longest lasting performance head?

footbrake · Feb 27, 2010

I know this is not your normal performance head question, but I have made several mistakes in the past few months since becoming a 5.0 owner.
Now I have bought 2 pair of heads for this mustang with no good luck. I am now looking at the Patriot 1002 heads. My question is will they hold up to daily miles. ( ie will they last 50 to 100 thousand miles if needed.)
this car is primarily my wifes, I steel it on the weekends for road coarse and mild drag racing at the local tracks. If you look at the history of my posts you will note that my needs have changed.

I hear and read about valve guides wearing in no time on some heads like tfs and holley and I wonder how the others hold up for the long haul.

has anyone out there got a lot of miles on their heads with no trouble? ( any brand)
Thanks

tb9050lx · Feb 27, 2010

footbrake said:
I know this is not your normal performance head question, but I have made several mistakes in the past few months since becoming a 5.0 owner.
Now I have bought 2 pair of heads for this mustang with no good luck. I am now looking at the Patriot 1002 heads. My question is will they hold up to daily miles. ( ie will they last 50 to 100 thousand miles if needed.)
this car is primarily my wifes, I steel it on the weekends for road coarse and mild drag racing at the local tracks. If you look at the history of my posts you will note that my needs have changed.

I hear and read about valve guides wearing in no time on some heads like tfs and holley and I wonder how the others hold up for the long haul.

has anyone out there got a lot of miles on their heads with no trouble? ( any brand)
Thanks

Ive had my edelbrock performers for about 6 years with about 30,000 miles on them and they are in good shape, pulled them off last year to replace a leaxky head gasket and nothing was wrong with them.the guides were within spec and the seats looked good

njoliver · Feb 27, 2010

cast iron heads will obviously last longer then aluminum, if you do a iron heads correct I do not see why they shouldnt last as long as the engine. on the other hand aluminum heads can last just as long of taking good care of and if they warp you can straighten them up for cheap.

Bullitt347 · Feb 27, 2010

I always take any set of heads I buy to my machine shop to have then gone over. Even brand new out of the box, no matter the manufacturer, there is usually something that is not in spec for long term reliability. I expect this considering the cost of the heads. When you can buy a set of heads complete for around a thousand bucks, you gotta believe that they are not using the "best" parts available, or performing the "best" machining possible. That being said, a lot of time new heads out of the box will give years of trouble free service, but I like to have mine gone thru just to be sure. Plus at that time the machine shop can correct for proper valve spring pressures given the particular cam that is being run, and for the particular RPM range that the engine is going to be run in.

stang&2Birds · Feb 27, 2010

footbrake said:
Patriot 1002 heads.

IMHO, POS heads.

footbrake said:
( ie will they last 50 to 100 thousand miles if needed.)

Okay, I hope I don't burn in hell, but....
FRPP OEM heads. Specifically the GT40 or GT40X heads.
These were designed to last 100K++ miles and for daily use.
Ford Racing M-6049-X306 - Ford Racing GT-40 Cylinder Heads
Ford Racing M-6049-X303 - Ford Racing GT-40 Cylinder Heads

Instructions:
http://www.fordracingparts.com/download/instructionsheets/FordInstShtM-6049-X303.pdf

BTW: IMHO, I like the AFR 165 heads the best. And, they have a good rep.

But, IMHO, for a GT40 or GT40X head to last less than 100K++ miles, then there were other issues - like overheating, too much cam lift for the valve spring ratings, etc.

For the record, I still think too many of the once great FRPP offerings are now PURE CR*P and PURE AND TOTAL RICER BS!

However, a few FRPP products do still kick *SS! But, IMHO, buying FRPP stuff is now like buying stuff from Summit. Summit sells some awesome stuff.I buy mainly from Summit!!

However, Summit also sells cr*p, like the total ripoff RICER "tornado" intake:
Tornado Air Management Systems KI-80

View attachment 228685
The easiest way to get dramatic fuel savings and improved horsepower!
The Tornado is a revolutionary device designed to enhance fuel economy. The Tornado is a non-moving, turbine-shaped device, which creates a vortex or swirling effect to the engine.

Ha, ha, ha! Anyone want to buy some snake oil?

stang&2Birds · Feb 27, 2010

njoliver said:
cast iron heads will obviously last longer then aluminum, if you do a iron heads correct I do not see why they shouldnt last as long as the engine. on the other hand aluminum heads can last just as long of taking good care of and if they warp you can straighten them up for cheap.

The problem with "aluminum" heads is that there are many different mixtures/types of "aluminum", and many different manufacturing techniques.

Also, aluminum is expensive. So, most aluminum heads are designed to have the minimal amount or material as needed. IMHO, that is the main reason why so many heads gaskets fail with aluminum heads, and why many aluminum heads have problems.

Also, the new multi-layer head gaskets are pretty much required for aluminum heads. That's because of the expansion rate of the aluminum heads verses the block. Here again, a poorly or cheaply designed aluminum head will have more problems because of expansion problems during heating/cooling.

So, IMHO, *I* would never ever buy cheap aluminum heads! They are cheap for a reason!

57fairlane · Feb 27, 2010

footbrake said:
I hear and read about valve guides wearing in no time on some heads like tfs and holley and I wonder how the others hold up for the long haul.

the tfs heads were only on the piss poor design of the pedestal mount rocker heads.

There isn't too much out there that isn't a good product nowadays . . . if you want something to be maintenance-free then it seems like you are trying to cheap out on a good set of heads.

84Ttop · Feb 28, 2010

You get what you pay for in my opinion, the patriot heads are cheap yes, but so are the parts in them. Step up your game to a set of trickflow t/w in my opinion!

2000xp8 · Feb 28, 2010

Bullitt347 said:
I always take any set of heads I buy to my machine shop to have then gone over. Even brand new out of the box, no matter the manufacturer, there is usually something that is not in spec for long term reliability. I expect this considering the cost of the heads. When you can buy a set of heads complete for around a thousand bucks, you gotta believe that they are not using the "best" parts available, or performing the "best" machining possible. That being said, a lot of time new heads out of the box will give years of trouble free service, but I like to have mine gone thru just to be sure. Plus at that time the machine shop can correct for proper valve spring pressures given the particular cam that is being run, and for the particular RPM range that the engine is going to be run in.

This is the best advice.
All heads goto the machine shop, ya it sucks dropping an extra $250 for a valve job/bowl cleanup/spring seats.
But, you get your $250 worth in power and reliability.

Personally, i like TW's, gt40x and afrs.
But they all still need to goto the machine shop.

longest lasting performance head?

footbrake

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tb9050lx

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njoliver

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Bullitt347

I have been doing it wrong this whole time

stang&2Birds

stang&2Birds

57fairlane

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84Ttop

They make new pistons every day, so why worry?

2000xp8

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longest lasting performance head?

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I have been doing it wrong this whole time

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They make new pistons every day, so why worry?

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