opinions on head choice

[slugish]

Want to replace heads on my 400 sbc.

When I talk to summitt , they always recommend trickflow > have been told trickflow is owned by summitt.

Question is : Is summitt heads actually trick flow at a much lower price ,

What do yall think ??

[Tx Firefighter]

I can vouch for Summit cast iron SBC heads. They are Dart brand. I don't have any first hand experience with aluminum ones though.

[chopped81step]

Trick Flow is not owned by Summit, not sure if Summit has their own heads or not. But I can tell you I have a set of Trick Flow heads on my foxbody Capri & they make AWESOME POWER!!! I don't see to many Chevy's running Trick Flows, lots of Dart headed sbc though.

[oldblue1968chevy]

Im running the summit/dart 67cc comb. chamber 'vortec' heads, they accept up to .520 lift cam etc etc running a thumper cam with them but I think im doing a cam swap someday soon.

Only disadvantage to the 'vortec' style heads is centerbolt valve covers and the funky vortec intake...

[lunchbox99]

I know this is a bit off your question but, I just purchased a set of aluminum heads from jegs, Patriot Performance brand 2.02" intake 180CC assembled...they were $800. The fact that the price was so low kinda scared me, but I ordered anyway. When they showed up I was friggin blown away. They are advertised "as cast" which they were, but the casting on these heads was amazing, I gasket matched the intake side and bolted them on. I have seen high dollar Dart, Edelbrock, even Brodix heads out of the box with a BIG machine shop bill to clean them up. Just my 2 cents, here is the website of you want to check em out. https://www.patriot-performance.com/

[slugish]

what cam are you going to . Talked to comp. cam rep today > said he would not recommend tne thumper cam > said it was designed mainly for it's sound .

recommended to be extreme energy cam 274 .

have a 268 now , but with differnt heads said a 274 would be best choice for what I have .

[oldblue1968chevy]

Who me?

I got the thumper 279. I have an intake leak and some other leaks (first engine rebuild at 17 summer of my junior/senior year. I learned alot.

My machinest said either thumper or comp 268 (E or XE, I wasnt sure..)

Ive heard good things about the 268XE/H (not sure) from others with my setup.

I dont wanna run too big of a cam. I want power lowdown, idle 4-5k. Lots of torque.

I still need to dial my timing curve in, so im going to do all of that before i spend big bucks on cam swap and paint/gaskets.

I have yet to talk to comp...so Im just going off google searches

[slugish]

Originally Posted by lunchbox99

I know this is a bit off your question but, I just purchased a set of aluminum heads from jegs, Patriot Performance brand 2.02" intake 180CC assembled...they were $800. The fact that the price was so low kinda scared me, but I ordered anyway. When they showed up I was friggin blown away. They are advertised "as cast" which they were, but the casting on these heads was amazing, I gasket matched the intake side and bolted them on. I have seen high dollar Dart, Edelbrock, even Brodix heads out of the box with a BIG machine shop bill to clean them up. Just my 2 cents, here is the website of you want to check em out. https://www.patriot-performance.com/

Yea , I have heard nothing negative about Patriot heads .
but I dont understand ? > you ordered alum. but received cast > could you explain .

Thx Will

[oldblue1968chevy]

TX-What cam do you recommend (your very knowledgeable in my opinion) summit/dart heads 3spd manual 373 gears, i want torque!)

[lunchbox99]

Originally Posted by slugish

Yea , I have heard nothing negative about Patriot heads .
but I dont understand ? > you ordered alum. but received cast > could you explain .

Thx Will

No, I recieved alum, I meant "as cast" as in they dont do any porting on the heads before they ship them out, they are awsome no slag anywhere.

[3r!c84]

Reminder when you buy heads. You are buying abc heads. You will need to have the steam/weep holes drilled for cooling on the 400sbc.
Posted via Mobile Device

[oldblue1968chevy]

good point ^

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

TX-What cam do you recommend (your very knowledgeable in my opinion) summit/dart heads 3spd manual 373 gears, i want torque!)

My two favorite cams have always been either the Comp 270 Magnum (nice sound) or 268 High Energy (mileage and torque). I've used both of them multiple times and always been happy with them.

[BigBlocksRule]

Trick Flows and Edelbrocks are about on par with each other. Good heads for the money, but race heads, they ain't.
For max street performance, step up to AFR... a lot pricier but better heads.

[rayfinseats]

We have a 400 with factory vortec heads in a 3400-3600 lb chevelle ragtop
with a mild cam and ran 13.0 at 105 in the quarter mile.

[S10Fan]

Just to throw another name out there, World Products. They make some very popular steel heads that a lot of the circle track guys swear by.

BTW slugish......I drove through C-Ville at 6:00 AM Sunday morning, didn't see you. LOL.

[wyattglock]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Trick Flows and Edelbrocks are about on par with each other. Good heads for the money, but race heads, they ain't.
For max street performance, step up to AFR... a lot pricier but better heads.

I second that motion! There is a lot to be said about a company that has named itself Air Flow Research. No tricks and no big names to pay for. My friend ran a set of 190cc AFR heads on a zz3 crate motor back in the late 1990's. That was the single biggest gain in performance until he supercharged it.

[rayfinseats]

Keep in mind unless you aRE RUNNING HIGH rpm a big port isn't going to help that much. That's why I like the vortec style. Vortecs flow as good as World Products lower dollar heads.

[slugish]

Originally Posted by S10Fan

Just to throw another name out there, World Products. They make some very popular steel heads that a lot of the circle track guys swear by.

BTW slugish......I drove through C-Ville at 6:00 AM Sunday morning, didn't see you. LOL.

Dang Brian, Im surprised I didnt see you , old heap must have been flying low !

[slugish]

Originally Posted by rayfinseats

We have a 400 with factory vortec heads in a 3400-3600 lb chevelle ragtop
with a mild cam and ran 13.0 at 105 in the quarter mile.

would love to run even close to that > what do you mean by a mild cam (specs please ) & what else has been done to the engine .

[slugish]

Originally Posted by 3r!c84

Reminder when you buy heads. You are buying abc heads. You will need to have the steam/weep holes drilled for cooling on the 400sbc.
Posted via Mobile Device

Thx for the reminder , you get caught up in the other details & easy to forget something very important like the steam holes

[BruthaMan]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Trick Flows and Edelbrocks are about on par with each other. Good heads for the money, but race heads, they ain't.
For max street performance, step up to AFR... a lot pricier but better heads.

Ordered a set last night, after weeks of research on just about everything out there. AFR 195cc Street Eliminators.

When I first had the engine built, I was concerned about making too much horsepower (OMG!) and driveability. I'm not a motor guy in the least bit. I selected the XE268 cam based on other recommendations I've read here and elsewhere. Really like it too. It's not "too" aggressive and it can sure get you in, or out of trouble real quick!

Didn't realize that the cam, primarily, effected the driveability. When it came to heads on the 383 stroker, I told the builder just to use stock heads. Mostly because I didn't have a clue, nor anyone to really advise me.

Over the past two years, I've learned a lot more and understand cam specs, head flow, etc a little better.

Also ordered a Lunati Voodoo 284 cam. Have a guy working with me now that said we could get a little more out of it, over the 268, without getting too "lopey."

The motor screams, as it is now, with just the stock heads and the XE268. However, at a dyno/tune session at Dream Chasers last year, it was clear the stock heads were really restricting both the HP and torq.

[1BadSS]

Originally Posted by chopped81step

Trick Flow is not owned by Summit, not sure if Summit has their own heads or not. But I can tell you I have a set of Trick Flow heads on my foxbody Capri & they make AWESOME POWER!!! I don't see to many Chevy's running Trick Flows, lots of Dart headed sbc though.

Summit OWNS trick flow.

[1BadSS]

Originally Posted by S10Fan

Just to throw another name out there, World Products. They make some very popular steel heads that a lot of the circle track guys swear by.

BTW slugish......I drove through C-Ville at 6:00 AM Sunday morning, didn't see you. LOL.

I went 11.80's last year on a set of world/dart IRON heads.

[chopped81step]

Quote: Summit OWNS trick flow

I stand corrected. I did a google search & found summit does own Trick Flow.
I also found this.....

TrickFlow.com is a performance car parts retailer in Tallmadge, OH

Summit Racing Equipment is in Akron, OH