Recommended heads?
12-18-2005, 03:06 PM
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Recommended heads? I'm trying to do a comparo of a few manufacturers of heads for my Z, and I've come down to about 3 places that I would go through.
1. AFR - Very good flow #'s, Lots of R&D
2. All Pro - THICK heads, very durable
3. Patriot - Cheap, has shown performance gains.
Now, that being said, I would like to hear a few of the H/C guys chime in on what they like/dislike about their particular heads. Price is a concern too, so list what you picked them up for if you could. The cam is listed in my sig, full bolt-on car with LS6 intake. Thanks!
1. AFR - Very good flow #'s, Lots of R&D
2. All Pro - THICK heads, very durable
3. Patriot - Cheap, has shown performance gains.
Now, that being said, I would like to hear a few of the H/C guys chime in on what they like/dislike about their particular heads. Price is a concern too, so list what you picked them up for if you could. The cam is listed in my sig, full bolt-on car with LS6 intake. Thanks!
12-18-2005, 05:32 PM
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From your sig, it looks like you can count the All Pro's out. The port Volume of those are much larger than that of a AFR or comparibale equipped head, with less flow. There meant for guys who want to go all out and have extra room to work with. If your on a budget, the AFR 205's are gunna be your best bet. If your looking for one of the best, price of no concern, a set of ETP 215cc 11 degree heads would be your best bet. You can see them at www.etheads.com .
12-18-2005, 06:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Beast96Z
From your sig, it looks like you can count the All Pro's out. The port Volume of those are much larger than that of a AFR or comparibale equipped head, with less flow. There meant for guys who want to go all out and have extra room to work with. If your on a budget, the AFR 205's are gunna be your best bet. If your looking for one of the best, price of no concern, a set of ETP 215cc 11 degree heads would be your best bet. You can see them at www.etheads.com .
Ed
12-18-2005, 07:24 PM
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One more thing to consider with the ETP 11* heads, is the additional expense for special pushrods, rocker stands, and rocker cover spacers. They are no doubt a great head judging from the #s, but may be a little overkill for a street engine IMHO.
Not to be bring up a subject that has been debated to death while we are wait on some evidence, but the Dart heads will come in close the price range of the ported stockers, and are "rumored" to produce #s in the range of AFR. Only time and #s will tell.
Not to be bring up a subject that has been debated to death while we are wait on some evidence, but the Dart heads will come in close the price range of the ported stockers, and are "rumored" to produce #s in the range of AFR. Only time and #s will tell.
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12-18-2005, 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by SPANKY LS1
ETP or AFR all the way. As far as I'm concerned, ported stock heads are a thing of the past.
Shawn
Shawn
AFR is the way to go, you will not be dissapointed :yup:
12-18-2005, 10:32 PM
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Originally Posted by BOTTLE ROCKET
One more thing to consider with the ETP 11* heads, is the additional expense for special pushrods, rocker stands, and rocker cover spacers. They are no doubt a great head judging from the #s, but may be a little overkill for a street engine IMHO.
Not to be bring up a subject that has been debated to death while we are wait on some evidence, but the Dart heads will come in close the price range of the ported stockers, and are "rumored" to produce #s in the range of AFR. Only time and #s will tell.
Not to be bring up a subject that has been debated to death while we are wait on some evidence, but the Dart heads will come in close the price range of the ported stockers, and are "rumored" to produce #s in the range of AFR. Only time and #s will tell.
12-19-2005, 02:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Beast96Z
That's not neccasarilly true. The heads come with the rocker stands, so there is no expense incurred with that, the pushrods aren't "speacial", there just longer. Most people doing a head cam swap go with a hardened pushrod anyway. The longer ones cost no more than a normal pushrod. The heads also don't need valve cover spacers. They might if you were running some large aftermarket shaft rockers, but the same would hold true with your other heads out there. There is really no way they could be overkill with sizes starting at 215cc's. The AFR's and the Darts will be good choices, but the ETP's are really in a better league, of course they have the 11* advantage, so they should be.
12-19-2005, 03:32 AM
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not so
Originally Posted by BOTTLE ROCKET
I'm just quoting what one of the vendors on this forum, that sell BOTH heads, relayed to me. I was trying to decide between the 3 heads (AFR, ETP and Dart) and since he sold the 1st two, I asked for a recommendation between the two and that was his reply. The ETPs are designed to be able to use larger valves and cams that would "typically" be found on an engine used more for racing than the street. Sure you can use them on the street, but you proably wouldn't get to use them to their full potential JMOH
That is not true at all. Our heads are designed to be one of the mildest and one of the wildest, kinda like dual personallities. Our 215 uses a 2.040 and 1.570 valve combo. That is way streetable. Our target was your everyday head and cam car. It is only a myth that they are best as a race head. As far as pricey, they are very close to an AFR. We also use a competition series valve standard, most others don't. we use a large dia. spring, they are clearanced for 3/8 pushrods, hardened head bolt seats, helicoiled rocker arm mount holes, billett rocker stands. Add it all up. We sell a lot for a little, if we were targeting only the"race" crowd. these heads would start at 3000.00 per set.
12-19-2005, 03:39 AM
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you can go to www.totalengineairflow.com and check out their h1.5 heads..really killer set up and $1500...more than patriot but LOT less than AFR
12-19-2005, 05:39 PM
#15
Originally Posted by BOTTLE ROCKET
I'm just quoting what one of the vendors on this forum, that sell BOTH heads, relayed to me. I was trying to decide between the 3 heads (AFR, ETP and Dart) and since he sold the 1st two, I asked for a recommendation between the two and that was his reply. The ETPs are designed to be able to use larger valves and cams that would "typically" be found on an engine used more for racing than the street. Sure you can use them on the street, but you proably wouldn't get to use them to their full potential JMOH
12-19-2005, 06:14 PM
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Originally Posted by cary et performance
That is not true at all. Our heads are designed to be one of the mildest and one of the wildest, kinda like dual personallities. Our 215 uses a 2.040 and 1.570 valve combo. That is way streetable. Our target was your everyday head and cam car. It is only a myth that they are best as a race head. As far as pricey, they are very close to an AFR. We also use a competition series valve standard, most others don't. we use a large dia. spring, they are clearanced for 3/8 pushrods, hardened head bolt seats, helicoiled rocker arm mount holes, billett rocker stands. Add it all up. We sell a lot for a little, if we were targeting only the"race" crowd. these heads would start at 3000.00 per set.
Right from the source!
BTW Cary ... where are my "special" heads?
Ed
12-19-2005, 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by SPANKY LS1
See, I always knew you were special. Special as in Special Ed.
12-20-2005, 03:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Beast96Z
That just shows that you should always get a second opinion.
1. The vendor/shop owner in question is one of the most respected and referenced on this site. By your own admission, he almost dominates a certain segment of the performance market. And I repeat, He sells BOTH heads.
2. He answered my question honostly; I asked him for a recomedation for MY application and he gave me his opinion. I wanted a set of heads that were the BEST DEAL (not cheapest) for my needs. I have a stock bore car with a TR224 cam and ALL the bolt ons. I want a completly streetable car that I can toss some bags in and head for the mountains for the weekend, get 24mpg with the AC on, then come back, and if I want,throw on my BFG DRs, and drive to the local track and run high 10s (with N2O assistance).
He stated that if I was planning to go any bigger with cam, valves, bore, etc., in the future, the ETPs would be the better choice, but for my appication, the AFRs would be a great choice.
My intention for posting to this tread was not to start a "Pi_ _ ing" contest, but to provide BZC with the information I had received while reserching heads to purchase.
12-20-2005, 04:22 PM
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Thank you all for your reccomendations! It's a helluva choice to make not knowing what else I will eventually do to it. I have also done some reasearch on my own, and gave Jeremy Formato a call, so I've got a lot to choose from here. Thanks again! 
Oh, and I was also wondering, does anyone run or know of someone running the GM CNC LS6 head that GM Performance parts sells?
Oh, and I was also wondering, does anyone run or know of someone running the GM CNC LS6 head that GM Performance parts sells?