Race heads? Need some advice
12-11-2004, 05:11 PM
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Race heads? Need some advice Long story short:
I paid about $2500 for a set of "race" heads. I took 'em to my local guru this week and dropped them off for a thorough inspection. He called and said the bowls didn't look very race ready. I called the shop that I bought the heads from (another thing: When I bought them, they were "our race heads" etc on the website and when I spoke with them. However the boxes are from a different sponsor) they said "We don't believe in hand polishing the bowls. Since I hadn't looked very closely at the bowls, I assumed they'd been cnc'd and the local guy was talking about hand smoothing, so I let it go at that.
I was going over the heads with my local engine guru today, and the bowls are just nasty...
The bowls are extremely rough. I mean like textured concrete. One of the heads has "cleanup" written on the deck in blue sharpie
This is definitely not what I was expecting from a set of race heads. The guru (who drag races professionally in addition to having a local race shop) says leaving the heads the way they are will be leaving 5-8% (so 40-65hp) on the bench. He talked to the machine shop that will be doing my block work, and they said the valves would need grinding work and cnc'ing the bowls would run $800-$1000. They also said for $2500, I could have used my stock heads and had them truly race ported. The engine guru took the heads by two other shops today that also do cnc work and prep race heads. According to him, neither shop was excited about the quality of the chambers.
I'm a bit disgusted with the quality. The bowls are still in rough casting, except where the cnc machine overlapped a bit doing the valve openings.
These heads should be similar to AFR 225s which are fully cnc'd. I visited the website of the company whose name is on the box, and they mention cnc'ing the chambers for stage 1 heads. For the price I paid, I'd expect these heads to be top of the line.
I measured the valves, and they are the correct size, but since I ordered a custom bowl size and these are rough castings, I am pretty sure they are the stock dimensions.
Needless to say, I am thinking of returning these.
I need some input. Am I being unrealistic by expecting $2500 race heads to have cnc'd and matched bowls rather than rough castings?
I paid about $2500 for a set of "race" heads. I took 'em to my local guru this week and dropped them off for a thorough inspection. He called and said the bowls didn't look very race ready. I called the shop that I bought the heads from (another thing: When I bought them, they were "our race heads" etc on the website and when I spoke with them. However the boxes are from a different sponsor) they said "We don't believe in hand polishing the bowls. Since I hadn't looked very closely at the bowls, I assumed they'd been cnc'd and the local guy was talking about hand smoothing, so I let it go at that.
I was going over the heads with my local engine guru today, and the bowls are just nasty...
The bowls are extremely rough. I mean like textured concrete. One of the heads has "cleanup" written on the deck in blue sharpie
This is definitely not what I was expecting from a set of race heads. The guru (who drag races professionally in addition to having a local race shop) says leaving the heads the way they are will be leaving 5-8% (so 40-65hp) on the bench. He talked to the machine shop that will be doing my block work, and they said the valves would need grinding work and cnc'ing the bowls would run $800-$1000. They also said for $2500, I could have used my stock heads and had them truly race ported. The engine guru took the heads by two other shops today that also do cnc work and prep race heads. According to him, neither shop was excited about the quality of the chambers.
I'm a bit disgusted with the quality. The bowls are still in rough casting, except where the cnc machine overlapped a bit doing the valve openings.
These heads should be similar to AFR 225s which are fully cnc'd. I visited the website of the company whose name is on the box, and they mention cnc'ing the chambers for stage 1 heads. For the price I paid, I'd expect these heads to be top of the line.
I measured the valves, and they are the correct size, but since I ordered a custom bowl size and these are rough castings, I am pretty sure they are the stock dimensions.
Needless to say, I am thinking of returning these.
I need some input. Am I being unrealistic by expecting $2500 race heads to have cnc'd and matched bowls rather than rough castings?
12-11-2004, 05:35 PM
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I think you have the "bowls" mixed up with what is being depicted, the combustion "chambers". What your pictures are showing is a stock "chamber" and the top cut of the valve job. You'd have to remove the valves and check "behind" them for the "bowls" or the pocket area of the runners...
Either way, if you're not happy, check with the supplier and see what they have to say...
Ed
Either way, if you're not happy, check with the supplier and see what they have to say...
Ed
12-11-2004, 05:45 PM
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Yah. My engine guy uses bowl for chamber and it's kinda worn off on me. I mean the chambers.
It's a good point though... I probably need to talk to the vendor again and make sure we were talking about the same things...
It's a good point though... I probably need to talk to the vendor again and make sure we were talking about the same things...
12-11-2004, 06:25 PM
#4
That's obviouslly a stock 6.0 chamber. If you ordered a specific combustion size, they could have gotten it with milling. Eiter way, not smoothing the cc is pretty dumb in my opinion. I've never seen or heard of anyone leaving the CC stock and I've owned many sets of heads. My personal heads have 2 diffrent textures for the intake and exaust chambers, but both have been smoothed. I'd send um back and go with someone that you know is going to do right. $2500 for a set of heads is a bit high these days. Most ported 6.0 castings can be done for 2K or less if CNC'd.