Who is running GN1 Heads on a daily driver?

Terrance,

Sorry I missed your call the other day. I'll give you a ring and we can discuss this.

Neal
 
I say go for it. I drive mine 3-4 times a week. I'm in FL so I run water and RMI25 for coolant. My GN1's have individual studs for the rockers and the GN1 valve covers. With A/C and HR parts engine mounts, there is no way I can remove the passenger valve cover without disconnecting the engine mounts.
 
Porting and rebuilding irons to go fast isn't exactly cheap unless you do it yourself. I spent $1500 on my irons since 2001 (ported and freshened springs twice) and last time they came off, I said screw it, let's get new GN1's instead of throwing more money at these boat anchors.
 
what are you guys referring to as fast?

A decent port job on a set of irons will easily go into the 10's
 
I wanted the GN 1 because of less weight, the ability to dissipate heat better, and wanted to run 10's without trying to blow the head gaskets out of the car.
 
There are some advantages to aluminum heads particulary if you're looking to run low boost and make a lot of hp. They more readily accept better valvetrain components and make it much easier to raise the operating rpm and mass efficiency at the higher rpm. This translates into a lot more power. Simply bolting a set of gn1's on with smallish valvetrain components will not show much gain. More turbo, more cam, more spring, more area under the curve with higher lift fast ramp cam will make more power, they are much more rigid on the intake side of the combustion chamber and won't deflect as much as iron heads(unless modified) under high cylinder pressure. They are not for everyone but definitely have their place. It would not be hard to build a 93 octane (no alky) engine that makes 10 sec power with a ported set of gn1 heads. It would be much more effort to do the same with iron heads. They both have their place.
 
dont get me wrong I am all for Aluminum heads.......I have a set on my vette and they are great! I would probably get a set for the Buick if I had the extra cash with nothing else to spend it on :cool: My point is just that a good set of ported irons work very well and can easily support 10sec power.

Let us know the gains you see when swapping....I would be interested to hear how much the car picked up with just a head swap at the same boost level.
 
Your motor can make the same HP with aluminum heads that it makes with iron. It will be lighter and will make that power with less effort from the turbo.
 
I think that the op is wondering about drive-ability along with increased lag. I can't compare because I changed my whole combo when I went with mine.
 
I've dropped about $19,000 into my Buick in just mechanical upgrades since 2008 and I only picked up 4mph and 3 tenths from the old stock stroke iron bowl ported combo...so far...don't tell the wife...
 
Mine's not a "daily" driver but it IS a real driver. GN heads have been on my motor for 10 years now with no problems at all. I've done city and highway driving in 90 degree and 0 degree weather. I could not be more pleased with my GN1 heads and combo.
 
TurboTnZ06 said:
I say go for it. I drive mine 3-4 times a week. I'm in FL so I run water and RMI25 for coolant. My GN1's have individual studs for the rockers and the GN1 valve covers. With A/C and HR parts engine mounts, there is no way I can remove the passenger valve cover without disconnecting the engine mounts.
Click to expand...
Really? It's tight on mine but it comes out without messing with the mounts. I wonder why?
 
TurboTnZ06 said:
I've dropped about $19,000 into my Buick in just mechanical upgrades since 2008 and I only picked up 4mph and 3 tenths from the old stock stroke iron bowl ported combo...so far...don't tell the wife...
Click to expand...
$19,000 and 3 tenths...ouch!!
 
When the roads are clean I'm driving my TR. I've taken it on several trips including 500 miles round trip. No issues what so ever.
 
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