It's a simple lesson in the reality of "supply and demand." When there's only so much to go around, you need to find something that will bridge the gap between too much demand and not enough supply.
In the real world, the 2.3 Ford D-port head cores are dwindling. The pieces have been snapped up to the point of nearing extinction. Esslinger Engineering was contacted about creating an aluminum version. In 2002, Joe Morgan, who uses a turbocharged 2300 in his stable, brought up the idea. Esslinger wanted to see if there would be interest. Using today's technology, the question was posed in a forum on the Internet. In one weekend, there were 180 responses. In a short period of time, there were 25 orders. Now, there needed to be a product.
Esslinger could have gone with existing tooling, but this was the kind of project that required doing it right from the very start. The pattern work was done in the Esslinger facility with water jacket work on CNC machines. The head ended up on display at the PRI show in December 2002, on a turbocharged Focus station wagon, so it may have flown under the radar of the typical short track racer.
The display on this car further shows the beauty of the piece. Yes, it will be attractive to Mini-Stock racers permitted to use the aluminum head. It also holds attraction for the street racer/hobbyist who wants quality on his ride.
"The Mini-Stock guys ate through the stock parts fairly quickly," said Dan Esslinger. "These heads will fit with some circle track rules. It's going to be cheaper than looking for the cast pieces in short supply. Aluminum is also easier to fix when needed."
The head is a bolt-on piece that requires no porting. The combustion chambers are CNC-machined.
A recent dyno test put the new unported Esslinger head against a fully-ported cast-iron head. The engine was run at an 11:1 compression as the baseline test. When the head change occurred, horsepower figures reached upward at higher rpm. The horsepower gain began to climb rapidly after 6,000 rpm. It was up 12 hp at 7,000 rpm and increased a total of 20 hp by the 7,600 mark. On the turbocharged test, the head was found to develop another 65 lb-ft of torque.
Stock manifolds will bolt directly into place. The head is sold with valves and springs for $1,500. "You can use everything you're running in an iron head in this head," said Esslinger. "This might be what the world wants without the world knowing it's what it needs."
Manufacturer: Esslinger Engineering626/444-4919www.esslingerracing.com