[rick458]

Okay what is your choice of Aluminum Heads, and why did you choose them

[67 Deuce 4 Me]

Wheres DART?

[rick458]

I thought Dart and World only made iron heads

[67 Deuce 4 Me]

Heck no! Dart makes many types of aluminum heads. Im using Dart pro 1s aluminum.

[bracketeer]

Dart

[Mad Maggot]

I'll shout my views from the bandwagon and go with the AFR's. Granted they are about $200-300 more than comparable heads from their class, these heads have the best unmolested airflow to runner size ratio, which is a great way to make good torque and power. Not only that, no other heads even come close in the low lift and mid lift flow numbers, which is essential for a street motor. With a great exhaust port and E/I ratio, a thick head deck, and flow numbers that really are what they advertise, they've really been doing their homework at AFR.

Yes, yes, I sound like a commercial... LOL I'll shut up now.

[stepside454]

these polls "what are the best" are impossible to answer. best for what ? what engine are we talkin about ? what application ? so many variables. Your askin for what brand ...well each brand has a few differant models.

[firestone]

I agree with the vagueness of the poll, but I would also have to choose AFR. I have seen several examples where out of the box AFR CNC ported heads have outflowed and outperformed fully hand ported dart and brodix heads and the AFRs usually cost around $1000 less overall. AFRs will not outflow every head in the world, but for the price, I have yet to find a similarly sized head that beats them.

Adam

[mychevystang]

i picked the edelbrock performer, I have not had expeience with them but I do have a set of edelbrock victor heads. THe ratio on the intake to exhaust side is more equal than on the AFR heads.

[rick458]

Your dream engine, what ever CC, Port Size, Valve angle, whatever would work best for your actual or Hypothetical engine

[TurboS10]

You definately missed the Darts. In an as cast port, the Dart Pro 1's are right up there and aheads of many of your listed heads. If you go CNC the AFR would be on top. I believe Dart is now selling CNC port heads, but they will cost you more than the AFR's. I have not seen numbers on the CNC Darts, but I am pretty sure I have seen them for sale.

Chris

[killerformula]

I like the darts too, and incidentally, they're making a new iron head called the platinum edition that flows as a 200cc CAST head, (no cnc) almost 300 cfm@.500. That's more than the AFR heads, and they're ported out! To me, that's real value right there.

But as long as we're talking about aluminum heads, I'm still going to say Dart. The thing with getting a set of Pro-1 heads is that they come with great workmanship, great casting features and good numbers to boot. Then, if you outgrow your darts, simply get out your tools and port them out! The great thing about these heads is that the people at dart planned on that, so the castings are nice and thick. To me, real value comes from a 1200 dollar set of heads that you can adapt to your combo as it changes throughout the years, not from a set of heads that somebody happened to lock into a CNC machine and press the "start" button, and cannot be modified from their original form for fear of hurting the CNC work and your flow numbers. I just think the AFR heads are more for guys who want to bolt on and not think about it, and maybe keep the same combo forever on their car. Dart is more of the "hotrodder" head. IMO. That said, I do think AFR's are great units, out of the box.

K

[ronb]

GM phase 6 Bow-tie(Aluminium)!used by Dale Earnhart in the late 80`S, the valves on these heads are farther apart than the standard small block design and require special guide plates only available from GM,also the spark plug location was slightly altered to help reduce the possibility of detonation ! i chose these because i live in Florida and the vehicle, a 1988 GTA T/A (3rd gen), has no grill! therefore it only cools the radiator when the car is in motion! big problem here with so much traffic! so having the extra material in between the valves would be a benefit , as far as the detonation problem? their is NONE! I am running a 383 stroker 12.5-1 compression with a DFI on 87 octane! But I have had problems with some autolite spark plugs being the insulators blowing the plugs out on part throttle! problem went away by changing to another brand! I have had problems with overheating on more occasions than i care to say but the heads have performed and are still in use today and for about 5yrs all total without any problems with cracking or warping!

[killerformula]

12.5:1 on 87 octane? Boy I don't know if I can wrap my mind around that one...

K

[stepside454]

with the right cam to allow bleed off, careful tuning, the right chamber in an aluminum head...it can be done.