Edelbrock LT1 heads
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,776
Likes: 1
From: South Dakota
The $700 each ones are the lt1 170cc ones that flow 238cfm, the $1000 each ones are the lt4 195cc ones that flow 265.
And duh, you are forgetting its $1400 for BARE edelbrocks and $1400 for ASSEMBLED trickflows. Call up LE or AI or TEA or anyone that ports alot of lt1 heads and ask about their experiences with edelbrocks vs trickflows and post the replies here. We'd all like to know. But IIRC Lloyd has dug into edelbrocks and found they have thin walls and little meat and could not be made much better. I am all for you doing this. But if you really decide to do it, please do it in a big writeup, and get a baseline with stock heads, a second baseline with "as cast" edelbrocks, then again after you get them ported using the same intake and cam, but do get it properly tuned each time.
Also, there are no LT engines NA putting 600 to the tires on pump gas that i know of, if there are thats a very happy dyno. I don't know if you meant 500, but quik95ta is only putting 560ish to the tires and he's on race gas. Guys that build "race bred SBCs" are the guys who build lt1s with 10:1 compression. Yes everyone on here pushes ported stock heads to people who say they are on a budget because it is the best $/hp. And the typical, I'm not saying all, LT owner bought the LT1 because they are on a budget and couldn't afford an LS, so why spend $3000 for 340rwhp when you can get 420 for $2000?
OP, the $700 each edelbrocks only flow 238cfm, that's barely more than stock. Why waste your money? For $1400 you can get trickflows that flow 275 out of the box, assembled, and still have little downtime. Or spend the damn $200 on another set of cores and have Lloyd work them over and your out the door with LE1s for $1100 and still no downtime.
And duh, you are forgetting its $1400 for BARE edelbrocks and $1400 for ASSEMBLED trickflows. Call up LE or AI or TEA or anyone that ports alot of lt1 heads and ask about their experiences with edelbrocks vs trickflows and post the replies here. We'd all like to know. But IIRC Lloyd has dug into edelbrocks and found they have thin walls and little meat and could not be made much better. I am all for you doing this. But if you really decide to do it, please do it in a big writeup, and get a baseline with stock heads, a second baseline with "as cast" edelbrocks, then again after you get them ported using the same intake and cam, but do get it properly tuned each time.
Also, there are no LT engines NA putting 600 to the tires on pump gas that i know of, if there are thats a very happy dyno. I don't know if you meant 500, but quik95ta is only putting 560ish to the tires and he's on race gas. Guys that build "race bred SBCs" are the guys who build lt1s with 10:1 compression. Yes everyone on here pushes ported stock heads to people who say they are on a budget because it is the best $/hp. And the typical, I'm not saying all, LT owner bought the LT1 because they are on a budget and couldn't afford an LS, so why spend $3000 for 340rwhp when you can get 420 for $2000?
OP, the $700 each edelbrocks only flow 238cfm, that's barely more than stock. Why waste your money? For $1400 you can get trickflows that flow 275 out of the box, assembled, and still have little downtime. Or spend the damn $200 on another set of cores and have Lloyd work them over and your out the door with LE1s for $1100 and still no downtime.
Last edited by bufmatmuslepants; Aug 20, 2013 at 06:57 PM.
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
From: Chicago Suburbs
Yeah, I didn't see the "uses customer cores" fine print. $2027 fully optioned plus a set of cores. That seems a bit steep for me, really.
Given the OP's limitations of needing a set of order and bolt on set of heads to minimize downtime, what is a good off the shelf, order and go cylinder head for a mild 350-355?
I'll be honest...I'm an engineer who designs tools for a living...press tools that are made of finely machined/ground/finished tool steels and usually cost several thousand dollars or more each. I really have no desire at work to cough up phat dough, then spend more time fitting tools and making them work. I have an expectation that they are ready to go with a basic wipe-down and visual inspection.
I honestly think something like an assembled cylinder head is no different. Honestly, even if I had the proper tools and know how to tear down a set of assembled heads, I'd probably make them dirtier and introduce more contamination than I'd remove if the heads were built in a proper shop.
Just my $0.10.
Thanks,
Dave
Given the OP's limitations of needing a set of order and bolt on set of heads to minimize downtime, what is a good off the shelf, order and go cylinder head for a mild 350-355?
I'll be honest...I'm an engineer who designs tools for a living...press tools that are made of finely machined/ground/finished tool steels and usually cost several thousand dollars or more each. I really have no desire at work to cough up phat dough, then spend more time fitting tools and making them work. I have an expectation that they are ready to go with a basic wipe-down and visual inspection.
I honestly think something like an assembled cylinder head is no different. Honestly, even if I had the proper tools and know how to tear down a set of assembled heads, I'd probably make them dirtier and introduce more contamination than I'd remove if the heads were built in a proper shop.
Just my $0.10.
Thanks,
Dave
10 Second Club
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,630
Likes: 28
My question is "how many people slap on AFR's out of the box?" I don't know anyone that is going to invest in any aftermarket casting and the just slap them on. There is no real benefit to doing it. Most aftermarket castings are not up to snuff with a ported stocker on any engine. But, if you invest in porting for said aftermarket casting your numbers are higher than what they would be with ported stockers. Since nobody has chimed in as to their personal experience with these heads, maybe if the OP wants to use them, why should we bash him for it?
Staging Lane
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 81
Likes: 0
From: Chicagoland
Here's a good cyl head comparo from GM High-Tech Performance, worth a read if y'all haven't seen it.
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...n/viewall.html
OP, I believe AI sells new bare LT1 castings for a reasonable price, you could get those and go from there.
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...n/viewall.html
OP, I believe AI sells new bare LT1 castings for a reasonable price, you could get those and go from there.
Since there are still somehow people doubting that edelbrocks are a poor choice for the money, here are some real world comparisons:
Gm High tech Performance:
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...n/viewall.html
Cliff Notes: A 383 stroker LT1 with the edelbrock top end kit made 471/413 crank horsepower on an engine dyno at Golen. These were the lowest peak numbers out of all the brands they tested (AFR, Dart, Edelbrock, Stockers CNC'd by Golen, and Trickflow)
Popular Hot Rodding:
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng...e/viewall.html
Cliff notes: They dyno'd a whopping 283/252 on a chassis dyno with a full bolt-on car with the Edelbrock top end kit.
Car Craft:
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...d/viewall.html
Cliff Notes: They built a 355 LT1 with the Lt1 top end kit and made 367/404 at the crank on an engine dyno with edelbrock's cam. With a custom cam they made 414/402 peak hp/torque. (also, just a note, if anybody would fudge numbers in edelbrock's favor it'd be car craft-edelbrock is a huge supporter of them).
There are dozens of people n hs website alone that can attest they have made 390-430rwhp on factory-cast ported heads with an aftermarket cam. That's around 480hp on an engine dyno, give or take on drivetrain loss.
But, if you feel the ened to buy the edelbrocks, please do and post up dyno nubers afterwards so people can reference it in the future lol.
Gm High tech Performance:
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...n/viewall.html
Cliff Notes: A 383 stroker LT1 with the edelbrock top end kit made 471/413 crank horsepower on an engine dyno at Golen. These were the lowest peak numbers out of all the brands they tested (AFR, Dart, Edelbrock, Stockers CNC'd by Golen, and Trickflow)
Popular Hot Rodding:
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng...e/viewall.html
Cliff notes: They dyno'd a whopping 283/252 on a chassis dyno with a full bolt-on car with the Edelbrock top end kit.
Car Craft:
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...d/viewall.html
Cliff Notes: They built a 355 LT1 with the Lt1 top end kit and made 367/404 at the crank on an engine dyno with edelbrock's cam. With a custom cam they made 414/402 peak hp/torque. (also, just a note, if anybody would fudge numbers in edelbrock's favor it'd be car craft-edelbrock is a huge supporter of them).
There are dozens of people n hs website alone that can attest they have made 390-430rwhp on factory-cast ported heads with an aftermarket cam. That's around 480hp on an engine dyno, give or take on drivetrain loss.
But, if you feel the ened to buy the edelbrocks, please do and post up dyno nubers afterwards so people can reference it in the future lol.
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Yeah, I didn't see the "uses customer cores" fine print. $2027 fully optioned plus a set of cores. That seems a bit steep for me, really.
Given the OP's limitations of needing a set of order and bolt on set of heads to minimize downtime, what is a good off the shelf, order and go cylinder head for a mild 350-355?
Thanks,
Dave
Given the OP's limitations of needing a set of order and bolt on set of heads to minimize downtime, what is a good off the shelf, order and go cylinder head for a mild 350-355?
Thanks,
Dave
Once again, I'll ask......has anyone had any PERSONAL experience with the Edelbrock heads?
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,740
Likes: 2
From: Nebraska
No, Dave, thank YOU! You seem to be one of the few that actually understands my question. Until a couple of years ago, when I retired, my car was a summer time daily driver, one that saw 50 miles a day of back and forth to work, driving on Interstate 490. It has the "granny gears", so I don't spend a fortune on gas, I'm not looking for "big HP numbers", but I do like a car with a little mid-range punch. Right now, I'm simply looking for a QUALITY, easy to install, replacement cylinder head.....
Once again, I'll ask......has anyone had any PERSONAL experience with the Edelbrock heads?
Once again, I'll ask......has anyone had any PERSONAL experience with the Edelbrock heads?
Throwing on as cast Edelbrock heads won't net anything with the stock cam. No I do not have PERSONAL experience but you don't need it when it's in writing. You just need a good set of stock heads which can be had for cheap. Unless you get those edelbrocks for cheap, then there is no gain.
I say go for it, do what you want, and make a dedicated detailed thread documenting everything. Put it on a dyno, take it to the track, post what you paid, everything, maybe you will have good results.
No, Dave, thank YOU! You seem to be one of the few that actually understands my question. Until a couple of years ago, when I retired, my car was a summer time daily driver, one that saw 50 miles a day of back and forth to work, driving on Interstate 490. It has the "granny gears", so I don't spend a fortune on gas, I'm not looking for "big HP numbers", but I do like a car with a little mid-range punch. Right now, I'm simply looking for a QUALITY, easy to install, replacement cylinder head.....
Once again, I'll ask......has anyone had any PERSONAL experience with the Edelbrock heads?
Once again, I'll ask......has anyone had any PERSONAL experience with the Edelbrock heads?
If you want proven performance and do not want to throw the dice as to whether or not the Edelbrocks will work, talk to AI or GTP on the phone. Tell them of the current problems with the heads you have. Pretty sure either would still take them as cores. You'll get a decent heads/cam package with either company and it will be basically up to you as to whether or not they perform like they were designed to.
I can't speak to the E'brocks.....but I had an unported set of 180cc Dart Pro-1's on a 383.....made 400+ HP at the wheels until it blew a head gasket.
If I was gonna buy a set of aftermarket heads for a 350.....I'd absolutely would go with the 180cc Pro-1's.
Jus' sayin'.....
KW
If I was gonna buy a set of aftermarket heads for a 350.....I'd absolutely would go with the 180cc Pro-1's.
Jus' sayin'.....
KW
This would lead one to believe the E'brock heads are very close to the LT4 heads as far as performance is concerned.
KW