KWKENUF

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351633229200?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I ran across these the other day on eBay. For $535.50 complete assembled and shipped to your door, I was wondering just how the price vs. quality is on something like this. Yes, I realize they are most likely "chinese" castings and lower grade components, so please don't start in on me with those arguments.

Does anyone have actual hands-on experience with these, or something like them? What was your impression of them? Decent stock replacements? I am more curious than anything. If no one asks we will never really know for sure.

cosmick

I was considering similar heads back when $700/pr bare was a pretty good price. But then I realized I could get a complete used LT1 or LM7, either of which come with aluminum heads, for less money. Something worth thinking about.
Since then I have undertaken several LSx swaps myself, they don't end up so cheap after all, and I had a '95 Z28, with a good LT1.
So I guess it depends why you want them, and what else you've already bought for your SBC.
The weight savings alone probably isn't worth it, and if they're that cheap, do they really flow any better than iron Vortecs?

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

"if" you decide to go with them send them to your local machine shop and have them checked out fully. biggest mistake i see is people buy assembled heads and they drop them right on their motor then complain that they are losing compression from the valve not seating or what ever else.

my concern is what is the runner size and what quality are they? i.e., how much engineering went into these heads?

like John Lingenfelter said, "you can take a killer cam and crappy heads and make crappy hp, or you can take a crappy cam and killer heads and make killer hp."

KWKENUF

Honestly I am not looking to get a set. I just had a lot of the same questions you guys brought up. After all... the price does seem to good to be true.

My first comparison was to the Vortecs also. I can buy a set of reconditioned Vortecs from a local guy for around $450/pair. But then you also need a dedicated intake for the heads. A cheap intake is at least $120 it seems, so right there you are above the price of these heads. I "could" buy these and put them on the 400 in my truck for a bump in compression (76cc vs 64cc) and they most likely will at least flow as good as my stock heads. This is were the "Are they as good as Vortecs?" question comes in. If they are, I would simply change heads. If they aren't, I would go the Vortec route.

I too wondered how the quality of the casting is? What do the chambers, bowls, and runners look like? Are they castings "off" to were they should be? Is the machining on the valve seats any good? How is the deck surface? Does it need to be milled again for a proper seal? What do they actually flow?

For $500 right now I am thinking about get a set of 083's and doing a home port job to go with the TPI intake I have sitting around to go on my 400. But that is another story in itself.

IROCZ1989

iTrader: (1)

If you like misery and hair pulling, go cheap. Its cost double in the long run when you have to do it twice.

cosmick

I have bought and run 3 pairs of used Vortecs so far, never paid more than $80 / pr for any of them. I was UAW trained as an automotive machinist, passed the ASE pre-certs, and did it for a living for several years, including at a good shop that had a Serdi and a then-new SF1020 flowbench. I messed with several Vortecs that weren't mine.
That said, I check out my parts before buying them, then I never take used engine parts to any machine shop. If there are no serious cracks, everything else can be taken care of well enough, at a much better cost, at home. The only exception is getting heads milled for compression, flatness, or both. When I type used vortecs, I mean a $80 investment, not a $450 waste.
You might be able to home-port TPI heads for $80, but with any 1.84", or stock 1.94" valves, they'll never approach stock 062s or 906s.
If you have TPI or even TBI, it'll cost you near $500 to run Vortecs with your stock EFI, but if you are carbureted, and don't care about EGR, then you can get a manifold for $144 delivered.
If you want MPEFI with Vortecs for cheap, well, there isn't any good option, that's why I just started researching doing my own.
Vortecs are worth $80 + $144. Plus gaskets. If you can spend more, do an LT1 swap. That comes with MPEFI. And the iron-head version from Caprices comes with heads as good as the Vortecs. You can do that swap for $535 including the LT1, the PCM, the harness, and a tune to unlock the VATS.
Also, any head over 180 cc is too much for a 350.

project89

iTrader: (1)

those look like the proheader castings which by themselves are the best budget castings out there . that being said buy them bare, and install ur own valves , springs , retainers and locks etc .

the complete ones on ebay are assembled with the cheapest junk out there

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-SBC-35...-/291659483122


^ man they have goten cheap i paid a bunch more for each of mine bare
must use adjustable pushrod guideplates as the intake valve is moved .030 from stock , and most stock type intakes will not seal the ports , they benifit greatly form some light cleanup work in the ports and bowls , and taking them in for a 5 angle valve job really helps them out but not required

edit almost forgot , they take a +.100 valve as well