$280 each, on the floor and out the door. Is it more logical to buy better heads or keep the stock heads and buy the stroker kit?
Would you agree then that a lot of projects are not finished or compromised by the eyes to big for the stomach (wallet) syndrome? After all most of us are not the government where we can just throw money at a problem and hope it goes away. That Capitol 1 commercial comes to mind with the old vikings sitting around the round table.pmeisel said:Well, first, David Reher is one of the most respected engine people in the business.
Second, think of the heads vs. stroker thing this way ---
cubic inches are great, but if the aperture that fills them and exhausts them runs out of breath, their effectiveness is capped at that point. So a big cube engine might do great down low but run out of breath before you can rev it up to peak power.
It seems to me his remarks are in the context of "what is the most reasonable cost effective upgrade for someone who isn't redoing the whole engine..."
This is the head I am going to baseline this discussion on so we can eliminate slug factors and keep the budget initially as low as possible for the budget grass roots builder: http://store.summitracing.com/partd...840140+4294867028+4294889107+115&autoview=skusbchevfreak said:While I believe you are absolutely correct on the fact that cylinder heads are a critical peice of engine performance, I believe that a build must be considered from the whole combination point of view. You can buy a set of AFR 220's for your stock 350, and have an absolute slug. You could build a killer 383 bottom end, with stock heads and have a slug. The heads must work with the displacement, the cam with the heads, ect, all to meet the performance goal you are looking for.
Just my .02![]()
Good info that CONTRIBUTES to a discussion Blazin. This thread is not about me but is meant to provide reference material for what I see is still a lot of the same questions threaded about building this and that.Blazin72 said:Farna did answer part of your question very well. Upgrading to a 383 first and adding heads later is far easier than upgrading heads heads first and ripping the engine back out one or two years later to increase its size.
In your initial post you say, "...throw money at stroker kit vs. applying stroker kit money at the best heads you can buy for your money." Then in your most recent post you say "This is the head I am going to baseline this discussion on so we can eliminate slug factors and keep the budget initially as low as possible for the budget grass roots builder", referring to the Vortecs.
So are you targeting this thread at the grass roots engine builder or the engine builder that really can afford the best heads that can be bought for the money? I think you might be contradicting yourself a bit.
Yes the Vortec is a very good cylinder head for the money but there are plenty of other heads out there that are even better not much more money. Remember that upgrading to a Vortec head also requires a different intake manifold and different valve covers which you also have to figure into the price so that $280 each ($560/pair) still turns into $700+ in the end anyway.
Finally, don't forget that while older factory heads are becoming a thing of the past they can still be made to flow some decent numbers if the builder is willing to do some research and port his/her own heads. Many heads were used on both 350s and 400s so they would work just fine on a 383. I think you could get into a 383 with older stock heads for far less than you could a 350 with Vortecs.
Don't forget that people have been "re-engineering" their engines to suit their wants, needs, desires, wildest fantasies or whatever you want to call it since before most, if not all of us were born. There's nothing wrong with building what you want.