Heads selection help 5.9 magnum

-
65MagnumFish

65MagnumFish

65MagnumFish
Joined
Jun 3, 2018
Messages
162
Reaction score
58
Location
Zeeland, MI
Hello,
I recently took my heads in for a freshening up for my 5.9 but both came back cracked. Issue I’m having is it seems the EQ iron heads are not being sold anymore? What other heads are out there for Magnum 5.9’s? I am not taking the car to the track but wondered if there were heads that offered mild performance? Or should I just order the oem replacement from my machinist? I tried to look on the net but didn’t find anything other then LA or edelbrock heads. Any suggestions would be helpful.
 
I'm sure there are some good original non cracked Magnum head casting out there. Put a Wanted ad on the site to see if there are any close to you. My heads were cracked & I found a pair from a member here that were only about a mile away.
 
Have the heads pressure tested. Most are all cracked between the seats and run just fine. Especially if its just a rebuild / cruiser, youll be fine. Ive got 2 different motors currently running with known cracked heads.
 
turboking15 said:
Have the heads pressure tested. Most are all cracked between the seats and run just fine. Especially if its just a rebuild / cruiser, youll be fine. Ive got 2 different motors currently running with known cracked heads.
Click to expand...
I was going to cam it and put an eddy intake and dougs headers. Think it will make a difference? Plus my machinest said the cracks will only get worse? Does speed master or EQ make anything? Their are Jegs heads but who really makes those? Thanks for the advice.
 
One set i have is mildly ported, 218/228 .530/.530 cam, single plane, 750 dp, and a 150 shot. Youll be fine as long as they pressure test good.
 
If your gonna mess with crack prone OEM heads, you need to have seats put in them. They crack between the valves, and migrate into the valve seat. Jegs sells a bare magnum replacement head, but the ports look worse than factory, and the valve guides are machined to large for the oem stems.
 
I would be interested to hear as well. I'm planning to start a magnum build soon and didn't know the EQ were no longer being made...
 
Rakers_SS said:
I would be interested to hear as well. I'm planning to start a magnum build soon and didn't know the EQ were no longer being made...
Click to expand...
I was bummed out from the news on EQ. Since the Covid shut down getting parts now and in the future could be challenging. Someone said speed master had a set of heads but I only found LA heads. I called them and I am waiting for a response if they have magnum heads. I just feel indifferent about running cracked heads. Though it might be the best option?
 
Robert Corrigan said:
I was bummed out from the news on EQ. Since the Covid shut down getting parts now and in the future could be challenging. Someone said speed master had a set of heads but I only found LA heads. I called them and I am waiting for a response if they have magnum heads. I just feel indifferent about running cracked heads. Though it might be the best option?
Click to expand...
So got off the phone with EQ. They sell a ch318a but it is not the new Zeeland head. The new ch318a has 165 and the old 175 runners. So it’s marketed as an OEM replacement that’s more heavy duty then the originals. Lower performance it seems.
 
Robert Corrigan said:
So got off the phone with EQ. They sell a ch318a but it is not the new Zeeland head. The new ch318a has 165 and the old 175 runners. So it’s marketed as an OEM replacement that’s more heavy duty then the originals. Lower performance it seems.
Click to expand...
Price was $349 bare and 450.87 assembled. The assembled has original springs so I’d go with bare heads new hardware.
 
Robert Corrigan said:
So got off the phone with EQ. They sell a ch318a but it is not the new Zeeland head. The new ch318a has 165 and the old 175 runners. So it’s marketed as an OEM replacement that’s more heavy duty then the originals. Lower performance it seems.
Click to expand...
Probably the very head that JEGS sells, that I have allready mentioned in this topic. A number of issues with that head
 
Speedmaster does not make a good Magnum head. You can put LA style heads, like the Speedaster LA aluminum or others, onto a Magnum block and run LA style intake and valve covers, but you will need LA rocker arms capable of oiling through the pushrods, like PRW stainless rockers or the Comp Cams stainless rockers those PRW were modeled after.
The Edelbrock Magnum aluminum head is a good one, but you still need new Chevy style rocker arms to run them.
 
Last edited:
Bobzilla said:
Speedmaster does not make a good Magnum head. You can put LA style heads, like the Speedaster LA aluminum or others, onto a Magnum block and run LA style intake and valve covers, but you will need LA rocker arms capable of oiling through the pushrods, like PRW stainless rockers or the Comp Cams stainless rockers those PRW were modeled after.
The Edelbrock Magnum aluminum head is a good one, but you still need new Chevy style rocker arms to run them.
Click to expand...

Comp Pro Magnum rockers can be oiled through a pushrod and require a (of course) hollow pushrod that is a BALL & BALL ended.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top