Why is there 440source but no "360source"?

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MopaR&D

MopaR&D

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I've been thinking about this for a while it's something that bugs me and I don't quite understand. Is the demand for big blocks that much higher than small blocks? I know it's been discussed before but how come we hear about a new BB aluminum head that's cheaper and better made coming out every now and then but still nothing for SB's? Got them expensive E-brocks with QC issues that have been beaten to death, and I've heard ProComps and AirWolfs mentioned still sounds like they cost a few thousand regardless.

Has anyone (mainly asking the vendors and business-savvy members) done the market research on starting a company similar to 440source that sells ONLY Mopar SB parts? Granted they aren't as popular in hardcore drag racing and such as the BBs but there have been sooo many more made and so many more budget-minded performance people who have cars and trucks with small blocks. I must be missing something critical but I feel like if someone came out with a competitively priced street/strip oriented "stealth" style AL head for the small blocks Mopar folk would be clamoring to get them.
 
small block stuff is mega common. would a business selling SB stuff survive when almost every mopar person has a surplus of SB to kick around the shop all day already.

Plus you said it ....most SB peeps are more budget minded
 
I agree mopekid, it would be nice if there was a buisness that sells budget small block performance aluminum heads with a warrantee.
 
True but my emphasis is on heads nobody's kicking around spare aluminum SBM heads in their shop. If other parts are so plentiful then why not heads? It would save people a lot of money to be able to buy all their SBM parts from one supplier instead of buying from multiples, or a "resale" type company like Hughes. Yes they do make/modify some of their own parts but they don't have a dedicated manufacturing facility anything like 440Source.

One thing got me thinking about this as well, I was reading up on Caddy 472/500 engines and obviously nobody makes parts for them... but there's a company out there now that makes EXCLUSIVELY Cadillac engine parts (everything to build one from a bare block pretty much) like 440Source and they seem to be very successful.

Really gets on my nerves how it's cheaper to build a 440 with aluminum heads and other modern performance parts than a 360 with the same kinds of parts.
 
W2, W9 and a fairly good selection of several other are out there for small block. Hell back in the day they had nothing for a big block save a few select factory castings 915's and maxi heads. But even finding maxi heads 30 years ago was very hard and expensive and there were no intakes to go with them so they had to be made. I do get your point though...
 
440 source started out doing stroker crank kits i believe. they offered cheap versions of the kits. up till them you had to spend big bucks for those kits.. seems the business has just grown from there. i guess customers asked for certain things and they decided to make a lot of those things.. they only focus on big blocks. its probably a good thing. stick with what ya know type of thing.

there are cheap stroker kits for small blocks out there already (eagle and scat). so no need for that. how many guys who are modifying small blocks really care about keeping the heads stock looking? maybe some aar/ta guys and 340 guys but look how many more big block customers are out there for that type of thing. as far as small block builders being more budget minded i totally disagree with that. just look around outside this site. there are quite a few big dollar small block that have been put together.. big block is still more popular just because the most popular and expensive mopar muscle are big block cars for the most part in my opinion though.


seems like a perfect business venture for ya though. step up to the plate and start a small block business like 440 source.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
http://store.440source.com/Stealth-Aluminum-Cylinder-Head-COMPLETE-SINGLE-HEAD/productinfo/200-1055/

$500 for an aluminum BB head NOBODY sells anything like that for small blocks. Makes no fricken' sense
Click to expand...


so they took an edelbrock head, sent it to china and told them to copy it but change the way it looks on the out side. step up and have it done to a set of small block heads.. :)

those heads have had many QC issues over the years also.. better have them gone through before you bolt them on..
 
.........I know i'll get flamed for this....when u pop the hood on a car with the bb monster under it u get the wow factor, when u see a sb u may as well be looking at a slant....ho hum......kim.......
 
oldkimmer said:
.........I know i'll get flamed for this....when u pop the hood on a car with the bb monster under it u get the wow factor, when u see a sb u may as well be looking at a slant....ho hum......kim.......
Click to expand...

i'd have to agree for the most part.. small block looks so small in a b or e body.
 
oldkimmer said:
.........I know i'll get flamed for this....when u pop the hood on a car with the bb monster under it u get the wow factor, when u see a sb u may as well be looking at a slant....ho hum......kim.......
Click to expand...

I have kicked out so many small blocks just because I love big blocks
 
I get what all you guys are saying really, abodyjoe made a good point about the stroker kits which are definitely plentiful for SBs. When I mentioned the 440source Stealth heads it was mostly about the price I personally don't care what the outside of the head looks like. At this point at least I know and I'm aware of many others who know that most aluminum heads need to be gone through so it would be amazing to find a way to make heads with good machining to not require final machining by the guy using them and ultimately be more of a bolt-on deal. Lots of crazy technology out there today (and coming in time) who knows... what sucks is there ultimately aren't a lot of vehicles made after the A-bodies that came with small blocks which are popular for turning into hot rods. Maybe the '90s Dodge truck guys with Magnums but that isn't exactly a huge market either.

I like big blocks too but not if I'm building a smaller car that I would like to have somewhere close to even weight distribution :D
 
I would call Mike at MRL. I remember him mentioning he could build a set of the (IIRC) procomp heads from bare for about what the standard edelbrocks cost.

I personally think you are better off with a head that has been painstakingly measured by someone who builds performance engines than run on an assembly line. I just don't think many mass production aftermarket parts have very good QC.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
I get what all you guys are saying really, abodyjoe made a good point about the stroker kits which are definitely plentiful for SBs. When I mentioned the 440source Stealth heads it was mostly about the price I personally don't care what the outside of the head looks like. At this point at least I know and I'm aware of many others who know that most aluminum heads need to be gone through so it would be amazing to find a way to make heads with good machining to not require final machining by the guy using them and ultimately be more of a bolt-on deal. Lots of crazy technology out there today (and coming in time) who knows...
Click to expand...

Actually , you answered your own question. All aluminum small block heads , need to be gone through. The trick is finding, a good machinist. (Or learn to do it,yourself. It's a *****,making money this way....)
 
goldduster318 said:
I would call Mike at MRL. I remember him mentioning he could build a set of the (IIRC) procomp heads from bare for about what the standard edelbrocks cost.

I personally think you are better off with a head that has been painstakingly measured by someone who builds performance engines than run on an assembly line. I just don't think many mass production aftermarket parts have very good QC.
Click to expand...

I actually started this thread more to see what it would be like to somehow be one of those suppliers I'm not really looking for aluminum heads for my own car (yet... :twisted: ) I recently got my mechanical engineering degree and I'm (hopefully) about to start working for a start-up CAD company here in Denver that draws literally anything in SolidWorks (popular 3D modeling software). If I could find out what all it takes to manufacture aftermarket cylinder heads and if it would even be possible to make money doing so I would love to do it. Obviously this would be several years down the road if it came to be but I like to plan ahead when I can lol
 
I don't think the small block world needs a place just for them, you think 440 Source would branch off into the small block world anyways. Cheaper heads would be nice like Chev and Ford have but it will never be, we're to small of an market. Plus we have 3 sets of reasonable priced street heads anyways, what we need is for the 3 we have also to put out a 300 cfm version of them for a similar price.

The 250 ish cfm ones are too small for all the 408's being built, a 273 has a better flow to Cid ratio lol. And a couple of 350 cfm ones for people that want crazy power.

Everyone drools over the LS and new hemi engines, all thats really special about them is the stock heads flow, some of our best ported heads barely match up.
 
Cause big blocks are cooler than small blocks.
 
Go BIG or Go HOME.................Just playin' with ya !:twisted:
 
I agree not sure there's much money in it. No real nostalgia factor with small blocks ('cept the 340)


Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave? ;)
 
There used to be a source for small block stuff.

Ed Hamburger

But he's gone now....
 
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