Aluminium heads: Edelbrock or Trick Flow?

garys289 · Jul 8, 2005

I'm looking for a set of alumium heads for my stock 289. I'm just looking to wake up the motor a bit, and not think that ive wasted $1000 or so. I keep being repeated told that AFR 185/165's are the best, but i cant get my hands on these.

The Edelbrock/RPM/Victor heads - is anyone running these, or would you recommend them? I cant seem to find anyone who's running these heads

Trick flow seems popular, but im hearing about issues with piston clearance and fly cutting needed, right down to problematic spark plug holes and wierd exhaust bolt patterns. How much of this is true?

My biggest concern is, can i bolt a certain head to my STOCK motor without much difficulty. I'd like the edelbrock heads as ive head that they are the most trouble free with installation, but im also hearing they are 'junk'

Any advice appreciated!

Gary

jerry S · Jul 8, 2005

garys289 said:
I'm looking for a set of alumium heads for my stock 289. I'm just looking to wake up the motor a bit, and not think that ive wasted $1000 or so. I keep being repeated told that AFR 185/165's are the best, but i cant get my hands on these.

The Edelbrock/RPM/Victor heads - is anyone running these, or would you recommend them? I cant seem to find anyone who's running these heads

Trick flow seems popular, but im hearing about issues with piston clearance and fly cutting needed, right down to problematic spark plug holes and wierd exhaust bolt patterns. How much of this is true?

My biggest concern is, can i bolt a certain head to my STOCK motor without much difficulty. I'd like the edelbrock heads as ive head that they are the most trouble free with installation, but im also hearing they are 'junk'

Any advice appreciated!

Gary

When my engine was being built, I went through three sets of heads. the windsor heads leaked and were sent back. The second set of heads the shop used were Trick Flows. The engine was being tuned on a dyno jet and it made 325 rwhp before two valve springs broke. My cam was within spec for the lift but the springs broke anyway. the next set of heads were the edelbrock RPM Performers. My car is being tuned on a different dynojet and is only making 300 rwhp. Now I know that you can get some appreciable differences in readings from one dynojet to another but I would have stuck with the twisted wedge heads if I could have. If I could have found the AFRs, I would have slapped them on. But they were no where to be found. The edelbrock RPM Performers are definitely not junk. They are a very decent head. Check with flatlanderracing.com to see if they don't have any AFRs in stock.

302 coupe · Jul 8, 2005

if you must choose between the two of them, go with the trick flow.

Vinyl66 · Jul 8, 2005

garys289 said:
Trick flow seems popular, but im hearing about issues with piston clearance and fly cutting needed, right down to problematic spark plug holes and wierd exhaust bolt patterns. How much of this is true?
Gary

I have Trick Flow heads and they make lots of power. My cam is the XE268 with 224 intake and 230 exhaust duration @ .050 and .509 and .512 lift with stock cast pistons. No fly cutting needed. I have taken spark plugs in and out several times with no problems. My hooker comp. headers bolted right on.
You can find them used on ebay all the time. That's where I got mine last year.
My only problem is I didn't buy matching valve springs for the cam and now I have ruined a cam lobe. (maybe several)
But the good thing is, I ran consistent 13.2's with these heads with a flattening cam and wrong valve springs.

davishokies · Jul 8, 2005

Edelbrock heads are nice. I've had no problems. Plus, they're matched to my intake and carb, both edelbrock.

Pbum5 · Jul 8, 2005

garys289 said:
I'm looking for a set of alumium heads for my stock 289. I'm just looking to wake up the motor a bit, and not think that ive wasted $1000 or so. I keep being repeated told that AFR 185/165's are the best, but i cant get my hands on these.

Gary

Here is a used set of AFR’s

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...tem=7984896478&category=33617&sspagename=WDVW

garys289 · Jul 8, 2005

Pbum5 said:
Here is a used set of AFR’s

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...tem=7984896478&category=33617&sspagename=WDVW

Not a fan of buying expensive parts on ebay. Im looking to buy from Summit. They stock Trick Flow and Edelbrock heads. Any educated guesses as to how much different the trick flow and Edelbrock heads are from each other performance wise?

Pbum5 · Jul 8, 2005

garys289 said:
Not a fan of buying expensive parts on ebay. Im looking to buy from Summit. They stock Trick Flow and Edelbrock heads. Any educated guesses as to how much different the trick flow and Edelbrock heads are from each other performance wise?

that's cool..

As you know Summit dies not sell AFR's

have your tried Street or Track for AFR's?

http://www.streetortrack.com/cylinderheads.asp

12sec67 · Jul 8, 2005

i had edelbrock RPM's on my 306 and made great power with the RPM intake and a basic cheap set up.

thehueypilot · Jul 8, 2005

Pbum5 said:
that's cool..

As you know Summit dies not sell AFR's

have your tried Street or Track for AFR's?

http://www.streetortrack.com/cylinderheads.asp

Jegs now carries AFR heads so you might try there.

iskwezm · Jul 8, 2005

I got my Edelbrocks waaaay back in 96' I think,before AFR's were round and TFS were out of stock.Out of the box they were "ok",they were even extrude honed being they were test heads from Edelbrock and still just "ok".I had the heads rebuilt and replaced the springs,because they fall way short of the .575 capable they claim and also had them ported,that made a big difference,now im satisfied with them,but I also have about $2100 bucks into them.

12sec67 · Jul 8, 2005

i think he only wants to spend $1000.00... so AFR's are going to be out of the question.

garys289 · Jul 8, 2005

12sec67 said:
i think he only wants to spend $1000.00... so AFR's are going to be out of the question.

I was just using the 1k figure as an example in the context. The main reason im ruling out the AFR's is because im in Ireland and all the places mentioned that DO have AFR's dont ship worldwide

So, that leaves Trick Flow and Edelbrock as the main contenders.

SitDown · Jul 8, 2005

While ill always promote AFR, ill give out a little Edelbrock love...

Edel Performer 6037s...used on my stock shortblock, theyre an awesome cheap head made just under 300rw with tfs1 and AFM N3 cams. But i got the heads used so after a couple years i had over a G into them and thats not including any port work. Bc of this i havnt been much of a promoter of buying used heads, even from friends simple machine work adds up.

Edel Victor Jrs...Very happy with these heads, actually purchased as a 2nd choice under AFR185s, but do to a shortage of funds went with the jrs and turned out to be very pleased with them. Although you will want a very stout cam to get some potential out of these heads and the stock pistons wont accomate for this.

i see many ppl with great big $ heads making less power than budget builds, just plan out a good combo and youll be happy with any head whether it be edel, tfs, afr, or worked up E7s

Max Power · Jul 8, 2005

I have the Performer RPM heads on a 393 with the RPM intake and cam. I am very happy with them. While I can't compare to AFRs as I haven't tried them, people who have driven my car are very impressed and surprised at the power. I think a lot of that is because the parts were designed to work together.

I also love the threaded holes having steel inserts.

usedtobe 67p51d · Jul 9, 2005

afr 185 would be a lot of head for a 289

garys289 · Jul 9, 2005

Thanks for the replies so far. It seems im seeing the same contradicting opinions on the Edelbrock heads; everything from "they make great power" to "they are OK"

Not as many people running the Trick Flow heads? Anyone know if either heads require flycutting ?

SadbutTrue · Jul 9, 2005

The Trick Flows and Performer RPMs are very comparable. I did a lot of research on the two, as they seem to be the heads most commonly seen on ebay that perform decently and are widespread. I believe the Trick Flows do flow better, but according to a guy that posted in my thread about this very issue a year ago or so, he ran something like an 11.73 with the RPMs and 11.68 with the Trick Flows. He had a 393 setup in his car, outside of that I forget. He said the RPMs were a bit torquier and more fun to drive on the street, though. I would go for whichever you find cheap first on ebay or wherever, as the performance difference is minimal at most.

edit: Trick Flow makes a big deal that their heads can run the 2.02 intake valve on stock windsors without flycutting. I don't think Edelbrock says the same. Both should work fine with the 1.94 intake valve.

A67auto · Jul 9, 2005

Yeah dude, honestly get what ever ones you think will help you sleep best at night. I have a set of Trick Flows on my car and they work great. I am sure Edelbrocks would have worked fine too,but the only problem with the Trick Flows is you have a limit on cam lift, I am not sure if the Edelbrocks do or not. I do know that I am not going to get a cam that would push the Trick Flow limit so I didn't care about the limit. Think about your future plans when buying heads becasue they are very expenise. Both are a good brands and have people who love them.

Alex

Sicarius428 · Jul 11, 2005

Both are great heads but the Trick Flow was my choice on my 5.0. They do flow better than the Edelbrocks and supposidly they have fixed the spring issue... guess I'll find out some day... I have to say that I am very pleased with their products and the installation wasn't any harder than any other head. Either way you really can't go wrong. Which intake were you intending to use?
Kevin

Aluminium heads: Edelbrock or Trick Flow?

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