Choosing Mustang Heads

You can't really appre-ciate how incredible the rerelease of the Trick Flow High Port small-block Ford cylinder head is unless you've been in the game for a while. When it was first set loose on the streets of America in 1988, you had almost no other choice if you wanted a performance cylinder head. You could port your stock heads with something that was made during the '60s, you could try the J302 castings from Ford, or you could get a Yates head, which is of abso-lutely no use on the street. That's it! But then the High Port (or Street Heat, as they were known) came along and helped spur a new performance revolution in small-block Ford performance.

When Trick Flow was sold in 1996 to Summit Racing, it coincided with the debut of the Twisted Wedge head, which has gone on to break all sorts of sales records. In the interim, Summit didn't see any use for the Street Heat other than to offer more competition to its new head. So, it was shelved-until 2002.

From 1988 to 1996, the Street Heat was the head if you were more serious than high 11s. Head porters had developed all sorts of possible combinations with the Street Heat to fit any sort of application, from street to Pro 5.0. Combined with this amazing versatility and the standard list of features that make up any good performance cylinder head, the Trick Flow Street Heat was-and still is-a winner. It's quite easy to say no other cylinder head has seen as many victories in heads-up, pro-tree Mustang drag racing as the Street Heat. As recently as the 2000 season, the NMRA saw its Pro 5.0 (Joe Silva), Super Street Outlaw (Job Spetter), and Hot Street (Sammy LaManna) classes all won by cars running the Street Heat head.

With that as a backdrop, we headed to Fox Lake Power Products in North Lawrence, Ohio, to see what Ron Robart has to offer today's High Port customers. Ron was employed by Trick Flow for six years, and that included the early years of the Street Heat development and release. So he certainly has had the inside track with these heads from day one. When we told Ron we wanted to become reacquainted with the High Port, he offered us an interesting experiment. He would build us one of his company short-blocks to test an out-of-the-box set of High Ports on an engine dyno. Then he would swap those heads for a set of High Ports on which Fox Lake had worked its magic.

As it turns out, there isn't a better way to demonstrate to today's Mustang consumers what the Trick Flow High Port is all about. The key point to remember is the High Ports will always be able to work with almost any combination. They can be bought as unported stock castings to run with a stock, hydraulic-roller 302. Then, as your combination becomes more intense, the High Port can be ported and modified to match your demands. This is a huge advantage in keeping costs down, since, in most cases, you will never need to buy another set of cylinder heads.

Throughout our test, the engine dyno and its operation was graciously provided by Chris Music of Horsepower Development in Medina, Ohio. And that dyno saw quite a workout. Ron's new engine facility offered world-class engine assembly to complement the legendary Fox Lake-ported head and intake components. He put together a nice 395-inch Windsor motor that featured a 3.850-inch stroke and a 0.040-inch bore to a 9.5-inch deck block. In stage one of the test, a stock set of High Ports, an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake, a Holley 750-cfm carburetor, and a Cam Motion cam were put into place on the awaiting 395ci small-block.

When the test was over and the dyno had stopped, the Trick Flow Street Heats had lived up to their impressive rsum. The unported heads worked great for a mild, 490-horse street motor with gobs of torque (more than 460 lb-ft at 5,300 rpm). And, after Fox Lake ported the Street Heats and added a port-matched Super Victor intake and AED-built HP 950-cfm carb, they really came to life. The Fox Lake 395 cranked out almost 620 hp and a peak of 516 lb-ft of torque, without breaking a sweat (or a single part).

What we hoped to demonstrate for you in this wicked little experiment is that the Trick Flow Street Heat is still a viable option for those of you looking to go fast with a 5.0 Mustang. Its reentry in the Ford performance aftermarket is like seeing an old friend who's been away for a few years. So, whether mild or wild, take your pick. But it all comes down to one killer cylinder head. The Trick Flow High Port lives again!