Why are these so cheap? a pair, so im assuming 2, aluminum cylinder heads for $479, new, and the add doesnt say theres a core exchange. 64cc chambers, intake runner 190cc, exhaust port 70cc, and valves are 2.02 and 1.6. Granted they are bare, but still?

Anyone use or have used these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-S...item2307e7e302

Thanks
Nick

 

That's about what I'd expect for low-flow bare aluminum heads cast in China with minimimal quality control and every possible corner cut. There are plenty of reviews available.

 

I already knew they were procomp before clicking on the link.

 

haha so im guessing they are just garbage? What makes them so bad?

 

有些澳大利亚男人从复制美国的一部分，把它错了。我们中国能不理解，不关心，没有任何天赋，努力使产品！

 

Bad design, poor manufacturing process, poor quality control.

 

But the name "Pro Comp" sounds so tough! Gotta be good right? LOL

 

design is even too much credit, it should say "bad copy" because that's what they do. the copy everything from heads, to MSD ignition components, edelbrock intakes, dart blocks...you name it, they have a cheaper but junk piece for you.. They don't even hide that they simply copied the original some of that stuff is deliberately made to look the same.

I always try to buy no chinese junk but being overseas summit sends us country of origin labels w/ every item we buy (some kind of homeland security blablabla, I couldn't buy a simple sheetmetal battery tray because that paperwork was not available..but that's a whole other story...anyway....) and I'm always shocked to see how much is actually coming from there, even stuff that is sold under reputable brand names.

 

Just because it's from China doesn't automatically mean something is bad quality, but knockoff items like those heads certainly tend to be.

 

I porbably should have figured as much. Id never heard of procomp until then. thanks for the warnings, althought i did think id found a great deal at frist

 

Luckily they are not assembled so you can look them over well with out much effort. Some people have great luck and no problems and others find problems. All manufactures have lemons that make it out but some more then others.

After you buy all the other hardware you could easily have another $250 into these too so consider the overall cost.

 

I read that the accessory bolt holes were slightly off on them so poeople have had to redrill them to mount their alternator etc. Maybe theyve fixed that by now, the posts i read about that were a few years old.

 

So you can eyeball it it's a T6 heat treated aluminium and not just molten soda cans? There have been reports of these heads corroding away on marina applications within months. They are cheap for a reason and it's not just labor costs, it's in the quality of materials, quality control, tolerances and so on.

 

What about this, cheaper but better: http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_...506.m270.l1313

Vortec design by EngineQuest. Shipped from EQ direct, not china or something. There are some engine build in magazines using these and the SBC budget performance building book uses lots of cores and stuff from EQ.

These heads aren't a miracle come true but I own a set and can say the castings are better than stock GM.

Don't know why the price is low, don't care. This guy could work at the factory and load his van at night. I will still sleep soundly.

I second the notion that something being from China/Asia doesn't make it inherently low quality. They have the potential in many of their facilities to do almost as good or sometimes better than more reputable companies. It is their desire to steal profit from legitimate companies that forces them to make junk. The low price is the incentive to buy junk.

If we took two $5 lottery tickets and said with one you may win up to $10,000 and the other you may win up to $10,000,000 which one sounds better? What if there were two lottery tickets: one is $1 and the other $5 and the prices are the same? Seems like a no brainer - go for the value. Guess what, they just screwed you.

The scariest thing is that companies like "ProForm" could make products that are average quality and sell them for the same prices that they do currently. This would build their reputation and sell parts in the future. Instead they look to maximize current profits - cut costs and make profits, not long-time customers.

 

Speaking figuratively of course you don't eye ball smart guy.

Is he building a boat or a car?

You should be checking out any head you buy from anyone and if you don't have the tools or skill to do it you should be paying someone who does to.

 

hmmm i may buy those, thats a good price, hundred bucks a piece

 

So you have a hardness tester at home to check heat treatment on aluminum castings? Do you have a portable spectro ccd maybe? for checking alloy contents?

So how do you "check" out your head? You eyeball it and maybe do a dimensional or tolerance measurement depending on how thorough you are. Still tells you nothing about the actual casting. The reference to the boat guys does, why do you think a set of oem or reputable brand name castings lasts for seasons without issues and the Chinese stuff is gone after a short while? Inferior alloying used in their castings. That's why. Same as with the low hardness dart sportsman and iron eagle block replicas popping up (procomp too amongst others). The info is out there, hardness tests dimensional probing results and what not.

Kind of sad to see some people trying to protect those companies that hurt your own economy the most. They are underselling your own companies with their cheap junk.

 

There's no feeling quite like going to port an aluminum head and breaking through into a great big blowhole.

 

Just so we're both on the same page is this a hypothetical question or do you need instructions? I only ask because yours were lacking a bit.

I'm not for these heads in anyway it's just ignorant to write them off because they were cast in another country. They don't really look impressive even for the cost so I really don't care.

Every head manufacture sends out lemons though.

Those Vortec heads look like a steal I would look into that for sure. Definitely give those a good eye balling( ) before you bolt them down, they even warn you in the description.

 

not hypothetical, since you come in here stating everyone should check the stuff they, I ask you how. I want to know how to check the alloying and the heat treating. If I can't do it at homne tell me who will do it for me, short of a metallurgy lab or someone with a ccd?

You seem to know how to do this or you wouldn't have posted it's vital to check this.

If you only meant eyeballing the casting that's ok too but that still means that the inspection falls short. Something can look good and be a dud. I refer to those soft chinese dart block copies.

 

Well guys thanks for all the info and help/tips. i ended up buying 2 of the heads that PV9685 posted a link to. I figured hell for a hundred bucks a head and a few hundred for all the valve equipment why the hell not. I believe engine masters used these heads in a rebuild of a vortec engine 2 or 3 issues ago. Now to decided on a cam and whatnot, im sure ill have more questions to follow soon.

Thanks again,
Nick