Dyno Don

Be very wary of these heads and there fitment. I have just installed two sets of these and they do have problems. All the bolt holes are too shallow, and will require shimming and washers. AFR claims to have taken care of this but maybe not (I have two sets that aren't). The machining for the valve covers is wrong on the center bolt type. They are machined too narrow and the valve covers will leak. I have 12 different valve covers at my disposal and only two will fit these heads. Of course I found this out AFTER installing them in the car. And as usual AFR claims to have no knowledge of this. They do mention you have to cut the bolts off, (in their directions) to keep them from bottoming out, which I did, but did not notice they were not fitting down in the heads. The inside lip of the cover hits the rail, preventing the gasket from making contact with the head.

__________________
400.3 RWHP
430 RWTQ
Tremec 6 SPD.
3.73 12 bolt
Co-founder SC3G.org
Co-founder SoCalTPI.org
SoCalTPI: Home of SoCal's Highest-Horsepower TPI cars

madmax

More fine AFR quality.

Burnout91

Yep, I asked the sales rep, and the engineer / manager Tony Mamo, if they had corrected the shallow bolt hole problem BEFORE I placed the order for my 1034s. I was told that they were aware of the problem with past heads, but the problem had been corrected. Then I called to inform them of the valve cover fitment issuse (s) Don had encountered during the installation (have we found all of the problems yet??). Sales rep had no knowledge of the problem. The AFR website states "no special parts required", total bolt on. I plan to make AFR quite aware of the meaning of "truth in advertising". Bill

1989GTATransAm

Yep, I saw it first hand today. For AFR it would be a simple computer program change on their CNC milling operation to correct the problem(s).

Burnout91

....they do, however, seem to make some power. Bill

antoine

I have them same afr heads and i have valve cover problems and i have broken two screw in studs,both at the rocker arm nut.

LilJayV10

I just ordered a set a few weeks ago. I ordered the 1140's i think. We will see. You spend that much on something, it should be right.

Burnout91

I called AFR and spoke to a sales rep on Nov. 15 to let him know about the issues with valve cover fit and bolt hole depth. He said nothing in the design of the casting had been changed recently, so it wouldn't do any good for AFR to send me new heads. I told him I thought it was unreasonable to have to remove and replace the heads, and that AFR should pop for a set of valve covers that fit their heads. I haven't gotten a return call from them yet (no surprise there...), but I will call AFR today to remind them that they have an issue that must be addressed.
Bill

LilJayV10

So is there going to be a problem with the perimeter type valve covers?

Orr89RocZ

there are more available rockers for perimeter style valve covers and more perimeter valve covers available i dont know why you would want centerbolt stuff. narrowbody full roller rockers are generally more expensive than regular rockers

i'd just use the other old style parts but thats just me. STILL tho for heads that expensive and thought to be the "G0D" of all heads, i'd expect 99.9% quality

Kevin91Z

Our newer cars came with centerbolt valve covers, and I feel centerbolt valve covers look better.

Also, nothing screams "engine change" and sounds the alarm to the smog guys here in CA more than aftermarket valve covers.

__________________
377 RWHP, 390 RWTQ (05-21-11)
12.803 @ 108.50 MPH (1.923 60') (04-11-01)
Work: Manley Performance Products
Founder: SoCal Thirdgenners
Founder: SoCal TPI Organization

Orr89RocZ

well its dissappointing you california guys have such strict smog laws. Either way there shouldnt be issues with mounting either valve cover

LilJayV10

They are not that much more expensive than a trick flow or a brodix head. With the eliminator series they fixed a lot of things that added extra costs before; valve springs, drilled for coolant holes. I agree though, they still aren't cheap and you would think they could fix some of these problems.

I don't like perimeter type valve covers anyway. Luckily I don't have to use them.

madmax

Its just a typical aftermarket part issue. I have yet to find one without flaws or that fits right. I just cant figure out how they made a mistake like that because AFAIK there isnt anything wrong with the valve cover rail locations on their old heads and there are plenty of SBC heads laying around to measure and verify.

Hey at least you know they didnt use any of the old casting on the new eliminator heads.

Orr89RocZ

well i plan to order AFR 1040's very soon, sometime this week actually if not today.

i hope i dont run into any issues. I also am trying to get them flowbenched around here to see what the numbers look like

maks10

so im not the only one with this problem...looks like old news for everyone but i just found out fitment issues...acc holes and valve cover holes not tapped far enough....they still havent fixed this and its 2013

and AFR is not to kind to help correct this situation either...just FYI for others.....way too expensive product for this to be and it looks like others have mentioned this to them and they havent changed this????

robg91z

I emailed them about their heads and some other products they have on their website that im interested for my build and i have gotten no response. What did everyone do in order to fox these problems? Did you guys send the heads back?

maks10

so far extra washers,etc....havent tested out valve cover seal just yet(using centerbolt)...hopefully no leaking...waiting on stealth ram to come in...

my heads where mounted so had no intention on sending mine back unless huge problems came about but just wanted them to note this for future products. The guy i spoke with basically said so??? whats the big deal??? not ill take note or say something about fixing them??? a small fix by tapping holes deeper and checking valve cover seal...especially at their price

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AFR heads, xfi268 cam, promag rockers, hedman headers & y-pipe, 3.5" pipes, BMR wonderbar & strut tower bar, Edelbrock torque arm, SPOHN adjustable panhard bar, lakewood control arms, hurst shifter, ebony leather seats & door panels, 18/20 irocs, ls1 rear brakes....to be continued....

robg91z

Wow well thanks for the heads up i will probably end up going with some dart heads instead ive been hearing good things and i gave them a call and recommended me the 180cc heads for my build so hopefully theres no problem

Orr89RocZ

Call afr and talk to them. Thats the best way. Better yet talk to Tony Mamo himself. He frequents alot of tech boards, like ls1tech, corvetteforum, speedtalk, etc. he will make it right.

My heads back in 08 did not have these issues

UnderCover89TBI

yeah how discouraging I may go with a set of the dart heads that they just released.

maks10

ask around...im still finishing my engine up so havent used my afr's yet...just ran into some issues...figured id share this hopefully 5 yrs from now they MAY fix it just to get closer to perfection...they have good reviews and orr can probably vouch his knowledge/experience with them

Orr89RocZ

Afr has usually been very good with customer service, if there is an issue let Tony know and they will resolve it.

anesthes

Don't know why some people have trouble with this stuff. Never had a problem. Have run a bunch of sets of AFR heads.

-- Joe

conlinj

I bought my AFR heads (912) about a year ago, no problems with them here.