Canted valves

[Madgyver]

Canted Valves..

 

[Speedrdr]

Okay, educate me a little @Madgyver. What do you mean by “canted” valves? I’ve stared at your roller rockers and STILL don’t know what you’re referring to.

Randy

 

[Madgyver]

Okay, educate me a little @Madgyver. What do you mean by “canted” valves? I’ve stared at your roller rockers and STILL don’t know what you’re referring to.

Randy

valves are of canted design and not inline like normal small block Ford motors.

This is Peanut with my old 69 351W. notice the valve train.

 

[Madgyver]

Cleveland style heads.....

 

[Speedrdr]

So are these AFR heads on my 347 stroker canted heads? Never thought about it before.

Randy

 

[Speedrdr]

After looking back at your posts, my heads are just small block Ford heads. I think.
Thanks for ‘splaining the difference.

Randy

 

[spap]

Are those Cleveland heads

 

[Speedrdr]

Mine are air flow research heads. I’m pretty sure @Madgyver’s pic shows Cleveland heads (not the pic with the cat)

Randy

 

[Broncobowsher]

I ran a set of Trickflow heads. I could run normal intake manifolds with those.

 

[jamesroney]

So are these AFR heads on my 347 stroker canted heads? Never thought about it before.

Randy

Oh no...The dreaded "Canted Valve" discussion.

There are three relevant definitions for the words "Canted Valve."

There is the dictionary or literal definition for the two words individually. "Canted" and "valve."
There is the Ford Marketing and branding definition, and the corresponding group think.
There is the NHRA competition rules for valve angle. "Canted" versus "Splayed" vs "Wedge"

The literal definition of canted means that something is slanted, tilted, or oblique, between two things. So you can have a canted window, or a canted roof, or anything that deviates from true horizontal or vertical.
In 1968, Ford unveiled their Tunnel Port cylinder head for the 5 Liter Trans-Am racing class. That head had the PUSHROD (thx broncobowsher) sticking right thru the intake port. The head was modified for 1969 and the valve was moved and tilted. This cylinder head was installed on the Ford 302 and became the "Boss 302" which dominated the 5 liter Trans Am racing series. It was known to have "Canted valves" That valve arrangement was later applied to the 1970 351 "Cleveland" engine. And the Canted Valve legacy persists to this day. It is worth pointing out that the 1965-1/2 GM 396 was earlier than the 1968 Ford version...but the Big Block Chevy version suffered from reliability issues, but those have long since been resolved. Since SOMEBODY neeede to be able to describe WHY the Boss302 out performs the standard 302...The legend says that the Boss 302 used the 351 Cleveland head. Obviously, that's absurd, because the Boss 302 pre-dates the 351C by a couple of years. But it's really chicken and egg. The "new" head was being developed for the new engine, and was fitted to the old engine. So when anyone asks what's the difference between the "Windsor" and the "Cleveland" the answer is that the 351C uses "Canted Valves."
The NHRA competition rules make a further distinction between "Canted" (one valve at an oblique angle) and "Splayed" (two valves at oblique angles) and "Wedge" where both valves are in-line relative to the crankshaft center line. All modern 90 degree V8 engines have some kind of angle between the valve and the cylinder. This angle forms the "wedge." As soon as you rotate or "twist" one of the valves, you have a single valve with an angle tilted fore-and-aft and side-to-side. This makes for a "twisted wedge."

NHRA makes the distinction only so that competitors can have a common language. The language is just used so that there can be a "difference." So in NHRA speak, "canted" means one valve tilted fore and aft...and "splayed" means two. This means that the TFS twisted wedge head is a "canted valve" head, even though TFS does not recognize it that way. The factory 351C head is "canted" on both intake and exhaust, so the NHRA calls them "splayed" and "NOT canted." This makes for much confusion, because twisted wedge heads, which are canted, are not canted...but Boss 302 heads, which are also canted, are not canted.

None of that matters with respect to performance, because as we all know...the GT40 wedge heads can flow just as well as the 2V 351C heads, which flow vastly better than the Chevy 454 peanut heads. And nothing flows like a Mopar Hemi Head.

So...in 1969, if you had a Boss 302, you were the king of the street. In 1971, if you just got your 350 Chevy SMOKED by a 4V Ford 351 Cleveland...and you wanted to know why, the answer was the same: "Canted Valves"

 

[Speedrdr]

@jamesroney, at the beginning of your reply, I thought I was clued in on “canted” valves. By the end, I’m not sure but what I know less than I did (not that it matters) when I started. So to answer my question, are my AFR heads anything like any of what you discussed? Are they just a high flow head with common valve workings? Just trying to learn something about engine workings.

Randy

 

[jamesroney]

@jamesroney, at the beginning of your reply, I thought I was clued in on “canted” valves. By the end, I’m not sure but what I know less than I did (not that it matters) when I started. So to answer my question, are my AFR heads anything like any of what you discussed? Are they just a high flow head with common valve workings? Just trying to learn something about engine workings.

Randy

AFR heads are “in-line” heads, and flow exceptionally well. Yes, they have common valve workings.

Flow technology has improved dramatically over the past 50 years. AFR Renegade makes some of the best “out of the box” heads on the market. I love mine.

Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads are also an excellent flowing aluminum head when coupled with compatible pistons.

Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Speedrdr]

AFR heads are “in-line” heads, and flow exceptionally well. Yes, they have common valve workings.

Flow technology has improved dramatically over the past 50 years. AFR Renegade makes some of the best “out of the box” heads on the market. I love mine.

Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads are also an excellent flowing aluminum head when coupled with compatible pistons.

Sorry for any confusion.

No confusion now. I went back through your post and read it one section at a time until things became clearer. I’m just happy that there are people on this forum who have the knowledge and experience and are willing to help others learn. Sad to say that most of my engine experience has been with turbo diesel tractors. Lol.

Randy

 

[Broncobowsher]

One slight difference, the 302 tunnel port had the pushrod going through the intake runner. The all have the valve going through the runner.
But that wasn't a new thing. Before the 302 got the tunnel port treatment there was the 427 tunnel port. And if you want really rare and unheard of stuff, there was a 351 tunnel port. Late 90's stuff for sprint car racing. I've only seen it in the Motorsports catalog.

 

[Apogee]

Cool heads...but super cute kitty cat.

 

[jamesroney]

Cleveland style heads.....

Hey! Those look familiar!!!

And I do love canted valves on a small block!!!

 

[bmc69]

302C heads...one of my favorites over the years...

 

[bmc69]

 

[Broncobowsher]

Lets not forget the non-boss 302 canted valve head from Ford. The Aussies got those.

One year back in the early 2000s I was at SEMA and saw the wildest small block ford head. It was a 4-valve head, but still pushrod.
Never seen it, but I recall hearing about a hemi race head out there for the small block. I think to the point it has no cooling ports type of race only.

 

[Madgyver]

Mad Boss built with 4V Cleveland valvetrain parts. Rockers, Retainers, 2.19 FoMoCo intake valve.

My 351C4V in my 71 Torino... Like the plates....