best sb aftermarket head

who makes good small block aftermarket heads? my engine, when im done building it will be around 450 hp and ft lbs. no blowers or nitrous.



thanks


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Take your pick from these opinions.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/sea...earchid=2320605

Small Block WHAT?
depends on your goals.

Chevy,
EngineQuest Vortec 180 cc www.shaverengines.com
AFR is a good aftermarket aluminum that is relatively problem free.
Edelbrock seems to have lots of problems "out of the box".

Ford, Trick Flow-Twisted Wedge

What type of "out of the box" problems do Edelbrock cyl. heads have?

What are you trying to accomplish? Best has a lot of definitions based on the application.

What's your budget?

There's Brodix, Dart, Patriot, All Pro, Trickflow, RHS, Edlebrock, CHI, Canfield, there's plenty of them.

You can spend as little as $900 or as much as $5000. What size small block are we talking here? 305 or 454? Yes, there is a 454 small block.

On the internet you'll hear about AFR by a lot of people with anecdotal evidence. I would never buy from a company that fakes dyno sheets, mis represents, no wait RIGS TESTS, published tests in magazines and on the internet, and uses Chinese castings.

They are a perfectly good head, however, my disgust with them transcends the fact they are a good product. Mostly it's their customer base which consists of 85% leg humping know nothings that can only spout what is printed in the AFR brochure and means relatively nothing in real life, combined with their claims of vast superiority which I find unproven. AFR has the best marketing machine in the industry and owns the internet market.

If power and speed is your thing, Brodix, All Pro, and Dart are the leaders. AFRs are just CHEAP. If you get into the fully CNC'd market, they aren't even cheap anymore.

Brodix, Dart, Edlebrock, All Pro all own their own foundries in the US and do their own castings. Fact of the matter is, depending on your combination, all those heads will perform slightly better or worse than the next, but there's not a world of difference between them. You're talking 25 HP head to head, sometimes one will be on top, sometimes the other.

Sorry Scot, this wasn't toward you, just a frustration I've dealt with for the past 18 months.

None, that's what AFR does to people who compete. Internet rumor.

Ya know, AFR had their own casting problems most pronounced was the oiling issue where some people are convinced they smoked their engines as a result of oil pooling in the heads. Their new castings are better now that they have their new foundry overseas.

my engine setup is a 377 (400 block with 350 crank) a 280HR retrofit cam, kb pistons, eagle H beam rods, edelbrock performer rpm intake. i was looking to get about 450 hp and ft lbs outta it in the lower rpm range. seems like roller cams dont rev as high anyway. i have around $1300 to spend on heads. and i need them to last.


thanks for the help

This is not an internet rumor, it's first hand experience.....

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/cci...tml#post1067413

If that were my budget, I'd look at the Brodix IKs. THey are cheap, under $1000. You can probably pick them up for $900 locally. There's motors making close to 600HP with the 200s,out of the box as cast. They have great casting materials, many consider Brodix best castings in the business. Anything else is going to over $1300. If you do this, ask for more spring than you need it will be cheap or nothing to upgrade at this juncture.

The only caveat is that they only come in straight plug configurations. You have to make sure you get headers which support straight plugs. That is their Achilles Heel.

If it came from someone other than you or a few other people, I'd have a hard time believing it.

Ok lets back up here a minute, "SSmonty" claims he has 2 cc diff. in his combustion chambers and that his valves didn't seat. Then he later justifies the problems as probably HIS ERROR and says he's had them since 2000, CHANGED the valves, ported the bowls (did you ever nick a seat while doing a little bowl work???) then polished the chambers and god only knows what else was done.

Then some of you guys jump on the old band wagon and tell "jak327" that Edelbrock has some "out of the box problems". Is "SSMonty" story the basis for your ridicule of Edelbrock's machine work??....or do you have something else?? I've had 2 sets of their heads on previous engines and a new set of 60899's on my 331" sbc, which is running but not on the street yet, sorry, narry a problem.....like probably thousands of other customers running their heads.

EVERY manufacturer is going to pass a lemon now and then but to blatantly catagorize Edelbrock's quality by this "first hand experience" is absolutely rediculous.

http://www.dartshp.com/pdf/SHPBrochure.pdf

Check out the 372 at the bottom

Posted by 327NUT:
"EVERY manufacturer is going to pass a lemon now and then but to blatantly catagorize Edelbrock's quality by this "first hand experience" is absolutely rediculous."

Geez, who put a burr under your saddle?
You asked this: "What type of "out of the box" problems do Edelbrock cyl. heads have?"

Jsup answered this: "None, that's what AFR does to people who compete. Internet rumor."

I remembered the thread by SSMonty, so I posted it because here is a guy with firsthand experience, not an internet rumor. Just trying to show both sides and yes, I agree that there will be a bad run from most any mfg once in a while.

Sorry if I ruffled your feathers.

There is no such thing as a out of the box cylinder head. Trust me I just bought a set of Etec 200s.