Best heads for a 393?

I am building a 393 for off road use and want to find the best head for great torque and not too high of a compression. If I have to run 93 Octain that would be fine, I just want to avoid having to use alcohol. Someone had suggested to me that I should use AFR 185's and then when I told him that I wanted as much torque as I need to spin 44"-54" super swamper boggers in the mud he thought that maby I should use AFR 205's instead. I would like to go big and get more power but not go over board. What would be the best head to use?

I would think the AFR 165's would benefit you more for better TQ/HP for your intended use(4X4 spinning 44"-54" Super Swamper Boggers). The AFR 205's are more for racing applications.

If you build it right, ill bet teh 205's will treat you well. If you are really concerned about low end (under 2000 rpms) go with the 185's. I run 180 cc intake runners on my 302 and it will pull great from 2000 rpm on up, with a healthy cam. Now you have to deciede if you really need the 205's over the 185's because they are more expensive.

I'd run twisted wedge heads or afr 185's, the TW's will give more low end than the 165's or 185's yet make just about as much peak power as 185's depnding on the combo. They are cheaper too....

Look at the rpm that you are running when you are mudding. If it is higher than 3000 then go with the 185s. If it is lower than that go with the 165s.
Compression is where torque comes from and the larger heads are tuned to use a certain airflow - probably higher than a wheeler will ever see while off road. If you can find a cam that produces max torque at the rpm range that you use then that is the way to go. You aren't building a dragster and all that extra flow capacity on the 185 and 205 heads is just going to cause mixture problems for you below 2000 rpm in a stock engine.

The 185's should be about right for a strong mid-range. IMO the 165's are bit small for a 393, and the 205's might be too much for a 4x4 application.

The 185 Heads Are Spot On For Your Aplication.

Excellent Choice


Mike S

You might want to look into Edelbrocks new CNC18 degree head.

Small runners with big flow #'s = lot's of torque.

So this is a mud truck? or a rock truck? If im not mistaken a mud truck does get spun up sometimes. Not as much as a drag car, but from my experiences with fourwheelers it gets reved pretty good. A 393 is a big motor, i think those 165s would be choking it.

Originally Posted by sharpshot71

So this is a mud truck? or a rock truck? If im not mistaken a mud truck does get spun up sometimes. Not as much as a drag car, but from my experiences with fourwheelers it gets reved pretty good. A 393 is a big motor, i think those 165s would be choking it.

Yes this is a mud truck, I am going to use it primaraly for mod bogging.