Aftermarket Product ReviewProvide questions and answers about aftermarket parts for the Third Generation F-Body.
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They look kinda like my Pro Tpolines(now RHS) especially with the "...raised runner...only fits Victor/Hurricane manifold..." in the write-up. But, thats from looking at a small pic and write-up, so I'd just go w/ the RHS, about the same money anyhow.....
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Why dont you look into the RHS heads? They are proven heads with good quality and affordable.
__________________ Jp Shawgo - Close E'nuff Racing
1986 camaro - 10.5 outlaw/Outlaw 632
1989 GTA vert www.sandeperformance.com
Id spend the extra $150 for piece of mind alone and get Trickflows or Brodix heads. Remember, there's more to heads than just flow: its cast quality, and also component quality. Besides, who do you think you are more likely to have good customer service with, a reputable company, or a knock off no name brand?
I bought a set of vortec aluminum heads made by ProComp. They've got 190cc runners, 2.02"intake and 1.60" exhaust. I purchased them from my local hot rod shop. I know the owner and he's built a sub 9 second car so I know he knows his stuff. Whatever says he I listen. He hasn't steered me wrong yet and they are a really nice set of heads.
Here is my Opinion well, it isn't really an opinion because I own one of the products.
I own the Procomp MSD knock-off distributor. Its a peice of ****. Every single one of the terminals on the cap pulled out of the cap itself when pulling wires off, the ignition module crapped out within a few months so it wouldnt start occasionally and i'm getting a oily residue inside of the cap itself which can't be good. Oil isn't very conductive if at all.
If this is an indication of the quality of other Pro-Comp products, i'd stay away. Expecially when its something like cylinder heads that could cause major damage.
I'm not the only one with a problem with their distributors either.
im going to be runnig there 190cc intake heads on my 355, ive seen them in person they are a great looking head!, quality looks top notch, and both the guy at the local speed shop and my engine buidler have had nothing but good things to say about them, look at the numbers they flow great and you cant beat the price
__________________ 385ci, Ported Brodix IK200's, 1.550" spring with titanium retainers, HSR, Scat 6" rods and stroker crank, SRP flat top pistons, All ARP fasteners, Cometic MLS head gaskets, Total seal rings, Crower 1.6 ratio offset rockers, 3/8" manley pushrods, Holley 58mm TB, ARP Head and main studs, ATI super damper, Canton road race pan, Comp hyd roller lifters, Custom ground LS firing order roller cam, coil on plug conversion, Ford Racing 36lb fuel injectors, JPP billet timing set, Clevite main rod and cam bearings. And probaly a hundred hours worth of custom small stuff.
a friend of mine has them on his blazer they are the 215 fully cnc ported one, we had no problems at all with them. They work great. at 600 they flow 306 which is real good. On the blazer with a 355 and them heads it ran 10.25 @ 134 all over the track and lifting 3 times on a 175 horse kit. and it weighs 3250 and it's areodinamicly challenged!
Hey when you guys put some miles on those heads report back. I seen some stuff about the heads having problems later down the line. But hey if they work good who knows.
DO NOT BUY PRO-COMP HEADS !!!!!
I helped a friend assemble a 351 Windsor and when it came to the point to check the piston to valve clearance, the rocker arm tip to the valve was off.
The tip was more towards the intake side of the valve all the way through the rotation. At first it seemed to be a push rod lenght issue, then we realized that the stud bosses were off about .100 thousands towards the intake side. There is no cheap way to fix this issue. We sent the heads back for a set of Edelbrock Victor JR's and the problem was solved. Another situation was with a friend that purchased a victor sbc knock off intake. The ports were hammered in the intake and had casting flash that was epoxied, that was almost falling off. Their Quality is horrible, so buy at your own risk..... Their parts are not associated with Pro-Action or RHS in any way.
__________________ '91 GTA L98
"What does matter is that the current GTA carries on the idea of the first Trans Am proudly and deservedly. It's still the most mature and
sophisticated ponycar. It still has character. It still has muscle. And it's still worthy of the name." -Car Craft, 1991
That boatstore article is BS, Ive got a set on my 383 and I couldnt ask for a better running motor. Granted as stated above the older ford castings required offset rockers, but I sell over 100 sets of SBC heads a month with 0 problems. Also I sell alot of the SBF, BBC, and Iron Chrysler magum heads with 0 problems as well. For the money you cant go wrong. Just buy them bare and assemble with quality components. It seems like the only people with problems are buying all of the older castings that are selling on ebay or have been sitting on a shelf for a long time. If anyone would like to see pics of mine I will be happy to send them to you just drop me a PM
I have seen 2 different sets up here in canada....1 from a retailer, and bought off of ebay. there was a difference in dech thickness and rough casting marks. the newer ones were better quality. some guys on www.maliburacing.com didnt like them when they tried them. But i think for the most part its going to depend on what your upgrading from.....stock gm old iron, or going from a set of dart iron eagles.
I know a guy that is running a set on a mild 350 in a 72 Nova. He likes them. I bought a set of Dart's new platinum pro1 heads fully assembled and shipped for $1065. Just a thought.
Here's my opinion, There is no better head than what you are willing to spend. Personally i bought The AFR Race heads and they ran me right at 1550 will springs for a solid roller cam. Either these or Dart pro 1 aluminum were my two choices. The flow numbers on either of these two surpasses the pro comp i see advertised. The AFR and Dart only differ a little in the cc i got afr 210 and i think the darts are 215. How much power do you want. I am shooting for around six hundred, from what i read the pro comp are good for 500 or so.
Hey there from Australia. Just to clear up myth and dispel the illusion that Aussie manufacturing is garbage, PROCOMP cylinder heads ARE NOT made in Australia. They are marketed here and unfortunately many people believe them to made here, tarnishing our reputation for great and innovative engineering.
I believe that great RHS heads are manufactured in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. I have a PROCOMP coil in cap "HEI" dizzy (came with it unfortunately) on my ski boat and its just as bigger piece of garbage as the rest of their stuff. We keep melting the guts of it out. Several local hotrodders have been bitten by the same problem, getting 50 klicks down the road and breaking down! We're putting a Mallory on soon.
Their electronics might be bad. Never bought any of it. But, I have a set of Pro Comp 210 cc heads that I bought bare. I'm going to do my own porting. I also have a set of Dart 200 cc Iron eagles, and a set of Dart 215 Iron Eagles. The Pro Comp heads have a much nicer casting. Didn't take near as much porting to get them ready to go. I did however get one with a raised valve guide. I sent it back and got a replacement. I have started the setup on the springs ect. All of the installed hights were with in .002. That's pretty darned good. They do need a little work to make them a very good head. I'll do a little work for $900.00. They could have been run right out of the box with an intake match on a street car. Don't knock sh-t unless you have had first hand experiance with it.
I have just got done putting these heads on my camaro with tpi on it. These heads do seem ok but there is some work involved. Iused a 15 thousands head gasket. Stock push rod length seemed ok to me and some of the thins I had to do to get these work was I had to use a 1985 intake from a tpi car and I had to drimmel bottom spring retainer thing or what I think is called to cup. not much but just enought to be able to get the socket on the head bolt. Other than that they seem to be working good I had a set of vortec 194's on there before. and I have notice a great deal of a power increase over them. The heads I went with are the 2.02 1.60 vale 190cc on a 64cc combustion chamber. Thanks
That boatstore article is BS, Ive got a set on my 383 and I couldnt ask for a better running motor. Granted as stated above the older ford castings required offset rockers, but I sell over 100 sets of SBC heads a month with 0 problems. Also I sell alot of the SBF, BBC, and Iron Chrysler magum heads with 0 problems as well. For the money you cant go wrong. Just buy them bare and assemble with quality components. It seems like the only people with problems are buying all of the older castings that are selling on ebay or have been sitting on a shelf for a long time. If anyone would like to see pics of mine I will be happy to send them to you just drop me a PM
Seth
The article is not BS, IT IS true 100%!!! The heads suck! In fact I just dumped 3 sets on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=330208692604
They look great, but when you put them on the dyno
P.S. You will drive yourself crazy when you CC the runners and chambers on these heads too. Even the CNC heads are so far off you'll be questioning yourself, but don't worry it's not you or the equipment, IT'S THE HEADS!!
ok,I bought a set of pro comp 3003a,sbc heads bare for a spec sprint car motor.I took them to my machinist,he was sufficently impressed,so he back cut some valves and set the heads up for my application[1.46 dual springs,good retainers ect.].The only issue was I had to clearance the combustion chamber for the 13/1 Ross pistons I used .No big deal 1.5 hr with a die grinder.[I dought flat top pistons would have been a problem] Ran the motor hard 2 mains so far ,good power,no problems.these heads aren't full blown racing heads, but are a great 'bang for the Buck'
i just bought a set of the 190cc/64. iam very happy with the way they look. the spring shims got in my way to thou. the casting was very clean. and the combustion chambers were just as nice as any other(non cnc'd) head ive seen. we had stock L98s on it before. as soon as its up and running ill tell you if i've seen any power increases. but if these head make more power than the vortec heads, then i KNOW ill be impressed.
after my initial post,the only prob i had was 1 mounting bolt hole was misdrilled. The top one next to the manifold,for the serp bracket... Im gonna run this sunday at the track ill post my times.
after my initial post,the only prob i had was 1 mounting bolt hole was misdrilled. The top one next to the manifold,for the serp bracket... Im gonna run this sunday at the track ill post my times.
that run was on a 100 shot? I ran faster than that with my stock ported l98 heads that have bigger valves in them on a 383. I just went to afr eliminators to replace the ported stock and had concidered the procomps or patroits. Glad I went afr after seeing that. If any one needs a good set of proven heads my old ported l98s are for sale. Only reason I changed is to go with a larger custom 80cc chamber to lower compression to 9 to1 for a turbo. My heads are completey proven with very low miles and better parts for less money. ready to go.800 obo..
__________________ 1992 formula firebird 5.7 t-top car 383 late model 1 piece rear main 4 bolt roller block comp cams 226 232 @.50 550 lift 112 lobe sep 1.6 crane gold rockers, 42 lbs injectors, billet 58mm tb hsr intake, turbonetics t-76 ceramic bb turbo intercooled probe moleculite flat top pistons,powder metal full floating rods, scat crankshaft 1675 bob weight. 10.5 @ 138 on 6 lbs yikes!!! wait until 12 lbs. no dyno figures yet but car is full weight and some. still has a/c and a huge stereo in it. real street car. guessing over 600rwhp.
I wouldnt trounce a product because of my rookie times. Hell I can put my grandma in a vette, but that doesnt mean all vettes run 25s in the1/4 I agree that you should go for the best head you can afford. But at the time, I could be driving the car,or sit in it making motor noises and dreaming how fast it will be when I can get the better heads.
my car bone stock with a 125 shot went 113 and I was no pro when I did it. Didnt spray it until second gear too. I am just saying that I would guess that your car would go 106 to 107 on all motor and my 92 formula did that with bolt ons. With a lt1 cam and ported stock 113 with stock valves went 112. Now with the new valves and comp cam broke 118. I have seen the patriots dynoed(which are better) pick up 22rwhp over stock l98 heads.Changed out for afr 190s the old design and picked up 65 hp. 22 hp is not worth 800 bucks. I would compare my heads to afr 180s and worth 800 bucks.These companies look at a head and try to copy it. That is like saying that just hogging out a set of heads will make more power. You can ruin the design and kill a head if you dont know what you are doing. especially if you butcher the short side. If you cant afford a good set get a good used set. Heads are not a place to cut corners. I am not trying to knock your car but I am sure it would be way faster with a name brand head.
I agree completely. Im looking into the afr eliminators now. I got what i was looking for at the time, and now its time to improve it. Hopefully if everything goes as planned.
You will be in for a pleasant surprise depending on how big the cam is I would say upwards of 60 more rwhp. I got mine at tre performance. Have them in stock and very fast to ship also the best price around. got mine for 1525 with titanuim hardware shipped to my door. pn 1038 which are larger 75cc chambers. You will be very happy with the pick up. Will run what it does now on the spray with just motor depending on cam and intake. Well worth it .
__________________ 1992 formula firebird 5.7 t-top car 383 late model 1 piece rear main 4 bolt roller block comp cams 226 232 @.50 550 lift 112 lobe sep 1.6 crane gold rockers, 42 lbs injectors, billet 58mm tb hsr intake, turbonetics t-76 ceramic bb turbo intercooled probe moleculite flat top pistons,powder metal full floating rods, scat crankshaft 1675 bob weight. 10.5 @ 138 on 6 lbs yikes!!! wait until 12 lbs. no dyno figures yet but car is full weight and some. still has a/c and a huge stereo in it. real street car. guessing over 600rwhp.
Anybody know anything about their valve covers, i can't help being a little tempted to get em for the price for fabricated
I bought some fabricated covers off of ebay. When they came and saw they were pro comp I knew they would be **** after my experience with the pro comp distributor I had.
My assumption was correct. The flanges were warped from the welding so they leaked. You could actually rock them when you set them on something flat, like a table. LOL
Junk.
__________________ 1987 Trans Am GTA, Turbocharged 357ci 470rwhp/565rwtq 11.12@124mph
well cheap or not garbage is garbage and that old saying usauly holds true u get what u pay for so i guess im spendin the $ on the quality ones,
thanks 4 the heads up
Well, I finally made a pass with my pro comp heads and I was expecting the worse but I was actually surprised.....1st pass was a 12.2 then the 2nd was 12.1 and it needs some tuning which I knew it would.. Also, it was pretty damn hot I might add!!!!!!! But all in all I am happy especially for what I paid for them and it also put to rest some of the rumors for me anyway..
Well, I finally made a pass with my pro comp heads and I was expecting the worse but I was actually surprised.....1st pass was a 12.2 then the 2nd was 12.1 and it needs some tuning which I knew it would.. Also, it was pretty damn hot I might add!!!!!!! But all in all I am happy especially for what I paid for them and it also put to rest some of the rumors for me anyway..
1QWIKZ you say you're using 200cc iron eagles in your profile... ?
'91 GTA L98
Hell I can put my grandma in a vette, but that doesnt mean all vettes run 25s in the1/4
I agree that you should go for the best head you can afford. But at the time, I could be driving the car,or sit in it making motor noises and dreaming how fast it will be when I can get the better heads. 
