The short-block sat for a several weeks while we waited for the Edelbrock Victor 440 heads to get back from Modern Cylinder Head. Jeff was covered up with customer work and when a magazine is beating him down on price the waiting is just part of the deal. When we got the heads back they were CNC-ported, valve job completed and the Crane 1.625” springs, retainers and Super 7 keepers installed. The Modern Cylinder Head crew did a super job. This is my first set of CNC ported heads so I had to have local cylinder head expert, Woody from R&J Performance, give them the once over. He liked what he saw; little did he know he was about to see a lot more of them real soon.
Now for the “Edelbrock Victor 440 Story.” Before I get started I want you to know this is not a totally negative slant on the Victor 440 heads. I write my tech stories how they actually worked out, no fluff, no BS. If you are an avid Mopar nut you know the Victor 440 is the much anticipated aluminum head that will allow for Max-Wedge size ports and be a direct competitor with the Indy 440-1 heads. I approached Edelbrock at last year’s PRI Show about doing a tech story on these heads for our Mopar readers. Edelbrock was interested and the ball began rolling. It took almost five months to get a pair of heads due to quality issues that Edelbrock would not let slide. Kudos to them for that.
As soon as I got them I sent them to Modern Cylinder Head. These are so new that nobody could tell me if they fit or they didn’t. I was in no position to do any “mock-up work” as the engine was sitting in the chassis and I expected a pretty much bolt-on package. What I received was a long way from that.
 Here is where the head hit the mid-plate. Make sure you check this before you get ready for final assembly. I am glad I had a dragster and the short block was in it. How upset would you be if you were setting your new engine into your doorslammer and it wouldn’t fit because it hit your mid-plate? It's all about the aggravation factor. |
 Bottom of heads are marked for more grinding and milling. This was our second session after a trial fitting. There is a lot of material to remove; I recommend doing all of this BEFORE the port work is done. |
 Most of the milling is done and now all that's left is some hand grinding and cleaning up the edges. |
 This is the stuff that drives me nuts! We get the heads all done, on the engine and start it. Bam... oil leak on right valve cover. How can that be -- they are my old cast valve covers, new gasket and brand new heads. We look into it and there is an area on the valve cover rail of the Edelbrock Victors that is .015" low for a little over an inch long. How that can happen when they are machined with a CNC needs to be explained to me. My son, Andy, is a tool and die maker by trade and he is totally at a loss how they managed that one. |
I got the heads cleaned up and pulled the Hughes Rocker Arms out of the box. My plan was to get the rockers all set up with proper shims before I installed the heads. Hughes Rockers are .550” offset on the intake and standard offset on the exhaust. The complete kit retails around $630 and you get 100% of what you will need, from assembly lube, detailed instructions, all the different shims you could possibly need and some great looking rocker arms as well. You can also reach Hughes Engines during the day or on the Internet to get technical support. No voice mail, no delay; just real people with real answers.
I got the rockers all set up and shimmed to keep the roller tip as centered on the valve as possible and I was ready to drop a head on and see what length pushrod I would need. I installed the ARP Head Stud Kit. I recommend using ARP’s Moly Assembly Lube on the threads and on washers. This will give you the best and most consistent torque readings. I was ready to install a cylinder head.
Problem #1: I carefully lowered the right cylinder head over the ARP studs and to my surprise it would not go all the way down. The cylinder head was actually hitting the mid-plate. Seems they added enough material to the end of the casting that you will have to grind the head to get mid-plate clearance. You could grind the mid-plate but since mine was installed and powdercoated I took about .200” off the lower rear corner.