Should I purchase some S/R Torquer 305 heads or just look for some 305 TPI heads for my L03??? Anyone with knowledge of performance differences, advantages, disadvantages please reply.

 

well, with the current trend and the amount of complaints standing on the S/R torquers (broken valve springs) i would look for something else. unless you feel like buying some new higher quality springs and swaping them on the heads, but whats the point of spending $500+ and doing that. you should be able to find some used TPI heads for alot less then $500. and then rebuild those heads with the cash saved-vs buying the S/R torquers.

 

By the tike you spend the money on necessary head machines work and inspection and assemlby you can have the SR's for aonly about a hundred more. Buy the bare SR's and use better springs anf such. Howver if your head swap will boil down to a hiundred buck difference than go with the TPI heads. However, you are not garanteed that the TPI heads are not cracked or damaged until you have them inspected.

EDIT. Sometimes however, you can get TPI heads for free. If you have no budget go witht he SR's. They are better.

 

I agree with shifty on the springs part...its always better to use springs that match your cam than the generic ones they put on heads. Alll kinds off bad stuff happens when the springs are too soft or hard ( ie collapsed lifters and valve float).

 

Anyone have a part number for these SR heads? I am interested in swapping out the heads on my TBI as well with something a bit more free flowing.

 

Hey...I sorta answered my own question however by doing that I have a new one

They have 3 items there for the 305 SR Torquer heads. They all flow the same 58cc of air

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...41&prmenbr=361

One says bare, and the other two say assembled.

What exactly do they mean?

 

The 58cc is the chamber size not how much they flow. By bare they mean just that. No other parts added. No springs, no valves, no seals, ect ect. They are the finished casting. Asseblmed comes with valves, and locks, and springs etc etc. There is a lot of concern about the quality of the valve springs they use on their assembled versions. It can be cheaper in the long run to buy the stuff separately and put them together your self.

 

Ok then that is what I will do. I don't have the expertise to build my own unless I find a tutorial on how to do that.

theoretically wouldn't it be cheaper to buy TPI heads and just gut them and put new stuff in? Wouldn't you get the same performance out of the TPI as you would the Torquers? You are just replacing all the parts inside anyway.

 

The world heads have larger valves and bigger/larger runners. They are a better head all around. The TPI heads can be a great budget minded performace upgrade but they are no way eqaul to the worlds. Port work and the right machine work can make two heads on par as far as cam lift, and valve size, but the worlds will always have larger runners.

The TPI heads are really good, don't get me wrong. But by the time you put all of that money into them you are almost better off with the worlds. However, like I said before, you can almost get 416 and 081 heads for free. Even a little port and seat work will make them really good performers for less than the worlds.

 

a couple of points. the s/r torquers not only have larger runners, they also have an improved combustion chamber design and a thicker, more robust casting. it takes A LOT of porting to get the tpi heads to flow as well as unported s/r torquers.

you can try to save money by going with the tpi heads, but it could possibly cost you more.

when you find a set, the first step you need to take is to have them hot-tanked and magnafluxed to see if they're any good. should cost about 50 bucks. if they aren't any good, you're out the cost of the heads and the 50 bucks for the magnafluxing. that's just a risk you have to accept if you go this way.

then, you have to consider the intake valves. they're 1.84s. to get an real performance, you need to go to 1.94 intake valves. that's at least another hundred bucks.

then you have to do a basic valve job, knurl guides, etc. with the work you've already done, that should only cost about another hundred, IF all of the exhaust valves are good, none of the guides need to be replaced, etc. again, that's the risk you take with running used heads.

figuring a hundred bucks for the heads initially, you're now looking at having 350.00 in these heads, and you still have stock valve springs and no screw-in studs. at least another 150 to upgrade those.

you can get the s/r torquer 305s new, bare for around 600.00 a set. then, you can simply buy a cam kit with springs and retainers when you buy your cam, so everything is matched. all of the specs for the parts (springs, retainers, valves, etc.) you'll need are available at worldcastings.com.

while i believe vortecs offer the best performance per dollar invested, the s/r torquer has the benefit of being a direct bolt on, no changes necessary, and the egr will still work.

you can get them cheaper, too. I just sold a set of bare s/r torquer 305s on ebay on monday for 355.00. set up a search there and have yourself emailed every time a new set comes along. with a little patience, you can save a lot of money. I bought mine there for 250.00, spent 50 on shipping and 50 having them hot tanked and magnafluxed. when i decided to go another way, i was able to get my money back out of them and offer someone a good deal. win/win. you see that all the time on ebay.

if you find you have a bad set of valves on your tbi car and you need to get it up and running again quickly, it makes sense to go with the tpi heads as an inexpensive stock replacement. I recently did something similar with my jeep. I was able to upgrade to a better head for 13.00 more than the lowest estimate i got from 4 machine shops to refurbish my old head by buying a remanufactured head from J&C Cylinder Head Exchange. No core charge, he threw in shipping and i got a noticable improvement in performance, too. you could get a set of stock tpi heads from him for around 200 bucks. if you want to check on it, call tim at 800.266.5599

If you want any more performance than a stock replacement, however, and if you can't get the tpi heads for free and don't have access to free or very cheap machine shop services, the s/r torquer 305 is a much better choice.

 

hey shifty,

i've seen you say that about the world products springs several times. where are you getting that? i've never seen that on here, and i know a number of guys running s/r torquers and s/r torquer 305s, none have had any problems.