Best Bang for the Buck Head???

-
mopowers said:
. 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.
Click to expand...

Yes, any extra airflow within your camshaft's lift range should make for a more powerful engine, especially at high RPM.

Camshafts and cylinder heads need to work together. a fancy set of aftermarket heads that flow huge numbers at .550" valve lift aren't going to perform to their full potential if your camshaft only has .465" lift at the valve.

typically a rocker ratio of 1.45:1 is closer to reality for calculating lift at the valve. So for example a cam with .330" lobe lift will make about .478" at the valve.

Aftermarket cylinder heads tend to really shine with high lift camshafts.
High lift camshafts tend to also be long duration camshafts.
long duration camshafts tend to be made for high RPM.

there's a lot to take into consideration when trying to find the best "bang for your buck"

In some cases, a person will shell out big $$ for a set of brand new heads that are just overkill for his engine's combination, and very little horsepower is gained.

In other cases, aftermarket cylinder heads can yield fantastic horsepower gains and add 1000RPM to the engine's top end!

It all depends on factors such as intake, exhaust, compression ratio and most importantly the camshaft! :blob:
 
frosty_the_punk said:
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)
Click to expand...

You can't be serious writing that?

There are rockers that fit well on stock heads and others that have horrible geometry issues. Not to mention the constant battle with retainer/spring to rocker interference that happens with many including... are you ready... the factory 273 adjustables!

He needs to pick the direction he wants to go. Some like x/j, some ede, some rhs... how about some w9's just for fun!

Pick your parts, pay your money.
 
Retainer clearance is one thing. Rocker sweep is everything.

I guess rocker geometry depends on installed height. Still most rocker arms seem to be fine with stock heads and anything close to stock height.
 
frosty_the_punk said:
Retainer clearance is one thing. Rocker sweep is everything.

I guess rocker geometry depends on installed height. Still most rocker arms seem to be fine with stock heads and anything close to stock height.
Click to expand...

Keep writing that and telling yourself it's so, you may convince everyone that has no idea.

What were the shaft shims that mopar sold for???

Back to your regularly programmed bs about which head to choose! :)
 
crackedback said:
Keep writing that and telling yourself it's so, you may convince everyone that has no idea.

What were the shaft shims that mopar sold for???

Back to your regularly programmed bs about which head to choose! :)
Click to expand...

Aw it's ok man, we can all see things differntly sometimes.

There is more than one reason for needing shims, or this or that.

It's which pita can you better tolerate opposed to someone else.
 
So far, everybody's fulla crap cause he's never said what the car's purpose is. Put chebbie heads on it.
 
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.
Click to expand...

And ah ha, here it is.
 
mopowers said:
I'm looking into upgrading the stock X heads on my 340. How do the following heads rank in bang for the buck? How would guys rank them, and where's the best place to get them???

1) Buy RHS heads

2) Buy Edelbrock heads

3) Buy Procomp heads

4) Port the X heads I already have

My build will be a stock stroke 340, 10:1 comp, not sure on the cam yet, RPM airgap, 750 DP, TTI headers, 727 w/ 9.5" convertor, 3.91s, 28" tires.
Click to expand...

Looks to me like he wanted to UPGRADE!!
 
ou812 said:
Looks to me like he wanted to UPGRADE!!
Click to expand...

He clearly states in his follow up reply that he is curious if the flow increase from porting would be worth x amount of money.

So put this perspective Brian, say 400 dollars later his x heads flow 250 cfm, say about a 30 something cfm increase and all within the .550 lift and under in the 'longevity street life' range. Now do you believe 30cfm/60 hp potential increase for 400 bucks isn't the best bang for your buck compared to spending 1500+ dollars for an extra15-20cfm the rhs have in the version you sell?

$400 vs 1500$

That's almost 4 times the money for an extra 15-20 cfm peak and a few more throughout the range , a closed chamber , and and an extra 12 lbs a piece.

Still the question is basically which upgrade will give best bang for buck.
Maybe the op can state a budget or future plans, otherwise aftermarket heads are incorrect for his app and he is already equipt to do what he wants to do.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Oh yeah, he really needs Eddys on that, don't he? I miss Justin. He'd tell him what to do.
Click to expand...

I actually say he should port his factory heads.
However if he is gonna buy new heads...I say skip the bs in betweener heads and get eddys. More room to grow, more flexable.
 
Hebrews10:26 said:
I actually say he should port his factory heads.
However if he is gonna buy new heads...I say skip the bs in betweener heads and get eddys. More room to grow, more flexable.
Click to expand...

That's wut I was getting at. The Eddy thing was a joke. I think you got it.
 
Hebrews10:26 said:
He clearly states in his follow up reply that he is curious if the flow increase from porting would be worth x amount of money.

So put this perspective Brian, say 400 dollars later his x heads flow 250 cfm, say about a 30 something cfm increase and all within the .550 lift and under in the 'longevity street life' range. Now do you believe 30cfm/60 hp potential increase for 400 bucks isn't the best bang for your buck compared to spending 1500+ dollars for an extra15-20cfm the rhs have in the version you sell?

$400 vs 1500$

That's almost 4 times the money for an extra 15-20 cfm peak and a few more throughout the range , a closed chamber , and and an extra 12 lbs a piece.

Still the question is basically which upgrade will give best bang for buck.
Maybe the op can state a budget or future plans, otherwise aftermarket heads are incorrect for his app and he is already equipt to do what he wants to do.
Click to expand...

Really???? 30cfm/60HP....? Now that IS funny!!
 
" Now do you believe 30cfm/60 hp potential increase for 400 bucks isn't the best bang for your buck"

Something there's inflated - and it's not the buck...lol.
Te "2cfm per horsepower" is biased way more to purpose built race engines - not milder engines. This engine wouldn't get 60hp from 30cfm more without some serious work and parts changing.
 
Sounds like a cam change, possibly a solid, is coming in the works too. Suddenly that 400-500 port job has jumped up another $200+ with springs/retainers/locks/seals. Maybe surfacing, etc.

Now how would the $ work out if he sold those X heads to a resto crowd since they are unported. Last set I saw that were relatively fresh got over $500. Suddenly the out of pocket isn't that much of a stretch. Comparable to the shelf vs custom converter deal. Sometimes the cheap comes out expensive and doesn't work as well.

Evan is a smart guy and will make an educated decision which works best for him. Since he mentioned all the options, it's apparent that ALL those are in play at this point in his decision making process.

Pick your parts, pay your money
 
ou812 said:
Really???? 30cfm/60HP....? Now that IS funny!!
Click to expand...

See, and you're saying to spend 1500 on ur stuff when you know too well there is more to it.

I say 'potential'.

while a power increase will be felt, to realize the full potential would take matching the intake/cam.
We both know that low lift flow increase is what would really be shown.
Even with a lesser manifold flow, the lower lifts aren't skewed nearly as much, lamens for those reading- he could realistically see 20 hp in a bolt on senerio.

So along with rhs heads, you gonna peddle a cam and induction system to'em now?

Something isn't straight with your approach here.

moper said:
" Now do you believe 30cfm/60 hp potential increase for 400 bucks isn't the best bang for your buck"

Something there's inflated - and it's not the buck...lol.
Te "2cfm per horsepower" is biased way more to purpose built race engines - not milder engines. This engine wouldn't get 60hp from 30cfm more without some serious work and parts changing.
Click to expand...

See, you caught that, you are forthright and not withholding.
My point is still made in either case.
 
Hebrews10:26 said:
See, and you're saying to spend 1500 on ur stuff when you know too well there is more to it.

I say 'potential'.

while a power increase will be felt, to realize the full potential would take matching the intake/cam.
We both know that low lift flow increase is what would really be shown.
Even with a lesser manifold flow, the lower lifts aren't skewed nearly as much, lamens for those reading- he could realistically see 20 hp in a bolt on senerio.

So along with rhs heads, you gonna peddle a cam and induction system to'em now?

Something isn't straight with your approach here.





See, you caught that, you are forthright and not withholding.
My point is still made in either case.
Click to expand...


I never mentioned our heads at all! You need to chill...
 
So I'm a little confused here. I have heard that the pro comp heads were coming out with a little better quality than before however, most people say they are just junk Chinese heads that last somewhere between 500 and 5000 miles. I'm about to purchase my heads so the pro comp heads seem like a great choice for only 1150 but, I want to make sure they'll last. Awhile and support 400 horses. Have the quality of these heads finally reached the approval of the members of this wonderful site? Or is it just false hope and I'm better off forking out the 1500 for the Edie's?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top