Cast vs. Aluminum heads and bang for buck..
Sure, many will be interested in loaded aluminum heads for 820. But this thread isn't about where to buy, there was a thread on that last year, their big sale. This thread is about, "putting equal or more into iron heads vs aluminum".
Lets visit REALVILLE.
- My 318 heads in my '74 Duster. New valve springs for 50 bucks, and new exhaust valves for 48 bucks, and 10 bucks for new umbrella seals, 20 bucks in stones to port. For my engine, for my build, 128 dollars and some winter time porting, I got what I wanted. Didn't want 800+ dollar heads!
- I also bought remanufactured, fully loaded mag heads for 300 bucks (pair). They were meant for my 5.2 mag. I changed my mind, added 230 bucks for Hughes spring kit, and 60 bucks to have Odessa's fix checked out, and 10 dollars in stones. That's 600 dollars all set for up to .550 lift. You will be over 900 dollars in your aluminum heads with springs. That's still 300 bucks cheaper than your heads with new spring, and even more if you take yours to a machine shop to be checked out, and I'm not sure you'll flow hardly any better, IF better.
- So tell my why I'm stupid in these two builds??? This is why the decision will be made case by case scenario.
I paid the $400 something a piece for the bare heads, another $585? into a competent machine shop to verify the heads, do a GOOD valve job, install the springs right for my camshaft <- I learned to do the right thing from the preaching here by the religious SBM guys-THANK YOU!!! We do it right, the first time, no misfortune down the road.
318willrun probably has the lead here, as CLOSED CHAMBERED magnum heads can be assembled cheaper from the same Chinese slave labor. ALL the guru's don't care about the material, just the chamber being closed. Although the true wisdom from FABO was contributed by IQ52 whom pointed out that he moves the rocker studs for optimum performance with the magnum head.
I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to read the telephone book in your last post. But I can tell you here we go again "I had a friend" who had issues...
I have yet to have someone personally chimed in with issues on their Chinese Mopar heads.. not to say it doesn't happen every day but again in our Vash pool we have here no one has chimed in with bad words about them...
jpar, at our performance level, even still, it is the valve guides that need to be checked by a competent machine shop-first,probably.
Any prudent enthusiast and every professional engine builder will also check and/or modify the chinese valve job but the valve guides are where (my money is) tolerances (chinese's weakness, exact tolerances) were in the past, never mind metallurgy.
and then there is the (chinese) valve material, spring material, retainers- probably okay for a sub 400hp, sub 5000 rpm daily driver, but with $820 tied up into heads, and possibly $500-$1200 tied up in machine work to the block, how much into the engine? and you are willing to roll the dice???
brother we aren't Lamborghini crashing rich fools!
you know so many builders on this sight, don't risk your ride!
