Which SBF heads fit this manifold?

[Mike Pass]

Can anyone tell me which cylinder heads this SBF manifold is for. It came from a alloy chassis one off racing GT40 built by Tom Laffey. The motor was a 289 which put out 525hp on the dyno at EDA. The manifold is a one off made up by Tom using Cosworth GAA throttle bodies.
I have put it next to a Performer 289 manifold for comparison. As you can see the ports are way above the normal and the manifold bolt holes are different (except the four in the middle).
A friend said that it is for Yates race heads. I don't know what a Yates head looks like never having seen one. Hopeful our many knowledgeable friends in the states will be able to cast some light on this.
Cheers
Mike Pass

 

[Scott Calabro]

Whatever its from its sweeeeet!!
S

 

[Jac Mac]

Yates or late model versions of SVO Alloy Cleveland with raised inlet ports.

C3-- C3L --C302--C302B

Jac Mac

 

[MReid]

I believe Ron McCall has Yates heads on his GT40. Perhaps he will chime in here.

 

[Ron McCall]

I believe Ron McCall has Yates heads on his GT40. Perhaps he will chime in here.

You are correct.I have C3 Yates heads on my engine.This manifold looks like it would bolt right on.
MikeP: If you want to,send it to me(along with the electronics and fuel system) and I will bolt it on and try it out for you !!!!

 

[Mike Pass]

I thought you guys would know!! Does anyone have a pic of these fabled Yates devices that they could post? Is there any info on where they could be bought and what sort of price they would be. Alternatively make me an offer for the manifold!
Cheers
Mike

 

[Jac Mac]

Dlampe has pics of his engine in his RCR build thread, Also nanard 289 in some of his posts. Both these were Yates equipped.
The heads are based on SVO Alloy cleveland with valve centerlines straightened & repositioned to take advantage of the revised ports. They are the result of a 'loophole' in the rules where teams were welding up bare cylinder heads and shifting ports in order to obtain quality airflow .( The 'Cleveland' could never be said to lack in port size, but the quality of the airflow thru the port has kept head modifiers busy for decades). The situation quickly got out of hand as the failure rate was quite high and post race tech was revealing parts with OE pn# that bore no resemblance to the original, The thought of going back to the 'original' Ford configuration did not appeal to the teams so a deal was struck where the heads built by the Robert Yates team was used as a baseline for the 'new' castings. I believe there are now a few models of these with different volume ports & combustion chamber sizes to enable them to run in 9 to1 and open compression classes.
Apart from the Yates head being 'deeper' from block face to rocker cover rail there is little to differentiate it from its cousins at first glance.

Jac Mac

 

[Mike Pass]

Thanks for the info. I will check out the pics.
Cheers
Mike

 

[Pat Buckley]

Jac mac -

I don't know if anyone has told you this lately, but you are a treasure. Thanks.

 

[Rick]

Here is an example of the Yates head

eBay Motors: Yates Ford SVO aluminum C3 heads 351 Nascar Ported SBF (item 150145713518 end time Aug-05-07 18:00:00 PDT)

 

[Mike Pass]

Thanks Rick for the link and to everyone for your input. There are some great people on this forum - good taste AND brains!
Cheers
Mike