Edelbrock head alternatives?
- Thread starter MD68
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stroked340
Well-Known Member
The best price I've seen is $1420.00 assembled..(I would still have a shop you can trust go through them) I just bought a set of bare Edelbrocks and although my engine guy had to clearance the guides and do a valve job assembled with his valves,spings,retainers and 10 degree locks(Edelbrocks come with 7 degree) it came out to be less money..
63savoy426
Well-Known Member
I personally would go with eddy performer rpms or victors depending on application. A friend of mine tested a few different heads on his dyno. The edelbrocks were top dog.
yellow rose
Overnight Sensation
There is no such thing as out of the box. They all need work.
63savoy426
Well-Known Member
I've used 6 sets of eddy rpm heads out of the box. Never HAD TO do anything to them. Bolt on and go. I did port some for a gasket match but thats optional. Just my 2 cents
stroked340
Well-Known Member
You might be surprised what you find if you dissassembled a set out of the box to see just what they look like
63savoy426
Well-Known Member
Yes but they workYou might be surprised what you find if you dissassembled a set out of the box to see just what they look like
dano
Evil Handy Man
The ProComps/Speedmaster Heads from MRL were a good deal, but Mike is no longer in business. There are several heads our there, what is your build? Do you have 68-71 "above deck" pistons and is so are they really above deck and by how much?
Its cheap insurance to have out the the box heads checked (or do it yourself if you can and have the tools). Most check out OK, but bad valve jobs, core shift, tight guides and missing locks come up from time to time. Your sending ~$1.5k for heads as an upgrade, wouldn't you want them to work to their potential and be issue free?
Its cheap insurance to have out the the box heads checked (or do it yourself if you can and have the tools). Most check out OK, but bad valve jobs, core shift, tight guides and missing locks come up from time to time. Your sending ~$1.5k for heads as an upgrade, wouldn't you want them to work to their potential and be issue free?
mopowers
Well-Known Member
I've got a set of IMM-prepped RHS heads on my 340 and they seem to be performing very well. I'd say they're a great alternative to edelbrock heads.
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stroked340
Well-Known Member
mopowers
Well-Known Member
You're right. They're absolute trash. LOL
ValiantRacing
Well-Known Member
We consider Edelbrock, for engine build, but wanted more performance so went with the RHS, and they did not disappoint.
B3422w5
Well-Known Member
Nothing wrong with those heads, but eddies can approach 300 cfm fully ported and are aluminum. Just the weight saving alone is a big deal on the front end of a car.
all things the same, i would nuch prefer the eddie hands down. My little brother has eddies that are max ported and a flat tappet cam that engine was just finished.
His car weighs 3300 with him. We figure it will go 10.40's without working up much of a sweat. Absolutely nothing fancy. Cookie cutter 12 to 1 416
I used Out of the Box Indy LA-X Iron heads. They were around ~$1k for the set.
I only built up a 318 so I went with the smaller 'stock' valves that they come with.
Had my machine shop look them over, no work needed. They seem to work great. The machine shop has always had good luck with them in the past as well.
I only built up a 318 so I went with the smaller 'stock' valves that they come with.
Had my machine shop look them over, no work needed. They seem to work great. The machine shop has always had good luck with them in the past as well.
Nonsense.
My Daddy told me ya just need to be smarter than your cylinder heads. I'm gonna post a majorly redacted copy of a dyno sheet for a single 4-bbl, pump gas, solid street roller, 424 stroker, with the Indy/RHS LAX cylinder heads, prepped by those clowns at LaRoy Engines.........flowing..........
.100..............73/58
.200............145/124
.300............206/175
.400............253/214
.450............275/226
.500............290/236
.550............301/242
.600............303/248
I'm to lazy to straighten it out so just swivel your noggins a bit.
Oh, and knowing what they know now, them boys think they could make them even better.
Hah! Bean heads they be.
moper
Well-Known Member
They are only comparable in terms of they attach to a factory block. The RHS heads are good - but "out of the box" are bare castings. So no such thing as out of the box. You can throw in parts and they'll run. BUt anyone that has the experience knows that out of the box parts can have issues too, for those that care. So not apples to apples. Iron and they are heavy as HELL. IMO for a total street car they'll work. But there's less than $1000 difference between ready to run RHS and ready to run RPMS. If the engine is a fresh build, for a car that's street/strip or strip, it's shear stubbornness or stupidity to run the iron.
If one has run RPMs and been happy - that's good for you. I won't run them without my guy addressing the issues they all have: valve job quality (seats and valves themselves, guides, and assembly faux paus). Because "able to run" and "runs to their potential" are not the same thing.
If one has run RPMs and been happy - that's good for you. I won't run them without my guy addressing the issues they all have: valve job quality (seats and valves themselves, guides, and assembly faux paus). Because "able to run" and "runs to their potential" are not the same thing.
Brian Hafliger
Well-Known Member
So...lets say the price difference comes to 500.00...how much EXTRA power can you get with that 500.00? Now you have heads with better components (our EQ or INDY heads) than the eddys, will make more power than the eddys (OOTB vs. our OOTB) and an extra 500.00 to further improve the power of the engine! Weight...well take 40lbs. off the front of your car and get back to us what that translates into at the track!
I've had people sell their OOTB eddys and replace them with our OOTB iron heads (no porting) and improve power noticeably....even as much as .3 at the track with no other changes! Stubbornness....at it's finest!
Brian Hafliger
Well-Known Member
Exactly Jim! But porting them to work like that DOES suck!! We used to have a cnc program that would go into the 290's with no additional hand work but the place no longer wants to do cast iron. But with minor hand work to the cnc port, we also were able to reach right at 300-302 cfm. I still use eddy heads or Indy's TA heads when we need max power at a lower price (compared to Indy's W2 or eddy's Victor) mostly because everyone wants aluminum and it's much easier to port them into a 300+cfm head.
But for middle of the road 500 +/- horse engines the cast iron heads work awesome. I can't wait to see the new aluminum offering coming at the end of the year from a great company...should really give us something awesome to work with!!
Brian
dart_68
Well-Known Member
You make some excellent points. However, when it comes to drag racing... that 40 lb. difference might make the difference between hooking and spinning. You CAN work with it but it's something to consider when setting up the car.
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Who said anything about drag racing? The OP simply asked for alternatives to Edelbrock heads. Sounds like a simple question to me.
What's funny, is I'd bet some of the folks complaining about the extra 40 lbs of the iron heads are probably packing at least that much extra around their waist line.
dart_68
Well-Known Member
HEY, I resemble that remark!
pishta
I know I'm right....
Port a set of AL and a set of irons to flow the SAME with same CR and the iron will put out more HP. AL conducts heat better than iron and heat energy = HP in the combustion chamber, heat to the water jackets does not. AL can tolerate more CR due this one factor so upping the CR will more than make up for the heat loss HP difference.
Have you ever tested this. Because the only dyno tests I have ever seen do not back up this claim.
That's a double edge sword.
40# isn't squat in a street strip car. The amount of power it takes to overcome the weight is offset by the extra power produced. If I can make an extra 25hp and the weight penalty is 8hp or less, the net change is positive.
That weight on the front of the car is only bad if you can't get it moving, once it's moving it can be beneficial to hooking a car. There's more time locked up in the front suspension of drag cars than most people ever know.
This is the same deal as with tti and dougs headers. One cost more, think budget. I can take the difference I saved on headers and spend it somewhere that it will make a huge difference, say a converter in an auto car, and kick the crap out of the exact same car with tti's and crappy converter. Use that same approach here. Save 500+ on heads and another 300ish on headers and suddenly a $1,000 converter that will be worth .3 and 3-4 MPH isn't so expensive.
moper
Well-Known Member
Yeah- lots of bullshit in this thread...lol
I stand by what I said. $500 in terms of a $8000 engine is nothing for the weight loss. And replacement of what sort of RPMs with your product? I've had customers who gained a lot of power simply by fixing the crap *** work in their existing heads. You do good work, and in the right instance your RHSs work and are good value. Just not in most in my opinion. Which is mine like my extra weight...
I stand by what I said. $500 in terms of a $8000 engine is nothing for the weight loss. And replacement of what sort of RPMs with your product? I've had customers who gained a lot of power simply by fixing the crap *** work in their existing heads. You do good work, and in the right instance your RHSs work and are good value. Just not in most in my opinion. Which is mine like my extra weight...
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