Engine Gt40p vs 180 procomp

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T08:27:54-0500

I know the consensus on the procomp heads are not good as ive done my digging… looking for advice nonetheless i have gt40p heads i was planning to run with an n41 cam and typhoon intake manifold and longtube headers. I was content with this setup as this will be my first hci 302. Then my dad decided he wanted afr195 heads on his 351 and gave me these procomps hes had them on the engine for 7k miles had rocker arm failure a few of the valve tips got chewed up other then that they look good and made decent power on his motor. So the question i need help with is should i run gt40p heads with this combo and stock fox rockers or put the pro comps and have new valves installed for $300 and a stud mounted roller rocker

rednotch · 2026-10-27T08:58:16-0500

You can buy the same heads as the pro comp 175/180 casting for as little as $500 a pair now from vevor when they run promos, pro comp has them in 175, 190 & 210 runner cores now, vevor only has the 175's... Just search sbf aluminum heads gt40 on ebay wait for a $240 or less deal on singles. Its the same casting they use for the latest versions just no guide plates or studs. Personally I would change out the springs, retainers and keepers to match the cam, then buy arp 7/16 studs and pick up some $20 Lpc guide plates from liberty and what ever decent 7/16 rockers and pushrods you want. But you going to be close to if not more than a grand into everything just in parts and supplies.

If the gt40p heads all are ready done, good springs swapped in, no need for machine work and you have headers that will fit, run them.

$300 in just new valves for the old pro comps, with parts failure, I'd sell em for what you can get. Pro comp valve sets are like $60-100 low-end stuff retail from them, the springs/ hardware suck, even for just an n41 cam. With a rocker failer I'd expect they need more than just valves, checking all the spring pressures and clearances, plus a fresh resurfacing so your looking at a decent machine shop bill alot higher than $300 if you can't do it yourself.

nickyb · 2026-10-27T09:37:57-0500

What he said.

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T09:44:08-0500

rednotch said:
You can buy the same heads as the pro comp 175/180 casting for as little as $500 a pair now from vevor when they run promos, pro comp has them in 175, 190 & 210 runner cores now, vevor only has the 175's... Just search sbf aluminum heads gt40 on ebay wait for a $240 or less deal on singles. Its the same casting they use for the latest versions just no guide plates or studs. Personally I would change out the springs, retainers and keepers to match the cam, then buy arp 7/16 studs and pick up some $20 Lpc guide plates from liberty and what ever decent 7/16 rockers and pushrods you want. But you going to be close to if not more than a grand into everything just in parts and supplies.

If the gt40p heads all are ready done, good springs swapped in, no need for machine work and you have headers that will fit, run them.

$300 in just new valves for the old pro comps, with parts failier, I'd sell em for what you can get. Pro comp valve sets are like $60-100 low-end stuff retail from them, the springs/ hardware suck, even for just an n41 cam. With a rocker failer I'd expect they need more than just valves, checkimg all the spring pressures and clearances, plus a fresh resurfacing so your looking at a decent machine shop bill alot higher than $300 if you can't do it yourself.

The gt40p heads i have are are still on the explorer motor i bought to drop into my 93 im currently restoring, i have a tight budget and a strict deadline as college starts back up in January and the car still needs paint and reassembly, so budget and ease of effort is a factor here. With the gt40p heads i have longtubes that will work with them but i have yet to buy the springs to run them with the n41 if i put the p heads on i was planning to run stock rockers as i dont want to put to much into them knowing i will go to an aluminum head eventually. Ive pulled apart the pro comps they are 13 years old but only seen 7k miles the guides dont seem bad but dont have the tools to measure them properly to know for sure. Maybe 6 of the 16 valve tips are chewed up not horribly but not worth running when the cost of valves are quite cheap.

The $300 was including valves and seating the valves at my local speed shop they have machined a motor for me before motor now has 40k miles on seems they do good work.

$200 to seat them
$100 for valves
$120 for decking the heads

I will look into those heads you mentioned for $500 it may be worth grabbing a pair. Do you have experience with them? Are the ports and hardware a bit better than the procomps? I know these procomps are rough wouldnt buy a set buy free definitely peaked my interest And driving and riding along in my dads car they preformed decent on the 393 he had needle bearings went in the cheap rockers he had, he has since changed his mind on cheap parts lol.

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T09:51:52-0500

I have lapped valves before but only when reusing the valves that came out and put them back in the space place them came out, to my understanding if i were to buy new valves for these procomps the seats would also need to be cut to properly seat a new set of valves no? If i could lap in the new valves and have them decked that might sway my opinion on wether to run them vs the gt40p or look into the heads you mentioned.

Im quite capable but if needing expensive tools for the job to be done right its a little out of reach at the moment… just did floor pans, door posts, upper and lower cowl, sunroof delete, epoxy painted the engine bay, under carriage, entire interior, rear end along with new ring and pinion and carbon clutches, now prepping the car for paint all work done myself may have to start another thread for that yo share the journey and information ive gathered about replacing door posts properly.

Getting to the throw it together part of the build due to time though so i do very much appreciate all the insight on the heads and helping to sway my decision on what to run here.

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T09:54:21-0500

Pardon Our Interruption...

Are these the heads you were referring too? May just put these on for $500 a set at this point

KRUISR · 2026-10-27T10:16:38-0500

I found this review of the Vevor heads.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHuFXuIWDuc&t=529s

I have a pair that we are planning to put on my son's motor with a stock cam. My early review of the heads I have agree with the comments in the video. I am changing the locks, lapping the valves, adding guide plates, hardened pushrods and 1.6 adjustable roller rockers on rocker studs. The springs are okay for stock lift, not sure if I would use them with an aftermarket cam.

rednotch · 2026-10-27T10:45:03-0500

Vevor shipped 3 different China heads all under the same part number, I bought a few sets to get the castings I wanted on the cheap, but only used the valves everything else got replaced, even with a stock cam I'm not an fan of most hardware box stock heads ship with. I sent the ones pictured back, its the same as the current speed master casting, updated tooling so not an exact 1-1 as the 7yr old ones you have.. Now they only seem to ship the ones shown in the picture, which is the Vic Jr clone, same as speedmaster 175. Valvetrain damn near identical too speedmaster but still kind of junk for any decent cam profile. Springs where in 120 range seat on an rimac spring testor. That channel has a couple videos of that head, not the way I would do them but gives you decent info.

The other castings where the dart pro1 clone aka afr enforcer / blueprint casting but with 2.02/1.60 11/32 valve stem. Can still source them from aliexpress or Alibaba just not as cheap as threw vevor was
And the third was Steven suns 175cc head, cloned off the afr heads. lmr sells That as the new sve 170 head, the older one used stevens edelbrock rpm clone casting. His larger dealers seemed to have talked him into fixed pricing, as the prices of those jumped way up and even forced lmr to raise the 185cnc version an extra $300. You could pretty much get the same sve 170 lmr sells for 1k from vevor back then for $440 a pair. A certain person/ PE group who's tied to too many companies now, that I refuse to do any buisness with was trying to hawk the same heads with his branding as 165's for over $1500, some got them for $450-500 threw vevor with promos. There just Stevens 175 casting with low end hardware, its actual a 177cc runner when poured.

rednotch · 2026-10-27T10:46:07-0500

Kleinjj27 said:
Pardon Our Interruption...

Are these the heads you were referring too? May just put these on for $500 a set at this point

Yes, that's a vevor drop shipper

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T11:26:50-0500

rednotch said:
Vevor shipped 3 different China heads all under the same part number, I bought a few sets to get the castings I wanted on the cheap, but only used the valves everything else got replaced, even with a stock cam I'm not an fan of most hardware box stock heads ship with. I sent the ones pictured back, its the same as the current speed master casting, updated tooling so not an exact 1-1 as the 7yr old ones you have.. Now they only seem to ship the ones shown in the picture, which is the Vic Jr clone, same as speedmaster 175. Valvetrain damn near identical too speedmaster but still kind of junk for any decent cam profile. Springs where in 120 range seat on an rimac spring testor. That channel has a couple videos of that head, not the way I would do them but gives you decent info.

The other castings where the dart pro1 clone aka afr enforcer / blueprint casting but with 2.02/1.60 11/32 valve stem. Can still source them from aliexpress or Alibaba just not as cheap as threw vevor was
And the third was Steven suns 175cc head, cloned off the afr heads. lmr sells That as the new sve 170 head, the older one used stevens edelbrock rpm clone casting. His larger dealers seemed to talked talk him into fixed pricing as the prices of those jumped way up and even forced lmr to raise the 185cnc version and extra $300. You could pretty much get the same sve 170 lmr sells for 1k, a certain person/ PE group who's tied to too many companies now I refuse to do any buisness with was trying to hawk the same heads with his branding as 165's for over $1500, some got them for $450-500 threw vevor with promos.

Oh wow thank you for the information alot to chew on here when it comes to getting a set of budget heads, i agree and try my best to follow the buy once cry once just about everything on the car since starting the restoration received this treatment, but due to the lack of time i have now and the desire to have the car drivable by January ive tightened the budget substantially. Still got roughly 5k to spend and thats the down and dirty assemble n drive including paint tho as i feel it to be a requirement after all ive done car needs to stay rust free after everything ive done to get it this car

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T11:31:33-0500

rednotch said:
Yes, that's a vevor drop shipper

Would these be the preferred casting i know you mentioned they have a few different casting clones of other heads.

Which springs do you put in the heads your running? Definitely entertaining the thought of buying a set of these heads im confident they are no tfs or afr for an 1/8 of the price but for a little 302 with a mild n41 cam im sure they will out flow a gt40p head probably even a ported p head at that and the weight savings is quite substantial.

Would a tfs valve spring kit go right on? Id do the same for peace of mind in the reliability department as im looking to get it together and know itll be reliable itll be a weekend street car not a daily but would like to know it could be a reliable daily.

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T11:56:41-0500

After more careful reading i understand what youre saying now my apologies for asking if it was the more desirable cast from the drop shipper ebay vevor heads. I understand what youre saying they sell all 3 castings under the same and i could get any of those 3 castings just a gamble on which i get. Im interested i think i might buy a pair just gotta figure out which spring retainer kit i can run with them and see how much it ends up at, id rather have the benefit of aluminum heads even if i end up say $200 more invested on these vs the p heads and cost of springs decking them and having them looked over before running them

rednotch · 2026-10-27T12:52:27-0500

Every set I did was about $1k invested, that's using BTR chromoly hardware for locators and retainers, arp studs and afr split guide plates, then who ever had the best deal on Pac dual LS style springs, I used trickflows branded 16306-16 on the last set, same pac springs they use on the 11r heads. Then you have pushrods, head bolts or studs, gaskets, rockers etc... I wanted the 175cc Steven sun castings that looks like the sve head since I owned there other 2 before, still have the China dart clones on my beater gt I bought a long time ago just not vevor branded ones.

Best out of the box is probably the sve looking one for flow but dart clones right there with it, the dart clone down side is its a 63-64cc chamber, I ported mine so wasn't worried about how they came from vevor, was just the cheapest way to get bare castings and basic valves with a semi decent valve job all ready done on them. All these are vevor, same part number, 3 different China suppliers vevor got them from and branded, but now I only see people getting the pro comp speedmaster version which is the 1st and 3rd pic. Second and 5th are the Steven sun afr based clones, and 4th and 6th show the dart clone with the dual drilled exhaust pattern.

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-27T19:17:53-0500

If i pick up a set of these vevor heads do you think itd be worth $100 to have the machine shop look at them with a trained eye and check springs?

The n41 cam is quite mild more or less an f303 cam .512 lift if the stock springs in these check out and are adequate for the lift i maybe run them…

Would definitely get arp studs guide plates a good push rod and rocker.

Anderson recommended Harland sharp rockers shopping for rockers these seem to be the most expensive option for stud mounted rockers anyone have a potentially more affordable reliable rocker suggestion?

Kleinjj27 · 2026-10-28T10:25:33-0500

If the vevor heads end up around 1k and the lmr casting is the preferred cast wouldnt it make sense to just get the sve heads from lmr themselves comes with adjustable guide plates and rocker studs good springs retainers ect

rednotch · 2026-10-28T12:30:09-0500

Kleinjj27 said:
If the vevor heads end up around 1k and the lmr casting is the preferred cast wouldnt it make sense to just get the sve heads from lmr themselves comes with adjustable guide plates and rocker studs good springs retainers ect

Lmr doesn't build heads such I suspect the valvetrain is all as shipped from china/ Steven sun... I don't trust China springs, retainers and especially there keepers, Steven doesn't manufacture springs or retainers/keepers, he's does aluminum castings and machine work...... the 10 degree keepers on the vevor heads are ugly and I would never run those without replacing them. I have not had the new sve heads in my own hands yet though so can't speak on the actual hardware used. Only thing I can say is so many branding these import casting lie out there ass with " advertising".

Dart has the 205 version from steven sun for about 599 but only the 62cc chamber ones left and its 2.05/ 1.60 hardwares decent enough as shipped since they build the bare castings out. Would work for a n41, but too big for a stock bottom end without fly cutting the pistons.

You might want to wait for black Friday deals to see if promaxx does anything in the 1k range or lmr does a discount which seems to be rare any more., promaxx heads are Steven sun castings, max175/180 is either the 175 afr clone casting or Stevens eledbrock rpm casting I've seen both sold as the max line
There project x is the afr clone from Steven either with the 185 or 205 runner option.

So many are branding the same 5 or 6 China sourced castings now its not even funny, worst has to be monster with there frankenstein m20 heads asking $3500 for a $150 china casting after he cnc's them and loads them with valvetrain.

rednotch · 2026-10-28T14:44:40-0500

Kleinjj27 said:
If i pick up a set of these vevor heads do you think itd be worth $100 to have the machine shop look at them with a trained eye and check springs?

The n41 cam is quite mild more or less an f303 cam .512 lift if the stock springs in these check out and are adequate for the lift i maybe run them…

Would definitely get arp studs guide plates a good push rod and rocker.

Anderson recommended Harland sharp rockers shopping for rockers these seem to be the most expensive option for stud mounted rockers anyone have a potentially more affordable reliable rocker suggestion?

For a mild combo yes have them measure the springs to see if they will handle the cam, get the seat and open recommended info on specs from anderson, definitely have them replace the 10 degree 11/32 keepers and possibly the retainers if the new keepers fit them poorly.

Engine Gt40p vs 180 procomp

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