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Old 12-14-2003, 03:30 PM
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Default best aftermarket head

Looking into buying a 408 short block after Christmas and need to know who sells the best aftermarket heads. Give your opinion and info to back it up.
Old 12-14-2003, 03:32 PM
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MTI S3 LS6 heads, here are what mine flowed

GTP LS6 Heads
TEA 6.0 Judd Massengil Series

All will be at least $2500 +, listed in descending price order.
Old 12-14-2003, 03:33 PM
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ONLY aftermarket head are the AFRs....u can get Patriot heads for way cheaper that perform their *** off...MTI's heads are proven but cost...GTP....Thunder Racing....


But only TRUE not from factory heads are the new AFR's...and noone's really gotten good tests yet....

I'd get some MTI/Patriot LS6 Heads and ur smile will go from ear to ear!!
Old 12-14-2003, 03:36 PM
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I was wondering about the AFR heads. My machinist says that he might be able to get me a decent deal on a set. Anyone out there have these yet?
Old 12-14-2003, 03:37 PM
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No one has them as of yet.
Old 12-14-2003, 03:39 PM
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May have to invest in set then.
Old 12-14-2003, 03:41 PM
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Originally Posted by ATTI2D
May have to invest in set then.
If I were you, I'd just go with a proven set. MTI, GTP, TEA, PP, all proven setups. You will get what you pay for if you go with any of those setups.

Heads are one of the most important components of the engine, don't skimp on the best components, you'll thank me later
Old 12-14-2003, 03:42 PM
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Hey Levi... You ganna help me with the swap
Old 12-14-2003, 03:45 PM
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I heard that the AFRs are really good heas. I have talked to many sbc guys who said they are awsome...dont know aout the LS1 though.
Old 12-14-2003, 04:59 PM
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Originally Posted by ATTI2D
Hey Levi... You ganna help me with the swap
Only if ya' get the proven heads , lol, j/k, sure, no big deal. Let Alex and I know when you get ready to do it.
Old 12-14-2003, 06:34 PM
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Originally Posted by ATTI2D
I heard that the AFRs are really good heas. I have talked to many sbc guys who said they are awsome...dont know aout the LS1 though.
Ask around about ported AFR LT1/LT4 heads and see how much if any better they are than ported GM LT4 heads...

I would wait and see what the first results are on the AFR's are before buying myself. I hope they are all that's expected.

As for ported stock heads...

TEA esp 2.5 set up, MTI, Absolute, Cartek, LGM etc
Old 12-14-2003, 06:41 PM
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TEA 1.5 5.3L heads have been putting up some BIG NUMBERS.....and their on the cheaper side...
Old 12-14-2003, 06:49 PM
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I agree with Josey

With the bigger 4.0 bore I'd want the TEA's 2.5's set up for the bigger bore or at least the TEA 1.5's set up for the bigger bore.
Old 12-14-2003, 06:53 PM
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I would like to see TEA put out more info on the Stage 2.5 head. Like price and if its available for all the Head Types LS1/LS6 6.0 5.3 and what they all Flow.
Old 12-14-2003, 07:01 PM
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If the past is any indication of what will come AFR's heads will be among the absolute best available for the LS1. Their SBC/BBC heads are second to none and I see no reason they should not be the same way for the LS1. I personally will be holding on to my money until I get to see what AFR has to offer.
Old 12-14-2003, 07:07 PM
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How about an AFR head with a TEA 2.5 port job?
Old 12-14-2003, 07:32 PM
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Hey! that sounds very interesting!
Old 12-16-2003, 03:37 AM
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Originally Posted by 42NightZ28
I would like to see TEA put out more info on the Stage 2.5 head. Like price and if its available for all the Head Types LS1/LS6 6.0 5.3 and what they all Flow.
The Stg 2.5 program is simply the 2.08 valve Judson (SAM) Stg 3 version that we shrunk .030" to accomodate a 2.05 valve. Properly hand finished it flowed 320 at .600" on a 3.9 bore and 325 @ .600" on a 4.030" bore. The price is in the $1800-$2000 plus core depending on which exhaust valve diameter (seats) that you go with. This program can only be run on a LS6/6.0L head, the CNC program would hit water in the mixture motion damn area of a LS1 head, not to mention the huge difference in the short turn that the LS1 head doesn't have.

We will have our web site updated shortly with all info plus options on these heads, one of the new options on all of our heads will be "hand finish to competition level", for those who want that little extra and are willing to pay. We have always offered this to our "heads up competition" customers, but we are seeing the need for this type of work on our LS series of heads as well. It will cost an additional $250 and will probably be done be me personally. I blended my first set of CNC ported 5.3 heads last week and they flowed 309 @ .600" on the 3.9 bore. We are also going to have customer testimonials as well on all heads, including RWHP, ET, MPH, and other pertinent data to the vehicle. We would like everyones help on this area.

I am proud to annouce that the actual employee at SAM that did the original 6.0 port that we digitized is joining the team here at TEA in January. We are very excited to have another employee of this caliber at TEA, his first assignment is going to be examining our current product line to see if it can be improved. He will be involved primarily in port design and CNC program development, this will also help free me up to do the blending work.

We are in the process of porting some Stg 2.5 LS6 heads with the smaller exhaust port and then testing on a 5.7 so it should be interesting. We recently did a similar setup with a 5.3 head with a 2.05 intake and a 1.55 exhaust on a 383 and I believe it made 485 RWTQ at 4000, big torque #'s and we know the LS6 head should make better TQ then the 5.3

Richard Holdener who tests for GMHTP and others is testing our heads against the AFR's at Westech, but it will be a few weeks before the verdict is in. He also has all three of my intakes, the stock LS6, ported LS6 and the ported and now extrude honed Weiand intake, he will be testing these against the FAST and the BBK? I personally think that even with the heat soak the Weiand is going to come out on top, and I will never break another intake.

Speaking of ported LT1 stuff, we just finished our new Stg 3 port for the LT1 and it flowed 290 @ .600" , pretty stout for a stock casting.

Our C5 project car that picked up the additional 90 RWHP with the 2.5 heads and intake broke the $3000 Rossler trans first pass and the beefed up rearend the second pass. When the car made 600 RWHP we had the N2O all in by .5 sec, with the new heads we doubled that to 1 sec. So far the car hasn't made it 60', but it is by far the most wicked street car I have ever seen. By the numbers, it is making enough power to run 9.30's @ 150. We think its time for a turbo, so maybe it won't hit the chassis so hard. Those heads are FOR SALE, I have been asking $3000 including the LS6 cores, they are negotiable.

Hope this helps, and may God bless everyone this Christmas.

Last edited by Brian Tooley Racing; 12-16-2003 at 03:46 AM.
Old 12-16-2003, 04:30 AM
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Remember it's not always peak cfm that's important.. It's more about velocity and how they flow and swirl... I'd be more interested in flowing around 300cfm through 4 stages .450, .500, .550, .600 than peaking 315 cfm at .650 or 330 at .700.. I've had a set of GTP stage IIs and was very pleased, probably shouldn't have sold them.. Right now I have a set of SDPC GMPP CNC LS6 heads that are being hand polished out so they will flow right around 300 cfm at the 4 stages I mentioned..
Old 12-16-2003, 06:10 AM
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I would go with a Patriot Head, MY son just got a set of them and I will post back flow numbers in the next couple of days. He got a 6.0 based head (basically an LS6 design) with SMALL combustion chambers.

Workmanship is very nice. There is a VERY good cutom porter in the area that is going to flow them and then TWEAK them a little!!! LOL Considering a core LS6 head will cost you a couple or grand, these are a great buy.



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