Really cheap aluminum bare head? Any good?

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"At Racing World" needs to clean up there add!
Description "350" Engine make "Chevrolet"
What's it gona be???
 
There's a lot of cheap aluminum cylinder heads on the market now, not just for B/RB motors. A couple vendors sell these under different house brands. Example - 440 source has a complete head for just $499: Stealth Aluminum Cylinder Head - COMPLETE - SINGLE HEAD-440 Source

From what I have been told, the cheaper heads are cast in China or India, and the quality control can be variable. But like you, I am thinking about taking the plunge and I am interested in what people have to say...
 
Unless you can completely do your own cylinder heads, buy Trick Flow. That's my opinion.
 
IQ52 said:
Unless you can completely do your own cylinder heads, buy Trick Flow. That's my opinion.
Click to expand...
Thats exactly my plan since I can not do my own cylinder heads.
 
Yes, I'm well aware of the assembled Stealths for $500 each, but I hate paying for springs and locks that are just going straight in the trash, and the valve job may have to be redone or at least checked.

IQ52 said:
Unless you can completely do your own cylinder heads, buy Trick Flow. That's my opinion.
Click to expand...

Well, I can't do my own heads other than disassembly/reassembly. In fact I was planning for you to do them once I ever get the cash in hand :) We talked about it a while back and my plan then was to have 440source drop-ship a pair of Stealths to you for service prep and basic porting...

To work without making a lot of other changes to my setup, I need a straight-plug, closed-chamber head with the exhaust ports in the stock position... that pretty much leaves Stealths unless TF is now making a straight-plug version?
 
DrCharles said:
Yes, I'm well aware of the assembled Stealths for $500 each, but I hate paying for springs and locks that are just going straight in the trash, and the valve job may have to be redone or at least checked.



Well, I can't do my own heads other than disassembly/reassembly. In fact I was planning for you to do them once I ever get the cash in hand :) We talked about it a while back and my plan then was to have 440source drop-ship a pair of Stealths to you for service prep and basic porting...

To work without making a lot of other changes to my setup, I need a straight-plug, closed-chamber head with the exhaust ports in the stock position... that pretty much leaves Stealths unless TF is now making a straight-plug version?
Click to expand...
The last set of 440 Source heads that we blueprinted cost $700. $1,000 for the heads, $700 for blueprint, and add to that shipping and you're only a couple of hundred bucks from Trick Flow heads. To get the Stealth head to flow better'n the Trick Flow would cost $1,700. It just doesn't make sense/cents to not go Trick Flow.

Plus, we're not taking any new work now. Heck, Cody's art work with big game skulls he makes from exhaust tubing will be on display at the International Sportsman's Expo this spring. Lot of work needs to be done to be ready for that.
 
What IQ said... You can't look at sticker price for any comparison for any head, even factory stuff. You need to know what it takes to get them to the point of on the engine and running in every case. Once you start factoring in things like the rockers and/or exhaust manifolding requirements things get "more real". Compare apples to apples. Not apple seeds to orange peels.
 
Trick Flow doesn't have a straight-plug head. Otherwise they'd be at the top of the list.

Just about any head, no matter how expensive, needs complete checking and possibly revision of the valve seats, guides, threaded holes, etc. I just had a good discussion with Dwayne (fast68plymouth on Moparts) who knows a thing or two about head porting :rolleyes: , so I'm aware of all the apples and oranges.

I also plan to transfer my nearly new rocker gear, 10 degree hardware, and #953 springs to the new heads. So I'd have to just buy valves.

Anyway I am just about to get the Dart on the road with iron heads, after 21 years of stopping & starting. Life has a way of interfering with expensive hobbies :) After I get it sorted (and when I have the money), then will make the switch to aluminum heads.
 
So question.. (it may be too general) At what point (say HP, cubic inches or even cam specs?) do you forgo a factory iron head (906) in favor of an aftermarket aluminum head? I'm not talking $$ here because in the end they all cost $$ in the end.

I wanted to go stealth heads on my build, (383) mainly because I wanted it to look stock but also because I didn't know if it was worth putting $$ into the 906 heads and also I though it would have better flow.

My machinist, who is a bit old school, said that firstly a nicely prepped 906 head is all I needed for my HP goals and that he could do it cheaper than buying a set of stealths and prepping them ( he did on $$ account). Secondly he said that velocity was more important than outright flow in my case and that the 2.14 valves would not be any benefit.

My engine is a 383, 9:1 compression (verified), bored, line honed, decked, balanced, 906 head with good valve job and the bowls touched up a bit, Ferrea valves, crane 1.6 rockers, custom roller jones cam 217/225 @.050, .544 lift total, 109 sep, installed @107 (as per Jones recommendation), performer RPM intake, TTI 1 3/4 headers. IT made 400 HP on the dyno @ 5200 RPM and 436 ft/lbs torque @ 4300. The car scoots along pretty quickly and i'm happy with the HP as I wanted it to sound relatively stock and idle well with good vacuum (it make 17").

Garth
 
You are happy with what you have, it ain't broke, don't fix it. You run with what you got.

If you're not counting $'s, what can you do with 906 heads? It depends upon your cylinder head man.

We made 694 horsepower with 451ci and 748 horsepower with 500ci, both on 91 octane with 906 heads, so, we know that is possible.
 
Thanks IQ, just wondering for future builds. I know from reading that any if major headwork or porting is required to iron heads, you may as well just go aluminum. I was just wondering what the tipping point was.

Thanks

Garth
 
The tipping point is when the performance goal sought falls short due to head flow limitations. While saving weight with aluminum is attractive, is it worth the expense of purchasing new heads to then port to flow more than the iron head is capable of?

As IQ52 has shown that the factory iron head you already have is a very capable head. I find the expense of new a head plus the cost of a machinist check out and possible more cost of correcting and then porting.... may not be a worth while cost effective maneuver.

FWIW, your cam is very small and I see no need at all to swap to aluminum heads.
 
I agree, if you're happy with 400 hp there's no need for ported aluminum heads. But horsepower is addictive, you will want more soon enough! :D

BTW the Chinese heads I mentioned have dropped even more, to $251 each with free shipping :eek:
 
A buddy of mine has used a few pair of those pro comp heads and they seem ok. We did a side by side comparison to some 440 source heads that I bought and they are very similar... almost like made in the same factory. The 440 source look like factory heads on the ends instead of just being machined flat, and they have heli coils in all the exhaust bolt holes and 3 of the 5 rocker shaft hold down holes, the spark plug holes were maybe different too I don't remember now. I don't know how they will hold up over time but his bracket cars haul *** with them.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I'm definitely going to run what I have and optimize my current combo. I aim to wring out as much performance as I can out of the chassis and TQ. I just really finished this build so I haven't had any track time.

The rest of my combo is a A518 with a custom 2500 stall torque converter, 3.91 gears and MT SS street radials. QA! adjustable shocks front and back, 6 cyl torsion bars and XHD rear springs. I also built the motor to take some NOS if I wanted. The car also has Holley Sniper injection. Frame connectors and torque boxes and the regular fair.

Thanks

Garth
 
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dartgarth said:
Thanks IQ, just wondering for future builds. I know from reading that any if major headwork or porting is required to iron heads, you may as well just go aluminum. I was just wondering what the tipping point was.

Thanks

Garth
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I made 442 on track fwhp with stock 906 heads and a big sft cam, single plain/850DP and large tube f/wells, the heads stopped flowing way before the max lift I had, this was with a stock 440-6 block at around 9.8:1. I switched to b/valve 906's ported to approx 265cfm and made 531fwhp....but that was just on my set up.
 
Heads arrived today, in boxes labeled "Speedmaster". They look really nice on first glance - no obviously buggered threads, damaged valve seats, etc. Naturally everything will have to be checked when I get them ported.
There is a significant sharp step between the intake seat to the bowl, which I'm sure will be blended and laid back during the porting process anyway. So far they look pretty good for $502 shipped!
 
$502 for a pair of bare speed master big block heads? Not to shabby! If you don’t mind, keep posting costs until your done.
 
What's the intake valve size on these? It says 2.10 in the e bay description.

Garth
 
Pretty sure it uses a 2.14/1.81 valve set. I figure the seats need checked and possibly redone anyway.
 
Luckily I've only had to deal with the knockoff Chinese once and they were a disaster that required another $700 of machining before the ports were sorted out as well as the rest of the hardware.
 
What kind of machining? The possibility that worries me is (one) several-year-old report that the rocker shaft saddles had too large a radius for the shaft diameter...
I expect to have the valve seats and guides checked and some mild to moderate porting. Will be supplying my own valves, locks/retainers and springs.
 
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