Who does the best porting for heads?
$1700 + you supplied the cores?
$1300 for the head work? (-$400 cam)
Thats basically what we are talking about here in terms of budgets. Add the $500 243s you provided, thats $1800 AND you didnt get new valves which just brought you to $2000 if you did.
I would sell my existing 243s and just buy the ready to go set. That would get you in the ballpark of $1,000 for CNC ported heads, larger SS valves, HD springs, titanium retainers AND ready to bolt on!!
Form what I people are focusing on price and features never bothering to actually consider consistently proven performance.
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
No, they touched up my stock valves and reused all of the parts except for the valvesprings, which are PSI beehives, for the price given. My motor only had 45K on it, so all of the associated parts were fine.
$1700 + you supplied the cores?
Yes, I pulled the heads off my motor and sent them down for valvejob, decking, and port job
$1300 for the head work? (-$400 cam)
Around there for the head work, springs, and pushrods
Thats basically what we are talking about here in terms of budgets. Add the $500 243s you provided, thats $1800 AND you didnt get new valves which just brought you to $2000 if you did.
You are correct
I am not a big aftermarket guy, so I was very happy to send off my stock parts to be improved by professionals. The guys down there did nice machine work and answered my 10,000 questions while they were doing it. I am pleased, but this route is certainly not for everyone. In my opinion, the unshrouded stock valves will flow all I need to achieve my power goals, but if your goals are different this route may not be for you.
C
You can get a budget set heads cam package from Texas speed for possibly more or less power. But the reason I chose my route is because AI work is consistent when it comes to power. The heads Perform on par with large brand heads.... And I got heads and cam for the price of trickflows..
If you watch Ebay and have patience you can get a decent price on some 243/799's. I got mine for $350 shipped from a reputable seller that sells lots of 243/799's, just gotta catch the right time. Mine are off to AI for the premium 226 CNC package later this summer.
When you take into consideration total flow from intake to head, almost all modified cyl heads out flow the intake where intake is a restriction but when doing this sort of work, if you ignore the valves (sizing and weight) you cant just have them modified to fit. I ran into that on my LT1 car. Had CNC work done to stock casting, stock valves. I wanted larger/lighter valves and Lloyd Elliot personally told me he would charge me exactly the same had they been not modified due to him redoing all the work so those heads were best to be sold and rebuy, if that is what I wanted to do. I decided to divest the LT1 motor and go LS1 but basically same concept.
Spend the money as best you can knowing you can divest and not lose too much money.
When you take into consideration total flow from intake to head, almost all modified cyl heads out flow the intake where intake is a restriction but when doing this sort of work, if you ignore the valves (sizing and weight) you cant just have them modified to fit. I ran into that on my LT1 car. Had CNC work done to stock casting, stock valves. I wanted larger/lighter valves and Lloyd Elliot personally told me he would charge me exactly the same had they been not modified due to him redoing all the work so those heads were best to be sold and rebuy, if that is what I wanted to do. I decided to divest the LT1 motor and go LS1 but basically same concept.
Spend the money as best you can knowing you can divest and not lose too much money.
All very good theory but those of us with open minds see theory get thrown out the window here in the real world pretty regularly.
IMO there is a little bit of art to cylinder head design that is not easily measured or explained other than to just admit sometimes something works better in the real world than it does in theory.





