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TEA stage 2 (229CC 2.04" I valve) vs AI 226cc (226CC 2" I valve) and a wildcard
I simply want inputs on if the difference between these heads will be more, or less than 10 RWHP. That is all I am looking for now. I don't know if exhaust fixture means **** for intake flow, so I included it. I know I am cylinder head stupid, so please don't be an *******. Wildcard is listed at the bottom.
I do not know, nor can I find my cam specs. I am 100% it is between: 230-236/230-236/.590-.610/.590-.610.
I can go with TEA, and a rough cam measure, and eh..probably be ok.
I can go with AI, and have stock PTV with an option for 232cc for a future motor.
Then there is the wildcard.....
I can go with hand porting by Brian Tooley Racing with no documented anything.......
It's awfully tough to come up with a Mt. Rushmore of LS head porting.
There's simply WAY too many awesome ones. You got three right there
Now add in Tony Mamo and Frankenstein, Texas Speed, Livernois, Lingenfelter,
Heck, even that fella from Florida(zOsicktanner)who posts his hand artwork on here for all to drool.
IMO unless you already have castings you should quick jump on the Trick Flow special from Frankenstein before Friday. The 13.5 degree valve angle allows good PTV clearance even with a 2.04"/2.055" intake valve
If you're already sitting on some 799s, then a TEA stg 1 with the 2" intake valve
Will give you over 300 cfm on the intake and decent PTV if not milled a bunch
Last edited by A.R. Shale Targa; 10-25-2016 at 11:40 PM.
When you say hand porting by Brian, you mean to 243 castings? I run AI heads, and while they are aftermarket castings, I'm very happy with them. The port work was amazing and the heads I have straight up come to life at 4,000 rpm's.
As said, depends on what you have. If you have 799/243s, I'd use them. I went with them over aftermarket castings because they work. The TEA Stage 2 you can get from Tooley as well and that head has seen 520rwhp in a 346... and plenty of 490+rwhp numbers. It's also actually fast. Not just a dyno queen.
I'm actually in the same predicament. I've been researching ported 243's a lot lately and have gathered that TEA and Advanced Induction are arguably amongst the absolute best when it comes to porting the 243 heads. I'm flat out stuck between the stage 2 TEA's and the 226cc AI's myself. I have been hard pressed to find any real world information that would indicate much of a difference if any between the two and have concluded that I or anyone else would be more than happy with either option. I know that doesn't help your decision much but I would have confidence that either would be an excellent choice.
In regards to your original question and reason for the thread, will you see a variant difference of 10 rwhp between the two; my answer is no, no you will not.
I just made my decision between those 2 choices.. I ended up with AI 226 heads.. I think for the price you can't beat them.. Phil seems very knowledgeable when talking about the heads/cam through email. The port work looks excellent and can't imagine much power difference between the 2 heads. With the stock valves you won't lose any additional PTV versus the large valves in the TEA heads, but that doesn't matter unless you are cutting it close. They are both solid choices, I've heard claims of "typical" gains of 10-15 hp on the TEA heads over the AI heads but who knows how accurate that really is until you see a back to back test on the same dyno with the same exact weather conditions..
As said, depends on what you have. If you have 799/243s, I'd use them. I went with them over aftermarket castings because they work. The TEA Stage 2 you can get from Tooley as well and that head has seen 520rwhp in a 346... and plenty of 490+rwhp numbers. It's also actually fast. Not just a dyno queen.
Do you have any track and/or dyno results from your setup?
With proper maintenance (i.e. new springs correctly installed) my 2002 vintage TEA Stage 2 5.3 heads have lived for 120,000+ miles. My 99 TA still runs & drives as well as in 2002. I'm a fan of TEA's long term quality.
Brian Tooley hand finished the TEA Stage 2.5 LS6 heads on my 91 RS. With a small 229/229 .578 lift cam, the car made 465 rwhp in my 383 LS1 stroker. With more cam, 500+ possible, I think. These are the 2003 version of TEA's LS6 head. I'm sure the ones today are even better. Back in 2003 I had my NASCAR friends flow & check out my TEA LS6's. He felt they were an excellent head for the price of admission.
Tooley is excellent to work with and his customer service is A+.
I would buy again from TEA/Tooley.
Nothing against any other vendor etc as I think there are many good choices.
If this was LS7... The AI's are making better power. Myself, if I was DEAD SET on stock castings... search the classifieds and wait. No reason why you can't pick up a set of AFR 205's or TFS 215's for under 1500. Sell your 243/799 and you're actually saving money.
With proper maintenance (i.e. new springs correctly installed) my 2002 vintage TEA Stage 2 5.3 heads have lived for 120,000+ miles. My 99 TA still runs & drives as well as in 2002. I'm a fan of TEA's long term quality.
Brian Tooley hand finished the TEA Stage 2.5 LS6 heads on my 91 RS. With a small 229/229 .578 lift cam, the car made 465 rwhp in my 383 LS1 stroker. With more cam, 500+ possible, I think. These are the 2003 version of TEA's LS6 head. I'm sure the ones today are even better. Back in 2003 I had my NASCAR friends flow & check out my TEA LS6's. He felt they were an excellent head for the price of admission.
Tooley is excellent to work with and his customer service is A+.
I would buy again from TEA/Tooley.
Nothing against any other vendor etc as I think there are many good choices.
Agreed the current owner of my FRC is still running TEA Stg2 5.3s, solid work, and good power. I have researched the same question here for a friend, and it would likely come down to which one costs less ,as posted about you're likely talking ~10rwhp tops. AI has a solid reputation as does TEA. If it is toss up on price, I would go TEA strictly out of my own brand loyalty and I fully admit that if I owned a set of AI's previously it would likely flip.
10-25-2016, 10:37 PM
TEA stage 2 (229CC 2.04" I valve) vs AI 226cc (226CC 2" I valve) and a wildcard 
