CB Performance's ALL-NEW 044's
New and improved only starts to describe these new high-performance cylinder heads!

BY BRUCE SIMURDA

Back in the September 2016 issue we featured an article on CB Performance's all-new Panchito cylinder heads. These heads were designed form the ground up to be an economical street performance head "as cast," with no porting or modification needed. But this was only Part 1 of CB's plan to modernize their line of performance cylinder heads, as a new version of their high performance CNC-ported 044 series was alos being developed at the same time, but taking more time due to the number of improvements that the CB team wanted to incorporate. With the 044 being used for all the CNC-ported heads in their lineup (Super Mag Round, Ultra Mag Plus, Mini Wedge Port, Wedge Port, Pro-Gas, Super Pro and Ultra Wedge Ports), it was important that the new design be as efficient, strong and versatile as possible.

A Clean Backboard

As with the Panchito, the 044 started with a clean black-board, and was designed on the computer where they were able to make adjustments and improvements wherever they saw a need. Some of the changes over the old 044 include: moving the exhaust guides .040-inch for additional material between the seats to allow larger valve diameters without cracking (up to 46x37.5mm valves); relocating the 12mm spark plugs for improved burn and reducing the chances of cracking between the plug holes and the seats; incorporating a modern High-Quench 54cc combustion chamber design with bores available from 85.5 through 94mm; adding material to the rocker box floor for improved casting rigidity under high valve spring pressures and high rpm applications; widening the casting gussets for improved rigidity; increasing the fillet radius on the rocker pedestals to increase strength; improving the intake port design with smaller volume and more velocity without sacrificing flow; redesigning the exhaust port to produce a higher exit velocity for improved engine torque throughout the engine rpm; and relocating the pushrod tubes for improved pushrod clearance when using high lift rocker arm ratios. That's already an impressive amount of improvements, but the CB team also decided to set the 044 head apart by adding extra cooling fins, including more on the underside of the casting. With the super clean finish of the new Permanent Mold casting, with no porosity or casting flash, airflow through the casting was improved to provide lower operating temperatures - a necessity on street driven and off-road performance engines!

Printed in Plastic

Before going into production, this head design was produced in plastic with a 3D printer so all the dimensions could be checked and verified before a single aluminum version was produced. After many changes were made, the final dimensions were sent to Autolinea in Brazil (manufacturers of OEM VW cylinder heads) to be produced using the same material found in factory heads. It took some time getting everything correct, and it wasn't until this last February that they received their first shipment of the new cylinder heads. But, the R&D didn't stop there. Wanting to take advantages of all the new features as much as possible, the CB team went back to work, this time on their Superflow SF-600 flow bench, to see if improvements could be made to their CNC-machined port designs to take advantage of the 044's new port and chamber designs. At the time we visited CB Performance, they had completed work on their 044 Mini-Wedge, with improvements throughout the valve lift, all while increasing air speed from 285 feet/second to 305 feet/second (see the chart for details). All their CNC ports will be redesigned to take advantage of the new design, and should be completed by the time you read this article!

CNC-Ported

Of course, one of the keys to the success of CB's CNC-ported heads is total in-house control using their new 5-axis Rottler CNC machine. Under the supervision of operator Ramon Sapien, we watched as a cylinder head was transformed from "as cast" to fully ported without being touched by human hands - amazing! After Ramon set a new 044 casting on the table to begin the porting operation, the CNC started by measuring critical points, then roughing in the intakes (through both the manifold and valve seat sides), then the exhaust port, cutting a lot of material out along the way - oil and chips flying. With a switch of the tool, the process was all done again, this time removing only a slight amount of material in the finishing cut to provide an ultra-clean surface. If desired, the chambers can also be CNC-machined to increase volume, retaining the High-Quench chamber shape. While it is currently a seperate operation, the heads can also be machined for larger cylinders on the CNC (future plans will make it all a non-stop operation).

The entire machining process takes about an hour, at which time the heads are ready for seats, guides and assembly. For accuracy, and to ensure equal valve stem heights, all seats are cut on a modern Sunnen seat machine cutting a 3-angle valve job with 30-, 45-, and 60-degree angles. The installed valve height is then adjusted, and the appropriate shims added to the base of the springs to achieve a 1.500-inch installed height. Finally, they are assembled with stainless steel valves, dual hi-rev springs, and chromoly retainers. Depending on your level of performance, upgrade options include stronger 650 springs, titanium retainers, and Supergrip Snakeskin valves. To complete the installation, CB's match-ported "Big Beef" manifolds are also available for a variety of carburetor setups (Weber IDA and IDF, Dellorto DRLA, and EMPI HPMX and EPC) for an easy cylinder head upgrade.

Flow Chart
Measured at 25" on CB Performance's SuperFlow 600 Flowbench.

Old 044 Mini Wedge
(Air Speed 285 ft/sec)
Lift / CFM
.100 / 50
.200 / 97.5
.300 / 135
.400 / 161.3
.500 / 182
.600 / 194.5

New 044 Mini Wedge
(Air Speed 305 ft/sec)
Lift / CFM
.100 / 57
.200 / 110
.300 / 153
.400 / 173
.500 / 187
.600 / 200