so the heads on my 88 rs v6 are alluminum so they wont exactly take a beating the way i'd like. i was just wondering if anybody knew some good replacement heads for a budget that will stand up to the beating

i don't need extreme performance, just something i won't have to worry about

 

if you have stock heads they're cast iron. all gen I 60* V6's had cast iron heads. aluminum heads are no slouch for performance or taking abuse.

 

i was just posting what i was told.... as far as most of this stuff goes i'm a noob. this car is going to be my first engine rebuild in my life so i'm still trying to figure everything out.... so stock v6 heads on and 88 are cast iron huh.... how will they stand up to abuse?

 

stick with the cast heads. they are very common on 2.8's 3.1's and 3.4's aluminum heads u need a custom chip. wheres Rbob to chime in on this....

 

alright then i guess that saves me a bit of worry when it comes to this, thanks

 

The stock 660 aluminium heads (only availble in FWD), take a LOT of abuse, I haven't heard of any head failures, due to "abuse" or "reaching a power level".

The Aluminium heads (genIII especially) are well worth the extra effort to swap in, especially if you're looking to make power, and really what's the point in limiting yourself when you're rebuilding for power, right?
Even if you're looking for imporved efficiancy and economy the genIII heads are the way to go. Better chamber designs, better flowing in and out, and being aluminoium they transfer heat very well.

The hardest part to the "genII" or "Hybrid" swap is the need for the DIS ignition. Starting with a 3.4 from a '93 to '95 F-body is the way to go for ease. These cars were set up with DIS, and have the provisions in the block for it. They will also use the RWD mount pads as well, so it's a bolt in affair.
Using a chip for this application isn't hard at all, in fact it will run on a stock bin ("tune") from say a 3.1L Cavalier or Sunbird, even a 2.8L bin would run the engine well enough to drive around. Some tuning after that, and you're all set.

Face it, no matter what direction you go, the ECM will need to be "tuned" to make the most of the engine package. Why limit yourself by the stock tuned ECM, especially just because "it'll run a dizzy"?

the next "hardest" part is the exhaust, namely the manifolds/headers. The easy way around this is to use off the shelf headers for the 2.8/3.1L F-body, and then modify the flanges to fit the genIII heads. The modifications are not hard. Can be done with a file and/or dremel, for best results the actual port shape on the headers should be matched to the heads. this can be done with some small pieces of tube cut right and then welded to the flange to seal it up again.

 

i had just heard that with alluminum head you tend to blow gaskets kind of quick

 

That's not an aluminium head issue, that's an improper prep at time of install issue.

I had stock .060" compressed thickness gaskets under my alumnium heads, running 6 PSIG boost (with a poor tune) and never had a problem with the head gaskets. This was a daily driven truck (1985 GMC Jimmy S-15), with a frankenstien 660, affectionatly called the "Franken60", and was abused daily, there were very few days that positive intake pressure was not seen, and those days were only because I was trying to stay out of boost, just to teach myself some "self control".

 

What kind of alluminum heads are their? Did 3rd gens come with them? Last of all are, arn't the Fiero 2.8 and Firebird 2.8s the same? The reason I ask is because I have a Fiero with a 3.4 out of a 4th gen.

Thanks,
Mike

 

well, fiero and firebirds both used first generation RWD block designs. if you want aluminum heads the easiest way would be from a FWD 60* V6.