Any real gain upgrading HEADS
- Thread starter riviera
- Start date
forcefed3.8's
Buckeye Bullet
- Joined
- May 26, 2002
It all depends on your combo. It will allow the same et at less boost. How much you gain depends on how much more power your turbo and fuel system can handle.
I had a good back to back this past week with unknown heads on a car I dynoed and known good iron heads on engines I assembled and dynoed. Air was good and we were off almost 100whp peak @ 28psi with the unknown heads and the engine was dropping power sooner with more rpm. I'm sure there was some small variables but the main components were the same. Same turbo and Intercooler, open exhaust, XFI. I knew right away when I used a refined tune from the cars that had engines I assembled and immediately had to pull almost 20% out of the VE to get it in the range where it could hit the targets. So yes the heads don't make a little difference. They make a huge difference and are required at a certain point.
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to answer your question with specifics .. Same car .. same shortblock ... just a head swap to the ported iron Champs ...
The tune was maximized in both configurations and weather was more favorable to the stock heads vs the champs ...
11.62 @ 115 on the stock heads
11.19 @ 119 on the champs
This was on a HEAVY , Fully loaded Limited .. had this been on a stock weight GN .. probably would have been in the 10.90 area ...
The turbo was simply out of lung .. same setup with a larger turbo went 10.56 @ 128
- Joined
- May 28, 2001
Speaking of out of lung.....
I had to put the stock turbo back on my car to pass smog. Ported iron heads.
That turbo was all in at 4000 rpms and after that it just nose back over, it was really eye opening.
Flow equals power.
I had to put the stock turbo back on my car to pass smog. Ported iron heads.
That turbo was all in at 4000 rpms and after that it just nose back over, it was really eye opening.
Flow equals power.
Good timing with this question, and i dont mean to take over your thread but maybe your wondering what i am...
Do i spend the money on local machine work, parts and my own time for dragging them to and from the shop. OR buy some ready to go aftermarket heads and bolt on. I know it will cost more, but to me it might be worth the convenience and of course the extra hp.
Do i spend the money on local machine work, parts and my own time for dragging them to and from the shop. OR buy some ready to go aftermarket heads and bolt on. I know it will cost more, but to me it might be worth the convenience and of course the extra hp.
They actually aren't that bad on the stockers ... compared to a Fox body mustang stock head ... and those cars run low 11's @ mid 120's on 8 psi with that junk
Whats impressive is if you look at the numbers that guys that are gifted run .. take a look at stock eliminator numbers and then it really makes you laugh at all the guys running 10's with GN1 heads, roller cams, DFI's , fully built shortblocks
If you are not able or ready to put in the many hours required to grind your own, you'd probably be better off buying a pair of Champion irons & bolting them on.
- Joined
- May 28, 2001
In all honesty it is very difficult to find a local machine shop that can do any heads right much less a Buick head. There are proven vendors that do this right and won't be a waste of your hard earned time and money.
If its me I would to with plan B, no question. My time and effort is worth something to me.
In all honesty, you call up Nick Micale and tell him what you want. He will put it together and send it to you.
- Joined
- May 28, 2001
Champion does nice work but it takes 6 months, no joke, to get a set of heads and intake ported and polished. Yes the aluminum heads will cost more but you will do it right once and the heads will always help make power with whatever turbo, fuel, converter upgrades you do after that.
Truth be told ... there are other porters that do even better work then champion for the same money and less wait ...
and for any reasonable street car .. I don't understand the push for a set of Alum heads .. half the money and the ported Irons get it done just as well
Last edited:
dank GN
BlackArts Automotive (661)993-8277
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2009
I've always done my own . I am lucky to have friends that do heads and have all the equipment needed to do them right . I'm in the middle of porting and flowing my TA SE heads . as stated before if you don't have the 10+ hrs of porting a set and matching them you are prob best buying a set or sending your to someone that knows where the power lies . Here is a picture of a set of iorns I just finished for a friend and my TA heads
Attachments
I should have mentioned that my heads have been ported, but if you've noticed my bearing thread, you would agree that a joker has been working on the car. That being said, its probably best to move on with new heads. This is mainly a street car, so stick with irons?
The gain is there if you can take advantage of the head with more cam,valve train,turbo,Octane and fuel volume.
IMOP The reason, alum. Heads can be fixed. I've had 4 iron boat anchors over the years and that gets old
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What happened to the iron heads??
forcefed3.8's
Buckeye Bullet
- Joined
- May 26, 2002
It really doesnt take much port work to see big gains with the stock heads. When you pull the valves you will see how crappy and restrictive they are under the seats. A quick clean up on that and a taper on the guide opens up a lot. I have a set of iron heads thag went 9.8s that arent anything special.
