cheap aluminum heads

turtlevette

turtlevette

The Turdle
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
1,492
Location
Marshfield, MA
anyone with experience with the chineese made aluminum heads please post your experience here.

i believe they are sold under several brand labels and are around $675 complete.

i also have my eye on the fast burn heads from GM for about double that price.
 
www.patriot-performance.com

I believe the heads are cast in Alabama, and are used in Golen Engines. PLUS. You can get assembled CNC ported heads for like $1095. They dont flow killer numbers, but are respectable for the price.
 
The Summit brand heads are assembled, aluminum and they offer different size runners and chambers.... $979
They also have Patriot heads for $795

If you find them cheaper, Summit does price match.....
 
I got my China heads 195cc from TSCH Racing Heads. I had them drill the heads for the 400 block. Complete to my door. I did port port them some, mostly to clean them up and port match. The basic heads are good. There was some clean up work and the seats were correct. For the price and how they work on my car, they have been great- this engine is a mule. I have over 6,000 miles on them. Would I buy them again, probably. But the next engine I build will be higher in HP and the AFRs look to be what I need for that.:cool:
 
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glenn64vette said:
Sorry, can't agree:bounce:. The Fast Burn are good but not as good as the China Heads I got. But, each to there own. Right now, I don't have a wife to tell me what to do.:bump:
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glenn64vette,it looks like you have procomp heads ,if there the heads in your avatar pic.Ive heard good and some bad,ive have a set of them in boxes,i was going to run them but i went bigger heads,edelbrock victor 215 runner.The procomps look pretty nice to look at.They have to run better then the stock iron heads.
 
Billsvette said:
glenn64vette,it looks like you have procomp heads ,if there the heads in your avatar pic.Ive heard good and some bad,ive have a set of them in boxes,i was going to run them but i went bigger heads,edelbrock victor 215 runner.The procomps look pretty nice to look at.They have to run better then the stock iron heads.
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Yea, the ones in the Avatar. That picture is just after I did the porting and was checking intake aligment. It was perfect, of course.:D

I had a set of FULLY ported 041s on the last engine, BIG difference with these heads above 4,500 RPMs. Plus the lighter weight rasied the vehicle a 1/2 inch.:suspicious:
 
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Just go give you an idea of how important heads are; a set of AFR big block heads are worth about 50hp over Edelbrock heads and about 100hp over original GM rectangular port heads. When I reminisce about all the Z06 bitch slapping my vette has done, I don't forget to praise the heads.
 
I would rather buy a set of reputable iron heads over any chinese aluminium set any day.

Here's some of that patriot junk. These are SBF heads but the same issues appear on SBC heads. Check the rocker stud on this one! LOL
248110a6ae531a.jpg

That valve spring pocket is centered nicely over the guide, look at the spring sticking out sideways. Also, that retainer/lock isn't looking too gret either. Quite a big gap there, something's funky there.
248110a7110e41.jpg

Nice machining on the gasket surface!
248110a6bb1ea9.jpg

That's a pretty valve seat! Love that ridge, must be high performance
248110a6c5ee9f.jpg

Wonder what they call this? Siamesed seats? Sure is pretty :)
248110a6d29366.jpg


Ching Chang Chong :chinese: & his carbide burr, or did he use a chisel?
248110a6e70013.jpg

248110a704dd8a.jpg


is this what they call a peanut port? sure looks like it:
248110a6f5eec2.jpg
 
Sadistic said:
Just go give you an idea of how important heads are; a set of AFR big block heads are worth about 50hp over Edelbrock heads and about 100hp over original GM rectangular port heads. When I reminisce about all the Z06 bitch slapping my vette has done, I don't forget to praise the heads.
Click to expand...


That's pretty much a given; heads are everything to HP.:bounce:

The question is "if" the CHEAP China heads are worth it. Having a set, I'd say yea--so far. Still testing.
:beer:
 
Twin_Turbo said:
I would rather buy a set of reputable iron heads over any chinese aluminium set any day.
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TT have you actually ran a set of the China heads? I'm runninng the set from TSCH- of course I did port them some-but the engine doesn't know or care they are from China.:wink:

My heads looked nothing like the ones in your picture. My seats were near perfect and the bowl area was much better than the pictures you show. I did need to port match. Hell, if mine looked like thoes in the picture, I'd thrown it back at them.:bounce:


Maybe I got the best set made yet.:idea:
 
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glenn64vette said:
TT have you actually ran a set of the China heads? I'm runninng a set - of course I did port them some-but the engine doesn't know or care they are from China.:wink:

My heads looked nothing like the ones in your picture. My seats were near perfect and the bowl area was much better than the pictures you show. I did need to port match. Hell, if mine looked like thoes in the picture, I'd thrown it back at them.:bounce:
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They sure look like shit, don't they.....
 
glenn64vette said:
TT have you actually ran a set of the China heads? I'm runninng the set from TSCH- of course I did port them some-but the engine doesn't know or care they are from China.:wink:

My heads looked nothing like the ones in your picture. My seats were near perfect and the bowl area was much better than the pictures you show. I did need to port match. Hell, if mine looked like thoes in the picture, I'd thrown it back at them.:bounce:


Maybe I got the best set made yet.:idea:
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No but after seeing the ones I saw I won't even think about it. They cost a good bit more here than over on your side too. I fully expect the modified L98/zz4 heads on V-Twins 77 to outperform what I saw in those china heads. Maybe if you could see the heads beforehand and thoroughly check them, maybe you could find a pair that was acceptable.

Here's something I copied elsehwere, posted by a guy from AFR.

AFR said:
Here were the flow numbers off our equipment using a Brezenski radiused entry on the inlet side and the same flowtube we use on all our SBF / SBC testing on the exhaust. By the way our advertised data on our 185 exhaust is old and doesn't reflect the addition of a flowtube which adds 10-15 CFM across the board. Tony is going to flow a 185 production part early next week to provide a good comparison. In the mean time I have included info from an AFR 165 head we spot flowed a few weeks ago….note this head only has a 1.900 intake valve (Versus the 2.02" in the Patriot).

Patriot 185 (as cast)

Lift…INT / EXH

.200" 141 / 91
.300" 194 / 131
.400" 218 / 159
.500" 233 / 169
.600" 245 / 175

(Yes the exhaust numbers are correlated with the right valve lift).

AFR 165 (100% CNC)
Lift…INT / EXH
.200" 133 / 122
.300" 190 / 162
.400" 230 / 189
.500" 248 / 198
.600" 254 / 205
Click to expand...
 
Twin_Turbo said:
No but after seeing the ones I saw I won't even think about it. They cost a good bit more here than over on your side too. I fully expect the modified L98/zz4 heads on V-Twins 77 to outperform what I saw in those china heads. Maybe if you could see the heads beforehand and thoroughly check them, maybe you could find a pair that was acceptable.

Here's something I copied elsehwere, posted by a guy from AFR.
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TT believe me I'm not trying to throw shit at you. I saw those figures there before. God knows I would rather of had a set of AFRs. I will next engine. I ported my China heads-been porting heads since 78- I did not flow my heads, but from what I have done over the years ( any good head guy knows if he has a good port or not after a few years of doing it) my heads have better numbers than AFR got with the China head (as cast) did. My 400 pulls very hard and is stronger than my fully ported 041s ran.


If you can afford the AFRs--get them. That is the bottom line. I couldn't at the time. Took a chance on the China heads and I'm not sorry.:bounce:


Just my 03 cents.:bounce:
 
I can get a set really cheap from a guy in Germany, only problem is, they physically can't be installed because a bunch of bolt holes are off, that's why he's practically giving them away. I'll see if I can find his pics
 
glenn64vette said:
Twin_Turbo said:
I would rather buy a set of reputable iron heads over any chinese aluminium set any day.
Click to expand...

TT have you actually ran a set of the China heads? I'm runninng the set from TSCH- of course I did port them some-but the engine doesn't know or care they are from China.:wink:

My heads looked nothing like the ones in your picture. My seats were near perfect and the bowl area was much better than the pictures you show. I did need to port match. Hell, if mine looked like thoes in the picture, I'd thrown it back at them.:bounce:


Maybe I got the best set made yet.:idea:
Click to expand...

Im running a set of Patriot heads on my 383 stroker motor. After looking at the pics above I guess my question is who did the machining of the heads. My heads may have been cast in China but the build up, valves, springs and machine work was done by some good ole boys down in Tennesee. I can say that I found none of the issues in the pics on my heads. Time will tell if I made a wise decision but my flow numbers are comperable to more expensive heads and my DD numbers for wht I consider a mild stroker build are in the + 450/450 range. It is not the heads that are the limiting factor in the build.
 
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