WannabeRacing
Registered Member
The Pro-Topline, bought by RHS and now found in some underground heads slipping out the back door of that foundry are the best of the heads for the price. Great castings! I have run them on a handful of engines and they are spectacular. You can't make a 30 year old casting work as good as these off the shelf without a real whiz welding/porting/epoxying like crazy.
The very best casting right now are the EQ (Engine Quest) EQ lightning heads. They are a true 'take them out of the box and they are ready to run.' I use them on about everything I build for this application, and a set is going on my 412ci for my Blazer early next week. Also running them on my SE boat, turning 7400 rpm all day long. And quite a few of my other engines floating around.
The pro comp stuff is decent, and need a quick look over and touch up before installing. Castings are O.K. but the finish work is not precise. But for the price, really hard to beat. Watch the edges where the seats are installed. They ususally need a de-burr so the thing won't detonate all day long.
I just have a few questions. Why aluminum? There are only three reasons to run aluminum heads. 1) they are lighter. (Does your truck really know or care about 40 pounds difference?) 2) you can run a touch higher compression without detonation because of heat transfer. (But if your pistons are what they are, no advantage there.) 3) they are easier to repair. (But at what you are looking to pay, welding and re-cutting a head is over your existing budget already.) Then throw in that they are more expensive, they are easier to warp and move, and Bill Mitchell did a test where the same bottom end, and the exact same set-up with the exact same CNC program on the heads, iron makes more power over aluminum on the dyno. (Although some don't believe these findings, he has published his dyno results.)
As for me, I would get a good set of re-built vortecs and run em! Great small runner for big down low torque, and depending on the casting you can get a nice small chamber to keep your compression up. You can also surf ebay for a pro-comp, or whatever they are pulling out of china this week, but don't go and waste your money on a 210 cc runner. a 200 is big for what you want. 180's are common in the aftermaket industry, I would go for a 180 if you were going that route.
The very best casting right now are the EQ (Engine Quest) EQ lightning heads. They are a true 'take them out of the box and they are ready to run.' I use them on about everything I build for this application, and a set is going on my 412ci for my Blazer early next week. Also running them on my SE boat, turning 7400 rpm all day long. And quite a few of my other engines floating around.
The pro comp stuff is decent, and need a quick look over and touch up before installing. Castings are O.K. but the finish work is not precise. But for the price, really hard to beat. Watch the edges where the seats are installed. They ususally need a de-burr so the thing won't detonate all day long.
I just have a few questions. Why aluminum? There are only three reasons to run aluminum heads. 1) they are lighter. (Does your truck really know or care about 40 pounds difference?) 2) you can run a touch higher compression without detonation because of heat transfer. (But if your pistons are what they are, no advantage there.) 3) they are easier to repair. (But at what you are looking to pay, welding and re-cutting a head is over your existing budget already.) Then throw in that they are more expensive, they are easier to warp and move, and Bill Mitchell did a test where the same bottom end, and the exact same set-up with the exact same CNC program on the heads, iron makes more power over aluminum on the dyno. (Although some don't believe these findings, he has published his dyno results.)
As for me, I would get a good set of re-built vortecs and run em! Great small runner for big down low torque, and depending on the casting you can get a nice small chamber to keep your compression up. You can also surf ebay for a pro-comp, or whatever they are pulling out of china this week, but don't go and waste your money on a 210 cc runner. a 200 is big for what you want. 180's are common in the aftermaket industry, I would go for a 180 if you were going that route.
