freshen up heads??

Foxfan88 · Aug 8, 2005

I am going to rebuild my motor and i never really thought about refreshing the heads.
What do i check and replace???
How much does a head rebuild cost???

txstang84 · Aug 8, 2005

if you're looking to conserve a little money, but still want better heads go with a set of recon'd GT-40's, or GT-40P's (the p's require different headers because of the spark plug angle)...they're not expensive, and they're far and away better than the E7's that came on your engine...I'd rather go aluminum though-start surfing ebay...

typically what's going to be done to any set of recon'd heads will be ck'ing all the tolerances, new springs, valve job, shaving to clean up the surface...depends on how far you wanna go...but the E7's, compared to what's available, aren't worth more than a door stop-unless you're a very savvy head porting guy. and for the money you'd spend getting them up to speed would be more wisely spent on a fresh set of aftermarket heads.

Curse · Aug 8, 2005

txstang84 said:
typically what's going to be done to any set of recon'd heads will be ck'ing all the tolerances, new springs, valve job, shaving to clean up the surface...depends on how far you wanna go...but the E7's, compared to what's available, aren't worth more than a door stop-unless you're a very savvy head porting guy. and for the money you'd spend getting them up to speed would be more wisely spent on a fresh set of aftermarket heads.

I agree with everything txstang84 said. I went the ported e7 heads route and wish I could go back in time and got aluminum aftermarket heads. The nitrous makes up for it though.

bubba-dough · Aug 8, 2005

You will need "P" specific headers for the gt40p but you probably needed new headers anyway. The "p" is a better head than the gt40 or the e7(which takes some $$ in work to get them to flow good). You can get them with new castings and all new parts for $450. I went that route. But if you have the extra cheese go for aluminum heads from the get go.

txstang84 · Aug 8, 2005

bubba-dough said:
You will need "P" specific headers for the gt40p but you probably needed new headers anyway. The "p" is a better head than the gt40 or the e7(which takes some $$ in work to get them to flow good). You can get them with new castings and all new parts for $450. I went that route. But if you have the extra cheese go for aluminum heads from the get go.

yeah, i made mention of that above...damn special headers...oh well. i did do some reading on a few people that have done their best to make the stock heads flow, but the best numbers i ever saw come out of a set of pretty heavily ported set of stockers was right at 200cfm @ .550" or .600" with 1.94, 1.6 valves...ok, that's leaps and bounds better than the stock numbers (somewhere around 130-140 cfm @.500"), but it's at a huge cost.

a decent head machinist will charge anywhere from $300-$750 (trust me, i've checked) to massage out a set of iron heads, and by the time you spend that kind of money on a set of factory castings, then throw in the cost of getting the seats cut for the bigger valves, buying new valves, springs, retainers, and keepers to match your cam, then shaving, inspecting, assembling and pressure testing them, you've just spent enough to buy an aftermarket set that already flows better without any port work whatsoever.

my advice...ditch the E7's and get a set of TW's, Edelbrocks, AFR's, or whatever floats your boat

Foxfan88 · Aug 8, 2005

i dont have enough MONEY MAN!!!!!!!!!

i hate how people ask questions and people reply with "build a 347 stroker motor" or "get afr 185s" alot of answers around here are pretty much saying..... get the biggest and best/ most expensive part and just throw it on and it will be good.

Well truth is, i dont have the money, in fact not even close to just buy some afr or trickflow heads and just toss em on. I have to spend my money wisely. I'm still in school and have a part time job.... so i dont have that kind of money.

My questions was like "what do i need to do to refresh my heads?"
and i get " toss em and get alum heads."

I know that stock heads arent not good for high hp setups, i know that it would be better to build and get alum heads but its out of the question... simply not enough money...

This isnt the answer i look for, i mean i am thankful for the help and input but i notice this alot.

My rebuild will be stock rebuild, so some alum heads would be way overkill for the motor.

Should i just disassemble the heads and get them cleaned and inspect them really good and get any new springs/ retainers etc if needed???

What the retainers anyway??? lol

281pony · Aug 8, 2005

take them into a machine shop nd they should be able to do a complete valve job/refresh for 200 or less. its important to have the heads gone over for a rebuild.

they will also check your head surface for flatness, ect. i give the top estimate of 200, my machine shop did a cleaning, complete valve job, installed springs, decked them, ect. for 140 bucks.

Foxfan88 · Aug 8, 2005

so pretty much i can just take the dirty heads i pulled off and they will handle it all???

retro50 · Aug 8, 2005

Freshen up the heads. Up here in Massachusetts, Most machine shops will charge around $200.00-$250.00 to go through them stock. This usually includes Cleaning,Magnafluxing,Checking valve guides,Regrinding-mic'ing valves.Cutting seats 3-angles,new valve seals+freeze plugs Checking springs for pressure and installed height, Milling and assembly. Any parts that need replacing are extra like valves,guides,springs and possibly even some valve seat inserts. it all depends on the condition of the castings.Don't skimp out on the heads if you do the short- block over. It is money well spent.

Car RamRod · Aug 8, 2005

I think what everyone is saying, is dont waste your money to get a few extra horses outta crap heads, instead, wait a little longer, save up and get heads that will give you the extra power you need.

thumper460 · Aug 9, 2005

Yes.. pull the nasty suckers.. and remove the rockers and plugs.. take then to the shop and they will: Test the springs and shim if necessary, Valve job, surface flat, clean and mag, and assemble for about 200-250.00 and your rocking!! Buying USED GT40 and then you have the cost of the heads... + the re-con prices !! ( 350-400.00 for heads + 200.250 on recon !!) cool??

Just me..............................

Thumper

Foxfan88 · Aug 9, 2005

actually i want to get a set of thumpers some time, i guess i will buckle down and start saving for a while!!

Euphoric306 · Aug 10, 2005

Foxfan88 said:
actually i want to get a set of thumpers some time, i guess i will buckle down and start saving for a while!!

thats pretty much the only way. you will have stuff come up and u'll have to dip into ur savings to fix it, but thats just life... when ur 24 and making like 30k a year, thats when ull get the good stuff.. for now in school with a parttime job, u wont really get that much extra $$$... why do u think they're called starving students eh?

freshen up heads??

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