Edelbrock Cylinder Head Quality

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lilredrooster

lilredrooster

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Edelbrock Aluminium Cylinder Head Quality Issues:

Seems that it is common and good advice to get your new Edelbrock cylinder head purchases checked out by your local machinist, to check for flaws prior to installation??

I have read of issues associated with the valve guide clearances being too tight??

I have read of complaints with the valve and valve seat machining and fit up??

Are these the main/only quality issues??

Are both these issues easily fixed??

What is the problem with the valve/valve seat set up exactly, and what is the solution??

Just trying to get a better understanding.......

Many Thanks in advance for any help/feedback/comments.....
 
I have read posts about these issues as well. I purchased a set a few months ago and took them to my machinist to put in my springs and told him to check the heads over real good for the issues you mentioned above and he found no issues.
 
We just followed that advice and here is what was found on our 63 cc Edelbrock heads:
- A couple of guides a bit tight due to small burrs left from the guide machining process
- All the intake valve seat contact points were incorrect and were fixed with light re-machining
- There were a few valve seats not quite concentric with the guides.

All this was easily corrected with a little bit of work on the seats and guides. Cost was around $100 at one of our local shops on a Serdi valve machine. (NOT the shop that messed up our block decking!)

We did some basic checks ourselves and found all the valve heights to be very consistent (+/-.002" across all valves on a given head), and found the installed spring heights to be on spec. Shims were installed on all springs. Rocker bolt hole and rocker fit was consistent; the threaded inserts were a bit deep but OK.
 
If your considering Aluminum heads, contact Mike at MRL, he builds the Street Master (aka Pro Comp) from bare castings and you'll get them set up for your combo.
 
dano said:
If your considering Aluminum heads, contact Mike at MRL, he builds the Street Master (aka Pro Comp) from bare castings and you'll get them set up for your combo.
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Yes, I've seen posts on how much better the heads are when Mike at MRL preps them...

I would recommend calling him and talking to him before you buy, it may be better to just buy a set that he's done. See what kind of deal he can do for you first...
 
duster360 said:
I have read posts about these issues as well. I purchased a set a few months ago and took them to my machinist to put in my springs and told him to check the heads over real good for the issues you mentioned above and he found no issues.
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Same here , after all the **** about the heads here I had mine taken off and checked , nothing was wrong , they were good to go . A waste of time and money
 
jerry6 said:
Same here , after all the **** about the heads here I had mine taken off and checked , nothing was wrong , they were good to go . A waste of time and money
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So all the other cases were just lies? It's manufacturing there will always be good and bad ones it's not like they are all guaranteed to be junk. You were lucky and got some good ones.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
So all the other cases were just lies? It's manufacturing there will always be good and bad ones it's not like they are all guaranteed to be junk. You were lucky and got some good ones.
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They may have had some "set up" problems in the beginning and hopefully have gotten them down by now.... :???:

New machines.... New product... Learning curve... #-o
 
I've been told by every engine builder I know that any "out of the box" head should be gone through. That's every brand for every make. Not to mention the "one size fits all" valve springs may not be correct for your application.
 
Count your blessings they checked out ok. Ever think about a hanging valve or broken lock? THAT would ruin your day.
 
Agreed, EVERY aftermarket head (or any other part) should be checked prior to installation no matter who made it. Just don't slap parts on. It may, it may not work out. My OOTB Edelbrock heads were just fine. This was many years ago.
 
Been using Edelbrock heads on 2 different motors for 7 years now they were prepped by Best Machine and have performed excellently one of the best purchases i've made..will NEVER go back to steel heads:D:D
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
So all the other cases were just lies? It's manufacturing there will always be good and bad ones it's not like they are all guaranteed to be junk. You were lucky and got some good ones.
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It's the interweb , 3/4 is bs , the next 1/8 might have an agenda , or work for those with one . The rest might be back yard hacks that f'd things up and are looking for someone/thing to blame . Seen it many times over that last 45 + years , wrong can , bearings whatever and once things blow up look for an excuse or part to blame .
Shop I go to has installed and sold and or installed hundreds if not thousands of ede heads , has yet to have a problem
 
My heads were not that good out of the box, they ran, but I had a lame hole. The valve job out of the box was really bad. Took them off and got them rebuilt and now they have been working just great on the car for a year now.
 
I got a set of eddies a few weeks back. Had them checked and they needed the decks cleaned, the valve job needed to be redone as they werent co centric and leaked under vacuum and the guides needing honing as they were too tight. Always factor this expense in when you buy the eddies. Im sure the procomps would be worse unless you get em from MRL
 
have used 3 sets OOTB, I took one set apart...wow...the valve guide were tighter then ****....I removed the valve seal...wow...those guides are very smooth....
 
jerry6 said:
Shop I go to has installed and sold and or installed hundreds if not thousands of ede heads , has yet to have a problem
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Do they check them at all or just install them truly OOTB? If the latter, then that says that the minor things wear in. But nothing in the above statement says that it is worth any time and $$ for checks; it just says that the valves and springs and keepers don't fail, the seats stay in, etc. Seriously not trying to bust on anyone; the question is, is it worth having any checks done, or can you really just bolt them on with 99+% confidence?

I agree that some of the stuff said on the net is very, very likely not true; that is why I mentioned the shims being in place on our heads; I read one claim that they were all missing. It could happen, but is not a very likely thing to happen with so obvious an item!
 
70aarcuda said:
have used 3 sets OOTB, I took one set apart...wow...the valve guide were tighter then ****....I removed the valve seal...wow...those guides are very smooth....
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Yeah we found that too...really tight seals but not an issue per se. But we did detect 4 tight guides once we pulled the stems below the seals, and the machine shop ID'd some burrs left in those those guides. That is something I have never found in any replaced guide and would not like to have at a new start up.
 
nm9stheham said:
Do they check them at all or just install them truly OOTB? If the latter, then that says that the minor things wear in. But nothing in the above statement says that it is worth any time and $$ for checks; it just says that the valves and springs and keepers don't fail, the seats stay in, etc. Seriously not trying to bust on anyone; the question is, is it worth having any checks done, or can you really just bolt them on with 99+% confidence?

I agree that some of the stuff said on the net is very, very likely not true; that is why I mentioned the shims being in place on our heads; I read one claim that they were all missing. It could happen, but is not a very likely thing to happen with so obvious an item!
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The heads that I had were missing a few of those hardened shims under the valvesprings...My machinist couldn't believe that they were like that and made a point to get in contact with edelbrock about it. So it does happen.
 
DartVadar said:
The heads that I had were missing a few of those hardened shims under the valvesprings...My machinist couldn't believe that they were like that and made a point to get in contact with edelbrock about it. So it does happen.
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Well there ya go.. I assume you are happy they were checked out first.

BTW, I don't think the standard shims are hardened at all; I can bend them by hand, and they look like plain-jane spring shims. But they function to spread to spring load around evenly. Edelbrock does have optional spring cups; I have not figured out when they should be applied but I assume it is when you go above a certain spring rate.....??
 
nm9stheham said:
Do they check them at all or just install them truly OOTB? If the latter, then that says that the minor things wear in. But nothing in the above statement says that it is worth any time and $$ for checks; it just says that the valves and springs and keepers don't fail, the seats stay in, etc. Seriously not trying to bust on anyone; the question is, is it worth having any checks done, or can you really just bolt them on with 99+% confidence?

I agree that some of the stuff said on the net is very, very likely not true; that is why I mentioned the shims being in place on our heads; I read one claim that they were all missing. It could happen, but is not a very likely thing to happen with so obvious an item!
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Did you see the state of that shop that made the claim ? Holey crap , what a mess ! I wouldn't dump old gear oil in that dump . A shop that is that dirty and unorganized does not instill confidence
 
LOL good expression.... I am not sure what shop you are talking about... sounds like there is stuff out there of high entertainment value that I have not seen!
 
Yep I got some last year , some of the plug holes needed re- tapping and rocker shaft threads were rough also, did not check anything else so Im wondering why i keep bending pushrods and only on one bank yes they could be slightly shorter which I have custom ordered , would any of the above issues cause the pushrods to bend
 
I have 340 block with no heads.which is better magnum or 308 casting
 
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