what about afr heads????

[MI95Cobra]

i'm wanting to get some new heads, but i'm not wanting to change my stock cobra roller rocker arms.....i'm wanting to put a cam with atleast a .499 lift.....maybe a letter cam or a comp cam.....after talking it over with my brother-n-law, we were thinking afr heads...which would be better 165's or 185's???? how are brodix heads, i know this brodix dealer that sells brodix heads....any suggestions?? i know gt40 x heads are suppose to give 65 more hp....

 

[Zero Signal]

AFR's are good heads. But from what I've heard, those and Edelbrocks don't have the best castings (high porosity). Brodix and Canfield have excellent reputations for solid castings. If you look at the flow, the CNC Brodix and Canfields are a lot more expensive than the AFRs.

 

[Killercanary]

I can see why you want to keep your stocker cobra rockers, but trust me in the end you will be happier by running a stud mount head and getting new rockers. The AFR185's will not work with your stock shortblock unless you notch the pistons due to their 2.02" intake valve. The "eyebrow" in the stock piston isn't a big enough diameter to accept the 2.02" valve.

AFR does make a pedestal mount head, and that is what I used to run, but I will NEVER EVER run a pedestal mount head ever again. They are too much of a PITA to setup the valvetrain properly, and if you ever mill the heads, deck the block, change to a different thickness of head gasket, or have a valve job done to the heads you will have to redo everything over again. The non-adjustability of them sucks, plain and simple. I've set them up enough now that I feel I'm pretty good at it, but I still throw in the towel every now and then with them as they can be impossible at times to get right.

 

[final5-0]

Like Paul

I wanna express my dislike for peds and tell you I really do like studs.

I know they cost a bit more, but they are worth it IMHO.

Tons and Tons of threads about this issue
so
do yourself a favor and search em out

Grady

 

[MattZ281LE]

Do not do pedastal heads unless you REALLY plan on never doing another thing to your motor.

165's are the ticket for a street 302.

I cant say anything about the porosity of the heads. I have had edels and AFR's and never experienced any issues...Its not like any of these are solid billet

185's only if you plane on running a more aggressive setup...and the those ped rockers should be long gone anyway. I like Comp Cams Pro Magnums for a nice street rocker. They provide alot of clearance

 

[bimmertech]

ped rockers suck.

i bought 165's and reused my cobra rockers---big mistake. this winter a project of mine is to take them off and have them machined for studs.



fwiw i have the trick flow stage 1 cam and have had good sucess with it.

 

[turbogt]

Killer is dead on.. I would go 185's, but you would definately need notched pistons for the 2.02 valves. If you are going to all the expense and trouble of buying new aluminum heads, keeping the factory pedestal mount rockers shouldn't be one of your major concerns.

 

[blksn955.o]

WTF was Ford thinking with the ped. rockers...it is a PITA to go over on a new setup that is not stock. I think 100% of the people who have had to mess with adj. ped. rockers if given a halfway cost effective stud to swap to would go with one in a HEARTBEAT.

Not to mention the stock cobra RR will run a good chance of not fitting correctly with most aftermarket sping setups as the cobra RR have a funky area by the roller tip that will not clear most valve spring retainers/caps without using a "lash cap"...and that just adds to the needed PR length as they raise the valve head aprox. .060 to get the tip away from the top of the spring.

 

[turbogt]

WTF was Ford thinking with the ped. rockers...it is a PITA to go over on a new setup that is not stock. I think 100% of the people who have had to mess with adj. ped. rockers if given a halfway cost effective stud to swap to would go with one in a HEARTBEAT.

Not to mention the stock cobra RR will run a good chance of not fitting correctly with most aftermarket sping setups as the cobra RR have a funky area by the roller tip that will not clear most valve spring retainers/caps without using a "lash cap"...and that just adds to the needed PR length as they raise the valve head aprox. .060 to get the tip away from the top of the spring.

Soooooo.. are you saying you don't like pedestal mount rockers??

 

[94Cobra69SS396]

I'm running the 165 ped mounts with the stock Cobra rockers and I had no problem with getting them set up. All I had to do was swap a couple of the shims between rockers and all was good. I agree that adjustable rockers are easier but with ped rockers you also have more rocker stability at higher rpm.

 

[MI95Cobra]

ok, so i should go stud mount....and use afr's with a trick flow stage 1 cam or maybe a comp cam?????

 

[Killercanary]

I agree that adjustable rockers are easier but with ped rockers you also have more rocker stability at higher rpm.

I disagree. The pedestal mount heads use a tiny 5/16" bolt, stud use at least a 3/8" stud that is less resistant to flexing under high RPM and heavy spring pressures. I would never run a pedestal mount head in a combo that is rev'd much higher than 6K.

Just a little additonal info on rockers for anyone that is curious:
The only thing that limits side to side movement of the rocker/pushrod is the pushrod guide plates on stud mount heads, the "pedestal" functions to do this on pedestal heads. In high RPM/high spring rate setups, a rocker stud girdle is often utilized to tie all of the studs together. A shaft mount setup connects two or more rockers together with one central trunion(sp) so there is no side to side movement allowed. This is the prefered setup in a high rpm/heavy spring rate application. Its overkill for most street setups, but a stud mount rocker with a girdle cost almost the same as a probe shaft mount setup.

 

[bimmertech]

ok, so i should go stud mount....and use afr's with a trick flow stage 1 cam or maybe a comp cam?????

this is my plan next month. take off 165's, send off for stud conversion, install probe shaft mount setup, reinstall heads with existing cam(trick flow stg 1).

the tfs1 in my car has been very good to me. rock solid idle, good power at 3k to the rev limiter.

 

[Green 94 5.0]

ok, so i should go stud mount....and use afr's with a trick flow stage 1 cam or maybe a comp cam?????

if you only want a cam with .499 lift, the tfs stage 1 is the way to go. the decision between 165's and 185's really boils down to what your plans are for the car. give us a bit more info and we can make suggestions that better suit your needs.

 

[MI95Cobra]

basically i want a bigger cam, heads, still keeping my cobra intake(maybe porting it), bigger throttle body maybe 75mm, heat spacer, smog delete, headers, 1/2" heat spacer.....i think thats about it for the motor.....any one with more motor suggestions??? cosmetic i'm doing a hood, rear bumper, headlights, not sure what else.....what do you think???

 

[mootang]

i think your best bang for the buck would be the trick flow package.

i peiced mine together and I could have saves a lot of money if i went with that kit and made near the same power

 

[VibrantRedGT]

Ped mount rockers are a pain to set up. I was a wiz with them since I had GT40X heads and kept blowing head gaskets with the blower. Green 94 and I could do head gaskets in a few hours.

Street 302 combo that's been proven for years and years-AFR 165's, FTI Cam, Edelbrock Performer intake, 70MM or 75MM TB, 30lb injectors, Pro-M 80MM MAF, Headers, no cats, etc.