Best Bang for the Buck Head???

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The OP asked for options for a 340 build. IMO it's not worth dropping coin on factory heads if he's prepared to upgrade. Any head he listed is an upgrade over the stock stuff even in perfectly redone form. Any closed chamber head will allow for a better pump-gas friendly build. So while the potential for a stock head is as fast or faster than he's asked about - it was irrelevant to my response.
 
If your X heads already have a good valve job and performance oriented 2.02"/1.6" valves and springs you're gonna get WAY better bang for your buck by getting the bowls ported.

Typically around the $500 mark will get them to outperform Edelbrocks and match the RHS heads.

We're talking low 12 second potential in a 3300lb street/strip vehicle.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. They heads are fresh and the motor runs well. Just looking for a bit more power.

Right now, I've got 2 carbs (1406 600 Eddy and a 4779 750 holley dp) and 2 intakes (Eddy torker and Eddy RPM air gap) and a 1" spacer. What intake/carb combo do you guys think would run best???
 
RPM gap with the 750 dp. I brought a 625 carter and a 750 dp to the strip and swapped them to see if the 625 would run the same E.T. I did this on a very mild 360 with 3000 stall and 3.91 gears. The 750 ran about 2 tenths faster and about 1 1/2 mile per hour faster. The 625 did run about the same in the 330 ft.
 
...that's just good common sense.
if you have fresh x heads spending 4 figures for a bit of top end is not worth it.
i know guys who have changed out stock heads for Edelbrock and gained nothing on a mild build...don't get caught up in the Bling"
 
You could go with the Aeroheads for like 499 and send them out to get ported. You'd till have less in them then any aluminum heads out there.
 
frosty_the_punk said:
If your X heads already have a good valve job and performance oriented 2.02"/1.6" valves and springs you're gonna get WAY better bang for your buck by getting the bowls ported.

Typically around the $500 mark will get them to outperform Edelbrocks and match the RHS heads.

We're talking low 12 second potential in a 3300lb street/strip vehicle.
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I disagree....500.00 in porting will most likely only get the bowls done which will not match a good Indy iron head with a 2.02 valve. Your not going to get 260 cfm out of a stock head with bowl work only!
It'll take short turn work, guide boss work, correct valve job, nail head intake valve, and some minor roof work.
Brian
 
Bowl work alone will get you about 250's in an j or x head, but that's about it with a 2.02 int valve.

After that you need to shape the guide, that will get you another 10 cfm, roughly.
 
I have j heads with 2.02 valves on a .030 360. flat tappet cam, pump gas motor that has run 11.92 in my duster.
I am waiting on my new procomp cnc heads. 2.08-1.6 valves from mike at MRl Performance for my new 408 he is helping me get parts ordered and shipped to me. I received several parts today. waiting on the heads and rotating kit now. but atleast I have my studs now so can send my block in for machining.went with a lunati 255/263 .600 lift solid roller with a set of his solid roller lifters. and going with a set of hughes roller rockers. the lifters do not require the lifter bores to be bushed. cant wait for this beast.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I guess for now, I'll just tune what I've got and go from there if better heads isn't going to pick up anymore on a stock stroke 340 than a set of stock X heads with a good valve job.

What do you guys think would run better? Torker manifold, or RPM Air Gap? Eddy 1406 600, or Holley 750dp? It'll be interesting to test all 4 combos. I've also got a 1" spacer to play with.
 
Torkers are crap IMO. The Air Gap with the 750 DP will be the best power producer, but the 1406 Eddy carb would likely deliver better mileage. As for the cylinder head question, I think having your X heads worked over a bit would be the best bang for the buck. Good valve job, nail head intake valves, tulip exhaust valves, clean up the bowls and short side.
 
mopowers said:
Thanks for all the input guys. I guess for now, I'll just tune what I've got and go from there if better heads isn't going to pick up anymore on a stock stroke 340 than a set of stock X heads with a good valve job.

What do you guys think would run better? Torker manifold, or RPM Air Gap? Eddy 1406 600, or Holley 750dp? It'll be interesting to test all 4 combos. I've also got a 1" spacer to play with.
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Swap a bigger cam in and get more out of it.
 
Op, airflow is power. Stock stroke is no reason to not want better heads.
If you are not going huge on the cam, then you should stay with a head that flows big .500 lift and under.
As good as the rhs heads are, they are titanic in weight and in their most common form flow what a well ported j head flows,if I'm not mistaken you don't see the heads flowing over 300, which is the eddy head peak.
Hard to wanna buy the heavier head when they are both about the same price in the end.
 
Oooooh I don't know, but it sure looks pretty. This is my 340.
 

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I think it depends on what it should look like as well.
If you like Bling bling the eddys are ok.
If you like it stock looking there is no way around the RHS.

If your Pistons look out of the deck, you can mill them down to 0-deck.
with the RHS Heads you will have a perfect quench of .039.
CR is then around 10.5:1.
I had this in my 340 with TRW Pistons, milled .020 down to 0-deck.

I like iron heads because you gain more power out of them by less CR!

My next projekt is a 416 and i use the next set of RHS heads!
I like it stock looking and streetable.
Maybe this time i mill the heads a littlebit to gain little cr.

Fo me the Eddys are out of the race.
 
eddys

more resistant to ping, less weight on the nose, you can just order them from a supplier that can port them for you..

but like brian (or someone else?) said, you will gain on top end nothing on the bottom. so higher revs is where you will see a difference. THAT being said, if you plan on making use of the power at higher revs, you better make damn sure you are doing it right. solid lifters (no hydraulics not even if they claim to be high rpms reccomended by NASA or whatever) go solid. adjustable rockers. best oiling system you can get.

but there will be some who say oh yeah hydraulics are fine you can run 7500 rpms then one day you have something break & a valve drop on top of your piston lol.

like others have mentioned, it depends on the purpose of the build. if you are just cruising around any old head will do. iron, aluminum, whatever. bracket racer, go for the best dont try to nickle and dime your way up with increments then you will end up spending quarters and 50cent pieces because you were trying to save pennies.

i'm a big fan of building a 2nd engine out of the car then swapping it in when you are ready. in-car bolt on upgrades generally dont get the job done as well.
 
ou812 said:
I disagree....500.00 in porting will most likely only get the bowls done which will not match a good Indy iron head with a 2.02 valve. Your not going to get 260 cfm out of a stock head with bowl work only!
It'll take short turn work, guide boss work, correct valve job, nail head intake valve, and some minor roof work.
Brian
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RHS heads don't flow 260 out of the box either and edelbrocks definitely don't. If I recall they're more like 240....which is about the same as X heads with bowl work but twice the cost..

The RHS heads you sell are good stuff, Brian. And yes we all know they flow 260-270 I'm not discounting that fact. But they're closer to 3X the price of bowl work on the X heads and I think they're on a higher level of performance than what offers best "bang for your buck"

If you wanna run low 11's, sure....replace your heads. otherwise just port them. just my opinion.
 
I know where you'r ecoming from Frosty but RHS cannot be flowed out of the box - they only come as castings.
I agree with Brian - unless you pay someone to do them on the side (meaning not a pro shop) you won't get anywhere near 260 on any bench I've been tested on. Just the valve job is $450-500, then there's parts, maybe guides, spring seats and guides to cut down, and milling. A good set of ported factory iron heads would cost me $1400 with good springs and valves. Any porting would be on top of that. $500 would get me two cleaned and magged heads, guides done, and about 8 valves.
 
Stock X or J heads flow ~200 cfm, fully ported by a pro ~ 250 cfm.
Stock Edelbrock's (non magnum) flow ~245 cfm, fully ported ~293+ cfm. The magnum version flows a little better.

I would go the Edelbrock route because it gives room to grow, and will be noticeably faster than stock heads (even OOTB)......AND pulls LOTS of weight off the nose of the car, what's not to like?

For what its worth, I have ported Edelbrocks on my street/strip Barracuda in a relatively mild small block stroker combo (10.8:1 compression, 93 octane pump gas, 750dp carb, small roller cam)...it run 10.70's, is SUPER reliable, and can be driven all over town (and IS driven all over town :D ).

My point is, if you want a fast car, spend some money on GOOD heads that flow well. Both RHS and Edelbrocks are good choices, I just prefer the Eddys for the weight savings and for being able to run a little higher compression without detonation (thanks to the fast heat dissipating properties of the aluminum).
 
Thanks for all the input, guys. At this point, I think I'm going to tune what I have and see where I'm at. I still need to bolt on a set of headers and get rid of these heavy manifolds. At only 340 inches, would good heads even do anything for me since it's not a race car, just a fun weekend cruiser? The X heads are fresh, so I'm reluctant to put money into them if the gain would be minimal.
 
mopowers said:
Thanks for all the input, guys. At this point, I think I'm going to tune what I have and see where I'm at. I still need to bolt on a set of headers and get rid of these heavy manifolds. At only 340 inches, would good heads even do anything for me since it's not a race car, just a fun weekend cruiser? The X heads are fresh, so I'm reluctant to put money into them if the gain would be minimal.
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Added air flow within the cams lift range will make more power.

It is worth it 100%.

Google x amount of cfm = x amount of hp and your eyes will light up!
 
Put a roller in it and see what that motor will do.
 
moper said:
I know where you'r ecoming from Frosty but RHS cannot be flowed out of the box - they only come as castings.
I agree with Brian - unless you pay someone to do them on the side (meaning not a pro shop) you won't get anywhere near 260 on any bench I've been tested on. Just the valve job is $450-500, then there's parts, maybe guides, spring seats and guides to cut down, and milling. A good set of ported factory iron heads would cost me $1400 with good springs and valves. Any porting would be on top of that. $500 would get me two cleaned and magged heads, guides done, and about 8 valves.
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Yup the RHS heads come as castings which flow 240 with a standard magnum valve installed. but of course that costs extra, like you said.

And no you can't just take the valves from the X head and put them in the RHS head coz they have silly metric 8mm guides. :D

If he ALREADY HAS the X heads with 2.02/1.6 valves and they're "fresh" as he describes then there's nothing to spend on making them run. That means any spare cash can instantly go into porting the bowls.

We're talking about bang for your buck, obviously that should take into consideration the simple fact that he already has perfectly good factory heads and just wants "a bit more power"

Another factor with RHS heads is that for some reason, some brands of aftermarket rocker gear seem to cause unacceptable rocker geometry. you'll never get that with a factory head. (excluding T/A heads, of course)

Like I said earlier, if you wanna run low 11's I'd say junk the factory iron heads and go aftermarket in a heartbeat. But otherwise just port them and save the $1000 difference for a rainy day.
 
mopowers said:
Thanks for all the input, guys. At this point, I think I'm going to tune what I have and see where I'm at. I still need to bolt on a set of headers and get rid of these heavy manifolds. At only 340 inches, would good heads even do anything for me since it's not a race car, just a fun weekend cruiser? The X heads are fresh, so I'm reluctant to put money into them if the gain would be minimal.
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How often are you at greater than 1/2 throttle? Good heads will always help - but whether or not you feel the expense is justified is only something you can decide, and only after it's spent...lol. Commuter cars need great heads too. But the factory ones aren;t bad and to make them better there will be other changes that you'll need to make to keep the combination matched.
 
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