Aluminum Heads

[Luv68's]

I am going to buy my first set of aluminum heads, so I would like some input from anyone who has done the same. It will be a street driven truck ( s-10 ), runs really good now but I want it to run a lot better. Which heads would you buy and what cc? It is not a daily driver so 93 octane gas is not a problem. I want over 400 hp. I already have roller rockers and a 750 double pumper holley on the motor now. I will be replacing my Performer Rpm intake with a Rpm Air Gap intake. Should I go ahead and do a roller cam set up to? Any help wopuld be appreciated. Don

[bigjimzlll]

Hi...Aluminum heads will not make any more power than cast heads..saying this..they will save almost 100lbs of weight. If this is a performance 350 I would go with a 200cc intake. If you have flat tops then I would go with 64cc chambers for a little better than 10-1 CR..it kinda of depends on what the use is..and gearing and stall and cam

[rn2fine]

Something with intake runners around 180 or 190cc. I like the AFR's and the Edelbrocks. Holley makes a package deal of aluminum heads, a cam, an intake, lifters, etc... that gives approx 400hp and it goes for $1399 from Jegs. You can make 400hp with heads that have as little as 170cc intake runners (like the Edelbrock RPM alum heads matched up with their RPM manifold and cam). If it is not going to be a daily driver and you can afford the 92 octane stuff I would look at cast iron too like the world products heads (SR Torquer and Motown 200cc heads) or the cast iron DART heads (Iron Eagle). I use aluminum Edelbrock RPMs and love them. I also have a pair of E-Tec 170s. Got a sweet deal on the RPMs and paid $830 + tax for a pair. If I could afford it I would have bought the AFRs though.

http://www.airflowresearch.com/

Have fun and good luck !!!

[rn2fine]

Ooops !!! Correction, it wasn't Jegs, it was Summit Racing. Here is the address for the Holley system.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...D300%2D503%2D1

[Luv68's]

Thanks for the input. RN2, why would you have chosen the AFR's over the Edlebrocks'.

[bigjimzlll]

Im not RN2...but I can tell you that the AFR is the best head made...the down falls are...expensive..and very long wait to get them

[72C203503ONTHETREE]

Aluminum heads do make more power than cast iron heads, but thats if the cast heads are factory heads. Aluminum heads absorb more heat than cast iron so you can go higher on compression than cast without detonating. The biggest advantage with aluminum is the weight savings but they are also much easier to port and repair if they get cracked or damaged. I would use Brodix Track 1's with out of the box porting. They have nice sized ports but can be hogged out to make them huge. They also have 10 degree locks, solid roller cam springs, 7/16 screw in studs and guideplates, will be able to use any standard Chevy style intakes and exhaust, and go for $1,300 or so in Summit. If it isnt going to be a daily driver, use a Victor JR. intake, it is a racing single plane high rise that flows well even at low end since as cast runners arent that big but can be ported a lot like the Brodix intake runners. Use a FelPro 1205 intake gasket and port match to that. I would also use a roller cam, a solid one at that. I like Crower cams but Lunati and Comp Cams are also very good. That will be expensive though, like 250 bucks and add another 250 for roller lifters unless you get a good deal on e bay which there is usually. I wouldn't get too wild with the duration and lift since I doubt you have a built up short block to take the higher rpm the heads and intake will really like. The Brodix Track 1's and Victor intake will be able to handle rpm up to 7,000 or so in non ported form, even more if you want to make more power. My freind uses a similar set up in a 88 Mustang drag car(yes a Chevy in a Ford, lol) and he uses a stock block but has a steel factory crank but uses good forged pistons and Eagle H beam rods. He can go over 7K but usually shifts at 6,500 and gets low 10's without nitrous. I am surprised the stock block and crank havent died yet but hes on his second season with only one refreshing, and all he did was replace bearings.

[bigjimzlll]

Originally posted by 72C203503ONTHETREE
Aluminum heads do make more power than cast iron heads, but thats if the cast heads are factory heads. Aluminum heads absorb more heat than cast iron so you can go higher on compression than cast without detonating. .

The tests have been done....the verdicts in..two heads(identicle execpt in material) the cast head will make more power than aluminum...everything else being the same...but if you have the extra money..go with alumium for weight savings and repairablity

[72C203503ONTHETREE]

I meant a aftermarket aluminum head will outperform a factory cast iron head due to much better ports and valve sizes. Anything Chevy made that was cast(talking production car heads, not racing Bowtie heads) can't keep up with out of the box aluminum heads unless you do a lot of porting and valve swapping to a larger size. The aftermarket cast heads are very good but the aluminum heads will almost always make more power with less work but at a higher beginning price. I was debating whether to get aluminum or cast iron heads for my truck, I am leaning towards the Proline aluminum heads since they are only a couple hundred bucks more than a cast iron version. Evem if the aluminum heads are the exact copies of the cast iron heads, it will be better to use the aluminum heads since they can be made to make more power easier than cast iron and will always be lighter. Too bad putting a ceramic coating on the combustion chambers on the ehad is expensive, that way you could have the weight savings of the aluminum and have te power of cast iron, since the loss of combustion chamber heat is why aluminum makes less power in the same design head. The ceramic will reflect the heat and keep the pressures up to cast iron levels or more making it the best of both worlds.

[Luv68's]

Thanks 72c20, very informative.

[rn2fine]

Sorry that it has taken me so long to respond to your last question. I really enjoy having aluminum heads on my daily driver because it is less prone to pre-detonate, can run a little more advance, can run on 87 octane at 9.4 CR at 10 BTDC, dissipate heat better, and are lighter. I bought the Edelbrock RPM instead of the AFRs because I got a really good deal on them and Edelbrock is a big company with decent support. Plus I liked the fact that the RPMs came with ports matched to the Edelbrock intake manifolds. The RPM heads are almost identical to the Performer heads (both 170cc intake runners) except that they have no EGR port. In other words, the RPMs are the off-road version of the Performer heads. The RPM intake ports are just a little bigger than stock heads (usually 150cc to 165cc) and not as big as most heads designed for high RPM driving, 180, 190, 200, 220cc. Even though the RPM heads only have a 170cc runner I believe that Edelbrock claims that they can make 400 horsepower when matched with their RPM manifold and their cam (they now make hydraulic roller cams). Holley claims 425 horsepower with their 185cc runner alum head, cam, intake combo. They have proven to be very streetable for me with excellent performance at low through high engine speeds. If you get heads with bigger intake runners you can make buku horsepower but you will need to make sure that your engines bottom end and other drivetrain components are prepped to handle it. If your truck is prepped, is not a daily driver, and you plan to do a little racing, I would go with go with bigger intake runners, 190cc +. If you only need to make 400 horsepower, and plan to do some daily driving and not race, I would go with 170cc to 190cc intake runners. I have heard from many engine builders that AFR is the best. The 180cc heads that I wanted to get from them were $1200. My RPMs cost me $830 for the pair. The Autocenter ( www.goautocenter.com ) has them advertised for $880 a pair. A local auto parts store matched and beat that price by 5%. A screamin deal, especially since Jegs and Summit advertise them for nearly $1000 a pair. The Edelbrockd were $370 cheaper in my case, and even though I wanted to get the AFRs, I did not have the extra $$$ for the AFRs. There are a lot of good heads out there. I recommend sticking with a name brand like those others have mentioned as well including Brodix, Dart, AFR, Edelbrock, etc...

[Luv68's]

Thanks Rn2, I appreciate you taking the time to spell it out. Thats why I always come here first for info