james_fearn

I asked about the TFS 23* heads and about edelbrocks 6085 heads in several posts. I hear good things about the edelbrocks but not to many good things about the TFS 23* heads. I think a lot of people bought the G1 heads and liked the performance but didn't like the quality (design/manufacture aspect) of them. People mentioned the infamous valve guide problems (G1/G2) and rocker studs being pulled out.

Does anybody have good things to say about the TFS 23* heads? anybody running them currently?

Anybody have bad experiences with the edelbrocks? I've seen a case where the valves weren't seating properly. I've know they are a good street head but not necessarily a good racing head.

Some/most of the people talking about the negative aspects of the TFS aren't from first hand experience. They are just spewing the same negative aspects, true or false, about what they've heard or have been told about them.

anybody have personal experience with the TFS 23* heads?


James

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1985 Z-28 305 TPI 223,000+ mi., Original Eng.,T-Tops,Blue/Grey
STB,SFC,GW "wonderbar",145 Speedo

KevinP92Z

Just a note, I don't have TF 23 deg head experience. I do have TW "G1's". performance was very good.

As for pulling rocker studs out, don't believe everything you hear. They are screw in studs, not press in. You'd have to tear the whole head up, and I've never heard of that one being a TF problem.

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KevinP92Z
92 Z28 383 SLP cam,SLP headers,SLP 2ontheLeft,Trick Flow TW heads & pistons,Edelbrock base,Accel SuperRam,52mmTB,Scat Crank & forged ConnRods,MSD 6AL,SLP convertor,Baer 13/12" Track,Moser axles,Hotchkis,Genuine GM 3.42s,SLP HD Torsen,17x9" chrome SS rims
96T/A w/SLP Ram Air,SLP 2ontheLeft, Bilsteins, Baer, Hotchkis, Genuine GM, Torsen
76 4X4 Blazer 400TPI project

FAST LiFE

iTrader: (3)

I use a fully ported set of TFS 23* and get very good performance from them. The quality of the casting seems pretty good. It fairs well to a pair of Edelbrock 6090 heads I have. They also come with the bronze valve guides, unlike the Twisted Wedge which uses a sintered cast guide. All the standard Chevy valve train works on it. From what I hear, one of the problems with the Twisted Wedge was that people didn't pay attention to the valve train requirements (something about the geometry of the valve train. and from that, had valve train failure. Not a manufacturers problem, but it is something you do have to pay attention too. Both the Twisted Wedge and the 23* uses screw in studs.
Flow for the 23* out of the box is very good and is what TFS advertises. Pretty close to what AFR 190's flow and it isn't even fully portd like the AFR's (AFR's are CNC ported 70% on the intake and 100% on the exhaust and chambers from what they claim). The material used is very good and there is plenty to allow porting. The 23* respond very well to mild bowl work. If the same amount of port work went into the 23* as the AFR 190's, they would definitely outflow the 190's. The 23* heads are very good for the price and offer very good potential for inprovement. Hope this helps.

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N/A 406, TPIS Miniram, 58mm TB, 30lbs injectors, Custom Ground Elgin Cam, Ported TFS heads, SLP 1-3/4", & DFI computer.
11.70@117mph

Lounge Lizard 6

I was the one that mentioned this in an earlier thread. I speak from first hand experience, because I had two "screw in" studs pull out. Didn't destroy the head. They just left smooth threadless holes behind. More Performance in Charlotte repaired the heads both times. Ask Osh there, he'll tell you.

So FWIW I'm not bashing TF, just stating the facts in the reliability of my old G1 heads.

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Mike

'90 IROC-Z , 5-speed, ZZ4, G1 Trick Flows
Moderator SEThirdgen

james_fearn

I didn't doubt you about the stud pulling or any of the other stuff. Sometimes people pick on brands for which they have no experience. Like the Nvidia vs. 3dfx video card battles. I just get a feelingthat some people are just repeating what they hear. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Now a couple questions:

do edelbrocks come with heli-coils?
do OEM aluminum heads come heli-coiled?

James

Matt87GTA

I just finished up assembly of my 355 and am installing it some time this weekend (man it looks nice sittin on the stand...... ). It has the 23* heads on it with no porting. I did however, have to do some porting on the intake to get it to match the heads. I will let ya'll know what I think about it after the break in period. So far I like the heads. Mine are the non-CNC'd ones but the ports and chambers have a pretty smooth finish and they don't have much casting flash on them (I didn't find any!!). They come with very good instructions as far as push rod needs and valve train geometry. They will require longer push rods if a 1.6 rocker is used but if you go with the TFS heads, you can read up on all the info in the packet they give you with them. I must confess that the cost of the heads was one of the factors that steered me towards the TFS 23*'s. I purchased mine when Summit was giving us thirdgen members a 10% discount so the total cost on them was $855. I seriously doubt anybody could name a comperable head for that price. I also got them because of quite a few recommendations from people I know that have run them. So overall, I guess it is a toss-up because I've heard a lot of good things about the Edelbrocks as well. I don't know anybody personally that is running Edelbrocks though. I seem to remember a post a while back about the spark plugs being a byatch to get at with the Edelbrocks and headers but maybe that was a header issue. Anywayssss...... So far I like my 23*'s and more info to come in the next week.....

Laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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Matt

1987 GTA L98 MD8 GW6

"Stop Lights timed for 35Mph are also timed for 70Mph"