Hi all just wondering where people are getting there head work done at the moment?

what packages are they getting done ie standard size valves or moving over to the big valve heads, 3 angle valve seats or 5 etc etc

The guy that has done the last 2 for me has bumped up his price because hes getting more and more Jap stuff which is quicker work due to the heads already flowing a massive amount.

any info would be great

Barbz @ TI has done the heads on both, my 20 vt and my dad's 2.4 20vt coupe, with amazing results on both.

Mine is a standard 2.0l 20vt head, with standard valves, 3 handle valve seats(what barbz called a stage 2 head) I would say the head work has made the biggest difference out of all my mods, whilst completely transforming the car both on and off boost, it really shows when comparing to similarly tuned coupes that don't have the head work, mines always making the same or often more power, at much less boost.

Barbz is currently working on a 2.4l big valve head for my N/A build, that I'll be starting shortly.

Head work is always expensive witch ever way you look at it, but it's a very long process, and requires a hell of a lot of skill to get it right, not to mention having 20 valves to cut in

is any of barbzs work flow tested though and who does the work him or a 3rd party? did you get any build pictures with your head just so we can see what hes done that would be good to take a look at

I Know what your dads coupe is like F1ang its one of my favourite coupes ive ever driven and i must say its perfect.



The NA build sounds interesting are you aiming for the 200BHP mark

Barbz did the headwork on my engine too ..................... it made a MASSIVE difference, if I was him, I doubt I`d be posting loads of photo`s .........for anybody just to copy his work
But I know what you mean

I know alot of people have had good head work from barbzs but id still like to see what gets done.
As for anyone copying his work, head work isnt a secret art-form anymore there are books (guy croft), dvd's and youtube channels devoted to head work for every sort of engine style from 3 cylinder eco boost to 1000 cubic inch V8 alcohol engines.

I remember reading the guy croft thread a few years ago i think when he posted the flow results etc which was a brilliant piece of information for the forum and gives us something to work off when more head work is done especially when people are pushing the boundaries all the time not just in peak power but in drive ability and the improvement in response.

cheers for the response so far id like to hear from the euro lot because they tune alot aswell

Sorry mate, I don't have any pictures, I did however see the head before it went on the car, he was showing me the difference between uprated and standard, and the difference was "alot" he was also showing me how he completely re-profiles each valve, so your look at two identical valves, one re-worked and one standard, they didn't even look like the same valve, some how made the surface area of the part of the valve that makes contact with the head much larger. There was a few other things he mentioned, I've always been into engine work and love getting my hands dirty, but not on his level, it all pretty much went in one ear and out the other all I know is, when ever he does, it works, and works well.

Regarding the work it's self, he does all of it, as far as I know there's no third party, last time I was at his digs, I remember seeing all the heavy duty porting drills and different specialized heads, it was like something from a dental lab only bigger and more horrifying, although I must admit just a clean.

Unsure about the flow testing, that would be a question for him, I'll mention it next time we talk, he's got a good few tried and tested heads and platforms now, so I guess with that much experience, he just know what works.

The n/a project, I'll admit 200bhp would be nice, I'll be sticking to the 2.0l bottom end for now though, so we'll just have to see how it goes, I've seen a few 2.4 n/a's struggling to hit the 200 mark, it's not going to be an insane money no object build either, so it won't be overly impressive, as I'm still ploughing money into my 20vt at the moment, but it should be a nice quick n/a for the road. And that noise

Morning F1ang good to know hes doing the work himself it shows skill due to the long process (around 30 hrs depending on spec of port and polish).

The process your talking about with the valves is back cutting (if i remember the term correctly), This is basically shaping the back of the valve so its more streamlined also taking meat off of the valve stem (normally stem work only done on the inlet side due to not being under the same heat stresses) they do look in some case like you said drasticly different.

when you do speak to him next it would be good to know if he flow tests and if he fancy's let people know the results that would be good to compare with what we already have.

The NA projects are always fun for a road driving car because the howling NA engine sound which i miss sometimes over the LE but like you said they do struggle to make good power. I know it took abit to break the 200bhp mark with the 2.4 NA but that was mainly down to stick with 95 octane fuel with no work to the engine bar bolt ons.

I think you maybe the first one to put some head work into the NA will be good to see the out come

Does anyone have any before and after dyno prints following headwork?

Both of my Barbz-worked heads have been fitted at the same time as other mods, so my dyno plots will be meaningless

I'm pretty sure it would be possible to extrapolate the flow gains achieved by Guy Croft into approximate horsepower gains - IIRC, he got something like 14% extra flow on standard cams