Which heads for my combo?

OK, so I have GT40 iron heads right now that are milled all the way to 53cc. I am going to pull them off due to head gasket blown (possibly head cracked) and see what is going on.

In the unfortunate event that I have to buy new heads...what is my best bet for power if I spend under $1000 on used heads or new. I am running a 302 .040, flat tappet 224@.050 .532 lift (with 1.7 pedestal rockers) and currently 9:7 compression with 53cc chambers. 670 Holley Street Avenger, Professional Products Air Gap Intake, c4 2200 stall, 4.11 gears

I am assuming if I buy something that is 58-62cc I should have it milled so I don't lose much compression.

Suggestions?

Here is another reality check-- At the HP level you are at, it wont make any differance which head you pick-- all of the cheaper after market heads will be within a few HP, so do not stress over this decision- Your engine will never know the differance, neither will you


JOE SHERMAN RACING ENGINES

Edelbrock has those new heads for under $1000. I would trust those way more than the imported cheapos. If you could use them with the springs they come with it would be good.
Just saw their add here and it looks like you get a free set of valve covers too if you buy them before the end of the year.

Originally Posted by iwantmore

Edelbrock has those new heads for under $1000. I would trust those way more than the imported cheapos. If you could use them with the springs they come with it would be good.
Just saw their add here and it looks like you get a free set of valve covers too if you buy them before the end of the year.

Yea for new heads it seems like those Edelbrock E Street heads and RHS 180 Irons are in the $995 category. However, I have seen Edelbrock RPM and Trick Flow TW heads for about $750 used. Would those not offer any improvement?

My only issue is with my flat tops and 53cc heads I still only measured 9:7:3 compression so if I pay more for better aluminum heads and lose compression it seems like it would not be much performance gain. Maybe I can get the RHS 180 and have it milled from 58 to 55...

Anyone have experience with those?

Originally Posted by hotrodder68

My only issue is with my flat tops and 53cc heads I still only measured 9:7:3 compression so if I pay more for better aluminum heads and lose compression it seems like it would not be much performance gain. Maybe I can get the RHS 180 and have it milled from 58 to 55...

Anyone have experience with those?

Unless your GT heads are proffesionally ported I think any of the name brand aftermarket heads would be a big step up in performance...Are your pistons way down in the hole or why is your compression so low for flat tops?..It would be nice if you could get the compression up so you didn't have to mill the chambers so small on the heads..It will probably make them tough to use on your next project.

If you're keeping your pedestal rockers then the Ford X-heads are going cheap,the AFR 1472 or the Brodix ST 5.0 would probably offer a bit more power,but then maybe not. Get the ones you WANT to use,then you can't go wrong! Don't forget about having the right valvesprings and good pushrods with whatever heads you use,you may or may not be able to reuse what you have but the springs on an assembled head should be good. Springs and pushrods could easily set you back another $200. Maybe some rebuilt P heads would be perfectly adequate,and cheap!

Hey,is that .532 actual lift with the 1.7 rockers or .565 with a cam rated at .532 with 1.6 rockers?

On stock or near stock engines, LIFT IS NOT IMPORTANT, Dont get to excited about the rocker ratio B S , Lift is only important on more racy engines


JOE SHRMAN RACING ENGINES

Originally Posted by BIGJOE

On stock or near stock engines, LIFT IS NOT IMPORTANT, Dont get to excited about the rocker ratio B S , Lift is only important on more racy engines


JOE SHRMAN RACING ENGINES

This is exactly what Isky told me when I recently picked a cam. I wanted something in the .500 range.. and he insisted I did not for street driving. He mentioned it was only for the purpose of stating I had a 500 something lift cam. Although, there are some low 500 lift cams that are good street cams. I settled for .470.. but still thinking in the back of my mind that I want more.

My cam is only .532 lift because it was .500 with 1.6 Rockers and when I bought my heads they came with new 1.7 crane roller rockers so I decided to use them. I did not think my engine needed .532 lift but I did not think it would hurt to use those Rockers since they are full rollers.

I am curious to see how far in or out of the hole my pistons are. I had my engine builder order flat tops when he assembled my short block and then I had him measure compression with my 53cc heads and he said it came out to 9:7:3 so I am thinking the pistons must be down in the hole. I agree though that it would be the best to get compression at 10:1 or better without having to mill down any heads. I don't want to go through the trouble of having the top end all apart and cleaned up and put back together though if I can spend 500-1200 bucks and have more performance.

I will keep you all posted and maybe snap some pictures when the heads are off to provide a better idea of what I am working with. The short block only has 10,000 miles or so. I would like to avoid changing pistons but I was also thinking...

Change pistons if needed...add arp rod bolts...twisted wedge heads...10:25:1 compression= more kick in the pants than before.

But then again that won't be in that price range I would rather stay in. We'll see...