/16 block. Walt.

Ol racer

FYI

Ive had very good luck using aliminum Heads with 'Permbond Gasket' available from Randy Maas or Dale Cooper...

didusay39

As have I.

Browniepetersen

The car that currently holds the Land Speed Record for a stock 52 Hudson has a 308 steel head on it. My 54 (an old drag racing car from the 50's) also has the steel head (that is where my vote goes--unless someone gives me one of the new aluminum heads from Empire Motors--I would take one of those.)

Park_W

All that said, it's worth noting that the aluminum Super Power Dome head was what came standard on the Hornet engines, at least for the first year or two. So it's worth considering if you want it to look original. I've got about 2,000 miles on a recent rebuild, and there's so far no trace of gasket seepage with my aluminum head. Been running it since 2004, about 40,000 miles since then.

MikeWA

Park- just curious- do you re-torque it regularly? How often? That's a pretty good durability record, just wondering if you do anything special on it. I've got one that I'm thinking of putting on my '48, primarily to buff it up and add a little "bling".

oldhudsons

another aspect of the whole problem with Hornets, headgaskets, and attendant issues is flatness - I always used a machinist's straight edge on BOTH the block and the head because if not perfectly flat you're wasting your time.
My dad bought a new Hornet in '53, came with alum. head. May have been longer but it seemed like within months it had warped & or leaked so dealer put on an iron head.
One of Smokey Yunich's tricks was he milled the BLOCK to increase compression ratio as at teardowns after races they'd always check Hornet heads thickness but had no way of measuring the height of the engine, LOL!

dougson

Flatness is important in aluminum heads and previouis milling history also important. Measure the thickness at the corner bosses. Use modern head gasket mentioned above and torque head to 85 lbs. following factory tightening pattern. '55 and '56 heads had 1/2 " bolts. stock compression was 7.5-1. Here's mine, a '54 aluminum head milled to produce 8.3-1 and bored for 1/2" studs.

Park_W

Mike, I re-torqued the head after each outing for the first month, then a couple of times afterward. Regarding comments above on flatness of head and block, I certainly agree. My head had been recently resurfaced and the block "decked" slightly during the machine work. So, two good clean, smooth surfaces. I'm especially pleased the way this one has held up, since the gasket was the traditional type and I just used the aluminum paint treatment on the gasket before installation.