Parkway440

iTrader: (7)

I got a good deal on a pair of used AFR 205's from a member on this site.
He said they were milled to 61cc. I plan on a cam and converter later but would like to have these on my car now instead of on the shelf collecting dust. My car is a a4 with 126k miles on it. I recently had long tube headers and ls6 intake installed and tuned. It made 326rwhp and 338tq. My question is what should I except to gain and what would be a fair price to pay for labor here in N.C. Can any locals recommend a shop to do the work?

Thanks
Parkway440

SOMbitch

iTrader: (8)

$700 +/- is the going rate around here for swapping heads. pm me where you are in NC and I can make some suggestions.....

HitmanLS1

iTrader: (16)

I would go ahead and buy a cam if I was you.

Kingc8r

iTrader: (21)

and unless you go with a small cam you will need a converter

HitmanLS1

iTrader: (16)

yes true

Parkway440

iTrader: (7)

Thanks for the replies. When I do a cam and converter I will also need a trans. cooler and I would want to rebuild and beef up the trans. before I do that. I didn't realize labor would be that much. Plus I would need another tune. That's why I was wanting some real RWHP #'s for the heads only swap to help me decide if it would be worth doing just the heads for now.

Thanks,
Parkway440

Michael02hawk

iTrader: (26)

A converter (or clutch w/M6 cars), suspension upgrades and bolt ons "should" come first when it comes to modding.

Then your ready for a head & cam combo, not just any combo, but one speced out for your setup.

IMO, do the converter, then call Tony Mamo and have him suggest a cam for his heads and your setup.

Parkway440

iTrader: (7)

Cool, I may as well go ahead and build my trans buy a converter and have Tick stick their Polluter Cam in. With doing that why not stick a set of rings bearings and rod bolts in it.

Littlemotor

iTrader: (10)

PM me. I am in your area and know of a couple VERY REPUTABLE shops locally that can help with your needs.

-Greg

hammertime

iTrader: (1)

You should see a solid improvement with just the heads ~ 40hp at the flywheel according to this article from Corvette Fever, found on AFR's website.
With your mileage, I can certainly appreciate the desire to freshen things up once you get started on a project like this. That said, the polluter is a huge cam, and you will definitely need a high stall, tranny cooler and a built trans to take advantage of the power it makes. That cam will want to spin a lot of RPM, in trade for a lot softer performance in the low range.

You could install the heads as is with the stock cam and a thinner .40" gasket and make some great power all over, without getting into the trans at all. If you do decide to cam it, I agree with Michael02hawk on calling Tony Mamo for a cam suggestion. Avoiding "big-cam-itis" will net you a better driving car with 98% of the power that max effort cams can produce.

Fbodyjunkie06

iTrader: (10)

Listen to this man^^^

Littlemotor

iTrader: (10)

Agreed.

stevied916

iTrader: (30)

you can change the bolts but don't mess with the rings and bearings...those are parts where the motor should be pulled and clearances checked with the bearings, crank mic'd and the bores honed to seat the rings. I wouldn't even change anything if I were you unless you have high miles. just do the cam, heads, timing chain, and converter

TransAmcoupe98

iTrader: (10)

AFR has a package with their 205's combined with their 224/228 cam and consistently makes 450whp. The cam has excellent drivability and performance. Proven time and again. I would look into getting that cam, and all you would have to run is a 3000-3500 converter.

Parkway440

iTrader: (7)

Thanks guys! I appreciate it. I'll talk to Tony. I have no plans of going to the drag strip I just want my car to fly, anytime at any speed in any gear........... Any suggestions on converts?

stevied916

iTrader: (30)

you should somewhat match the converter to the cam. Pick a cam you want first then the converter

Mazzenger

iTrader: (5)

I am very pleased w/my AFR 205s. Get a good cam/converter and tune and you will be happy.

black00ssFL

iTrader: (24)

Here's some advice from a sense of efficiency. Your VE will be way off with the new heads.....even though you still have the stock cam. That means a tune will be a must. Also, when you have the heads off, you will be able to get to the lifters easily and won't have to deal with them falling on a cam swap and investing in a tool to keep them from falling. And, you'll also have pretty much everything off when swapping heads that will make a cam swap easy (pretty much everything but the pulley and radiator is off and out of the way).

So, my advice is to wait 'til you get your cam and stall. You'll be paying for two tunes vs one if you do it separate. And you'll be investing more time or money into two tear downs for the install if you do them separate. You can install the stall and cooler with it and wait on the trans rebuild. But, it makes way more sense just to wait for at least a cam kit and install it all at once!

WSsick

iTrader: (13)

this.

corvet786c

iTrader: (6)

I have the AFR package and I did not get the 450rwhp like u talked about. You also must infer that the AFR heads have to be mamofied another 20rwhp and another grand. That is runners have to be massaged etc etc. Mine were just out of the box.