shoul I buy new afr or used afr head?
#1
shoul I buy new afr or used afr head?
A guy is selling his afr 205 cc heads from his 04 gto. I don't know how many miles it has, I am waiting for his reply to this questions. What do you guys think ? Buy a used one for $ 1700 or buy new one for $2300 ????
#6
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (9)
If you are running a 4"+ bore then buy the L92 heads with intake. The AFR's are junk compared to them for the money. If the bore is smaller then 4", sorry after rereading your sign, I see you are probly still with the 346. I personaly would not give more then 500 dollars for a used set of heads. You never know what you will run into when you get them rebuilt. For the price he is asking you are better off getting new ones. But for 2400, I would look into having a larger bore engine built. You can pick up a good short block from one of are sponsors, then go to Scoggin Dicky (a sponsor as well) and get the L92 heads and intake. Those heads out flow and out preform the AFR's, and they are under 500 each (under 200 for the bare heads each!). Going from 346 to 408 plus the better head and intake, look out my friend, it will fly! But be warned, doing so will give you issues with the transmition, traction, and probly the rear end (once the traction issue is fixed), also everyone you hang with will turn on you and start gunning for you. Good luck! Wait, what engine do you have? Is the car a Goat? Is it the LS2? If so then you can run the L92 heads which are a better set of heads. Check out the ones Texas Speed sells that are CNC ported. I think they are close to 1700 after porting, and they will flat out preform the AFR's.
Last edited by Texas_WS6; 02-03-2008 at 11:43 AM.
Trending Topics
#9
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
When he installed them, did he set up the valve train correctly? Did he check his wipe? Which valve springs are on the heads? What rockers did he use? The reason for all these questions is that a used set of heads, incorrectly setup when installed, can have a lot of valve guide wear and you will end up with the problem. If you don't know that he verified his wipe and valve train geometry, I would personally spend the extra and go new.
PS: This is an installation step that likely 90% of the guys don't bother with.
PS: This is an installation step that likely 90% of the guys don't bother with.
#12
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (9)
The intake I am sugesting for the L92 heads is not the L76 plastic intake. It is the L76/L92 4-barrel intake manifold part number 25534416 from GM, priced at $370 threw Scogin Dicky (a sponsor here). You would also need a 90 degree elbow on top for the throttle body to bolt to, which you can also find here from sponsors for about $250 dollars. So for about $720 for the intake parts and less than $500 each for the L92 heads (from Scogin Dickey, a sponsor here, without port work but with higher lift springs and valves), you get a head intake set up for close to $1700 dollars new. And the AFR heads do not flow as good as the L92 heads. Once you look at the improvement with the heads and the large improvement in the intake, AFR heads are not worth the money and will not give you as good of a performance upgrade. One thing I left out was with these heads you have to change the Rocker arms and rocker supports, so add at least $250 for the GM ones.
Last edited by Texas_WS6; 02-03-2008 at 12:51 PM. Reason: Correct spelling
#13
No, $1,700 isn't worth it. I spent $700 parts/labor for a local engine builder to deck & freshen mine 1.6 years ago. Looks to me as though an excellent alternative has been suggested here. Why not go that route? Good-luck
#14
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (1)
The intake I am sugesting for the L92 heads is not the L76 plastic intake. It is the L76/L92 4-barrel intake manifold part number 25534416 from GM, priced at $370 threw Scogin Dicky (a sponsor here). You would also need a 90 degree elbow on top for the throttle body to bolt to, which you can also find here from sponsors for about $250 dollars. So for about $720 for the intake parts and less than $500 each for the L92 heads (from Scogin Dickey, a sponsor here, without port work but with higher lift springs and valves), you get a head intake set up for close to $1700 dollars new. And the AFR heads do not flow as good as the L92 heads. Once you look at the improvement with the heads and the large improvement in the intake, AFR heads are not worth the money and will not give you as good of a performance upgrade. One thing I left out was with these heads you have to change the Rocker arms and rocker supports, so add at least $250 for the GM ones.
$370 + $250 + $1000 + $250 = $1870 for heads with huge 260cc intake ports, so-so exhaust flow, larger combustion chambers and intake valves that are generally are too big to run on a 3.9" bore. That head needs a healthy split in exhaust timing to over come the deficit in exhaust flow as designed. Of course you could just buy ported ones from TSP and spend even more...
Originally Posted by Texas_WS6
If you are running a 4"+ bore then buy the L92 heads with intake. The AFR's are junk compared to them for the money. If the bore is smaller then 4", sorry after rereading your sign, I see you are probly still with the 346. I personaly would not give more then 500 dollars for a used set of heads. You never know what you will run into when you get them rebuilt. For the price he is asking you are better off getting new ones. But for 2400, I would look into having a larger bore engine built. You can pick up a good short block from one of are sponsors, then go to Scoggin Dicky (a sponsor as well) and get the L92 heads and intake. Those heads out flow and out preform the AFR's, and they are under 500 each (under 200 for the bare heads each!). Going from 346 to 408 plus the better head and intake, look out my friend, it will fly! But be warned, doing so will give you issues with the transmition, traction, and probly the rear end (once the traction issue is fixed), also everyone you hang with will turn on you and start gunning
04goatman, if you can have the heads checked for guide wear, you may have yourself a good deal. If you are leery, the new heads are still a better value, IMO.
#15
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (9)
ummmm, yeah...sounds like the deal of the century
$370 + $250 + $1000 + $250 = $1870 for heads with huge 260cc intake ports, so-so exhaust flow, larger combustion chambers and intake valves that are generally are too big to run on a 3.9" bore. That head needs a healthy split in exhaust timing to over come the deficit in exhaust flow as designed. Of course you could just buy ported ones from TSP and spend even more...
Sorry man, but you are calling one of the best heads available for a 346ci LS1 junk, and recommending the poster spend more money to piece together an entirely different setup that is not ideal for his engine (note the stock 241 heads and '04 GTO forum name).
04goatman, if you can have the heads checked for guide wear, you may have yourself a good deal. If you are leery, the new heads are still a better value, IMO.
$370 + $250 + $1000 + $250 = $1870 for heads with huge 260cc intake ports, so-so exhaust flow, larger combustion chambers and intake valves that are generally are too big to run on a 3.9" bore. That head needs a healthy split in exhaust timing to over come the deficit in exhaust flow as designed. Of course you could just buy ported ones from TSP and spend even more...
Sorry man, but you are calling one of the best heads available for a 346ci LS1 junk, and recommending the poster spend more money to piece together an entirely different setup that is not ideal for his engine (note the stock 241 heads and '04 GTO forum name).
04goatman, if you can have the heads checked for guide wear, you may have yourself a good deal. If you are leery, the new heads are still a better value, IMO.