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Heads

steve from staten island

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Who has the best out of the box heads for a 383 with stock flat top pistons?
Closed combustion chamber or open? What CC size?
Angled or straight plugs?
Will want to use the stock rockers.
Thanks
 
Best... for what ? What is your intended purpose ? Are you replacing existing heads ?
 
Who has the best out of the box heads for a 383 with stock flat top pistons?
Closed combustion chamber or open? What CC size?
Angled or straight plugs?
Will want to use the stock rockers.
Thanks

Doesn't matter who makes the best Heads for 383/440 Mopar right now because the answer is nobody as far as I know ?
just say'in....
is there any 'stock' anywhere on anybody's entry level Heads ?

Stealth = NADA stock
Edelbrock = NADA stock
TrickFlow = NADA stock
etc.,
etc
I mean I hope I'm wrong but most of my suppliers are showing "No Stock" ?
 
For the money 440 Source closed chamber heads are fine using all stock hardware.I updated mine to 10* locks and keepers. Checked the valves,seats and spring heights. I'd check any out of the box heads.
IMG_2939.jpg
 
I would agree w Darter6 on the Stealth 440's. I have a set, but fully machined by Muscle Motors. Watch this video. It was very eye opening to me.
 
My Edelbrocks are good heads but it's a good thing I had them checked instead of just bolting them on
My Machine shop found a couple of tight guides and changed out the springs to match my cam better
He also cleaned up the ports which had some rough flash in them
I also had the valves unshrouded
 
Who has the best out of the box heads for a 383 with stock flat top pistons?
Closed combustion chamber or open? What CC size?
Angled or straight plugs?
Will want to use the stock rockers.
Thanks

Hello SFSI
I am re-installing my original 383 in the 70 Superbee
I pulled out the May 1969 Hemi
When We rebuilt the 383, I sent my 906 Heads to Indy Cylinder head, within 2 weeks I had them back.
They went through them, Stage 1 rebuild.
Reason?
Our esteemed team on the forum, highly knowledgeable and experienced guys like Budnicks, Cranky, Mike Gaines, Darter6, 413,Zack/5.7 Hemi, Kiwi, diesel_Iv and others told me "you can buy out of the Box, but they may still need work"
Pick up some 906s or 452s and have them done correctly.
Just a suggestion
PS
I am old school, I like original Cast Iron Heads.

We are fortunate as this Forum has a LOT of smart guys here to help.

:thumbsup:
 
why not just get your existing heads rebuilt ? are they 906 ? what are you looking to do ? you can get them milled for more compression along with a thinner head gasket... you can get 2.14 & 1.81 valves with hardened seats installed... you can get bowl work done... you can get port work done... if, for whatever reason, you decide you want aftermarket heads, there is not a one I would simply pull out of the box and plant them on my engine block without going through it first
 
I went with Marsh Performance Sidewinder closed chamber heads. He matched the springs, keepers and retainers to my cam profile (all Comp Cam parts), hand assembled and checked before shipping. Good price too.
 
I’ve got some Indy EZs and they are nice but my pure stocker is Mopar as much as possible! Iron head do make power!
 
IMO Best bang for the BUCK
I doubt you give a rats ***
are Edelbrock RPM's or E-street are the cheaper versions
same exact port configuration,
flow like 290cfm intake, out of the box unported
(Stealths only like 245cfm on a good set)

(Both Edel. heads have an angle plug, 3/4" long reach 14mm plug
no issues really even with plugs or wires, even with stock
restrictive, cast iron manifolds
)

CC depends on what kind of final compression ratio you want
or how far down in the cylinder the pistons are
what pistons & head gaskets or thickness of gaskets you choose
to determine compression
You can get them (either) in 75cc 84cc & 88cc combustion chambers

Edelbrocks, they flow better than
Out of the box Stealths too (Cast in China)
(unless you go with the MW ports, But; you can get MW ports
with Edelbrock too, Victors lots more special parts involved, more $$ too
)
&
they are Made In America Great Again products
good forged parts, good valve, good springs specific for your style cam
you need to specify what type when ordering
& They are all Assembled & cast in the Great ol' USA
in SoCal Foundry/Plants

Sort of generic answer
for a generic type question
there are better heads for all out racing
there are better heads Like 'Air Fuel Research' Heads
the 240 for smaller cids or 270 AFRs for big cid combos
thier also like almost twice the money
if you're not going after every available HP
the Edelbrocks are extremely good heads,
make easily up-to about 700hp
with lil' to no porting at all
 
IMO Best bang for the BUCK
I doubt you give a rats ***
are Edelbrock RPM's or E-street are the cheaper versions
same exact port configuration,
flow like 290cfm intake, out of the box unported
(Stealths only like 245cfm on a good set)

(Both Edel. heads have an angle plug, 3/4" long reach 14mm plug
no issues really even with plugs or wires, even with stock
restrictive, cast iron manifolds
)

CC depends on what kind of final compression ratio you want
or how far down in the cylinder the pistons are
what pistons & head gaskets or thickness of gaskets you choose
to determine compression
You can get them (either) in 75cc 84cc & 88cc combustion chambers

Edelbrocks, they flow better than
Out of the box Stealths too (Cast in China)
(unless you go with the MW ports, But; you can get MW ports
with Edelbrock too, Victors lots more special parts involved, more $$ too
)
&
they are Made In America Great Again products
good forged parts, good valve, good springs specific for your style cam
you need to specify what type when ordering
& They are all Assembled & cast in the Great ol' USA
in SoCal Foundry/Plants

Sort of generic answer
for a generic type question
there are better heads for all out racing
there are better heads Like 'Air Fuel Research' Heads
the 240 for smaller cids or 270 AFRs for big cid combos
thier also like almost twice the money
if you're not going after every available HP
the Edelbrocks are extremely good heads,
make easily up-to about 700hp
with lil' to no porting at all

I like the Edelbrocks/E-Streets .... and we like the STEALTH Heads from 440 Source as well ?
However....
I think it's important to understand
Last time I checked ? the Edelbrocks and E-Streets DON'T FLOW ANYWHERE EVEN CLOSE TO 290 CFM "OUT OF THE BOX" ?
IMO....
and according to our Flow testing on our SuperFlow SF750 Bench the last time I personally went out and compared the two.... The E-Street and Edelbrock RPM are "maybe' 5-10 cfm better than STEALTH.... that's it.... that's ALL !

Last time I personally Flowed the two....
I saw OOTB Flow numbers from E-Street and Edelbrocks in the ~265-270'ish cfm range @ .600"
and
OOTB I saw STEALTH's in the 260-265'ish cfm range @ .600" ?

I still have sets of BOTH Edelbrock RPM's and STEALTH's currently "in stock" here....
Sooooo....
Next week I will personally go out and FLOW BOTH complete with Pics/Video on our SuperFlow SF750 Bench to verify what I'm saying.

I'm NOT knocking the Edelbrock/E-Streets.... but my understanding is the majority of Edelbrock Castings come from CHINA as well ?
Because...
Edelbrock only cast around "20-25%" of their castings at their USA SoCal foundry so as to meet trade/product certification rules....and be able to put "Made in USA" on all products ?
It was the only way to maintain some indigenous USA 'onshore' foundry capability in the USA..... by allowing Manu's to use "Made in USA" on all products as long as a certain 'percentage' were made here the rest could be offshored.... "lesser evil" than losing ALL onshore capability. the rest come from CHINA !!!

GO ASK TODD FROM MARSH PERFORMANCE WHERE HE GETS HIS EDDY KNOCK-OFFS ?

Same Head... same CHINESE foundry where Edelbrock gets 80% of theirs since the Edelbrock license came off ten years ago !
 
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I doubt you give a rats ***
Your right I dont give a "rats ***" about your opinion.
Normally I'm a big enough man to look past the **** you pulled in the past and id even have "thanked" you for your advise, except for what you wrote in those tiny letters. Typical you.
 
I doubt you give a rats ***
Your right I dont give a "rats ***" about your opinion.
Normally I'm a big enough man to look past the **** you pulled in the past and id even have "thanked" you for your advise, except for what you wrote in those tiny letters. Typical you.
Biting back just prolongs the problem. Use the Ignore feature if you must.
 
I like the Edelbrocks/E-Streets .... and we like the STEALTH Heads from 440 Source as well ?
However....
I think it's important to understand
Last time I checked ? the Edelbrocks and E-Streets DON'T FLOW ANYWHERE EVEN CLOSE TO 290 CFM "OUT OF THE BOX" ?
IMO....
and according to our Flow testing on our SuperFlow SF750 Bench the last time I personally went out and compared the two.... The E-Street and Edelbrock RPM are "maybe' 5-10 cfm better than STEALTH.... that's it.... that's ALL !

Last time I personally Flowed the two....
I saw OOTB Flow numbers from E-Street and Edelbrocks in the ~265-270'ish cfm range @ .600"
and
OOTB I saw STEALTH's in the 260-265'ish cfm range @ .600" ?

I still have sets of BOTH Edelbrock RPM's and STEALTH's currently "in stock" here....
Sooooo....
Next week I will personally go out and FLOW BOTH complete with Pics/Video on our SuperFlow SF750 Bench to verify what I'm saying.

I'm NOT knocking the Edelbrock/E-Streets.... but my understanding is the majority of Edelbrock Castings come from CHINA as well ?
Because...
Edelbrock only cast around "20-25%" of their castings at their USA SoCal foundry so as to meet trade/product certification rules....and be able to put "Made in USA" on all products ?
It was the only way to maintain some indigenous USA 'onshore' foundry capability in the USA..... by allowing Manu's to use "Made in USA" on all products as long as a certain 'percentage' were made here the rest could be offshored.... "lesser evil" than losing ALL onshore capability. the rest come from CHINA !!!

GO ASK TODD FROM MARSH PERFORMANCE WHERE HE GETS HIS EDDY KNOCK-OFFS ?

Same Head... same CHINESE foundry where Edelbrock gets 80% of theirs since the Edelbrock license came off ten years ago !

Thank you for your informative advise and sharing your knowledge rather than someone posting misinformation in another post.
Im not buying any heads from any company that I now know skirts the law
 
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Thank you for your informative advise and sharing your knowledge rather than someone posting misinformation in another post.
Im not buying any heads from any company that I now know skirts the law

I dunno if anybody is really skirting the Law ? as merely working somewhat within that somewhat flawed "Law" maybe ?

Anyone.... please feel free to correct me here as I am NO expert !
That said...
my understanding is that to be able to put "MADE IN THE USA" on your entire product line like Edelbrock does..... with "castings".... the regulations state that at least some "percentage" of the TOTAL number of Castings must be made within the continental USA.... the remainder may be "contracted out" offshore.

I think....
because I don't know the exact percentages ?
But IMO...
something like 20-25% of the Castings must be done in USA at a USA Foundry.... in order to put "MADE IN THE USA" on ALL of the 100% of Castings Sold.... even though 75-80% were Cast at a Chinese Foundry.

Can't blame anybody.... it was Congress's way of maintaining at least 'some' casting capability on US soil or it ALL would have gone offshore ?
 
I dunno if anybody is really skirting the Law ? as merely working somewhat within that somewhat flawed "Law" maybe ?

Anyone.... please feel free to correct me here as I am NO expert !
That said...
my understanding is that to be able to put "MADE IN THE USA" on your entire product line like Edelbrock does..... with "castings".... the regulations state that at least some "percentage" of the TOTAL number of Castings must be made within the continental USA.... the remainder may be "contracted out" offshore.

I think....
because I don't know the exact percentages ?
But IMO...
something like 20-25% of the Castings must be done in USA at a USA Foundry.... in order to put "MADE IN THE USA" on ALL of the 100% of Castings Sold.... even though 75-80% were Cast at a Chinese Foundry.

Can't blame anybody.... it was Congress's way of maintaining at least 'some' casting capability on US soil or it ALL would have gone offshore ?
My only thoughts were a company like Edelbrock, a name I always trusted makes. small amount of heads here and subs all the rest out to CHINA and stamps them "Made in the USA". Thats a problem for me.
 
I believe we have an engine builder @IQ52 here too

that said the same thing I said about 'Out of the box flow #'s'
Chinese castings from Stealth/440source
vs Edelbrock "Made/Cast/Assembled in USA"
he may chime in too

I don't have an agenda here
I'm not 'trying to sell' Steve anything
just an honest 1st hand experience with heads

honestly, I wouldn't sell him anything

so much for an honest opinion

I dunno if anybody is really skirting the Law ? as merely working somewhat within that somewhat flawed "Law" maybe ?

Anyone.... please feel free to correct me here as I am NO expert !
That said...
my understanding is that to be able to put "MADE IN THE USA" on your entire product line like Edelbrock does..... with "castings".... the regulations state that at least some "percentage" of the TOTAL number of Castings must be made within the continental USA.... the remainder may be "contracted out" offshore.

I think....
because I don't know the exact percentages ?
But IMO...
something like 20-25% of the Castings must be done in USA at a USA Foundry.... in order to put "MADE IN THE USA" on ALL of the 100% of Castings Sold.... even though 75-80% were Cast at a Chinese Foundry.

Can't blame anybody.... it was Congress's way of maintaining at least 'some' casting capability on US soil or it ALL would have gone offshore ?
I've been there in San Jacinto Ca. Foundry
& to the Torrance Ca. facilities & seen them, 1st hand...
Had lengthy talks with the onsite engineer there & on the phone
when they were developing them...

I saw them casting I don't know how many
maybe 10's of thousands on racks...
Raw castings waiting for machining...

It's 100% Made in the USA castings...
100% made in the USA parts, valves, retainers, locks & springs
or seals too

unless something has severely changed since Vic Died
I haven't been down there in a few years now

if anyone actually gives a rats ***
don't listen to the lies/liars "I think, isn't facts"

take it how you may, trust who you will

I've seen heads on the flow bench, 1st hand
being tested, by my old head porter (Mark Rowe, RIP)
that were or nearly exactly what Edelbrock, claimed they were too
within 1-3 cfm on the 2 sets of RPM heads, I brought him
I got/bought from Summit Racing...

I also saw or Eyewitnessed him do a set of Stealth heads the same day
in back-to-back comparisons. I had a set still in the box too...
Replacements from 440source for heads that were replacements
the "Chinese Cast" Stealths had a lot of issues early on...
 
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