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SBC Aluminum heads and roller rockers questions.

Richard150MPH

Richard150MPH

Veteran Member
If I am going to have to replace my current heads with another set it seems 180cc intake runners are all I will need.
I hesitate to even ask, but for a Street/Road-Race Gen. 1 327 engine that will see 7K RPM sustained on occasion, which heads?
I would like to be able to avoid a shaft rocker system if possible.
And as long as I am wishing, I want to avoid needle bearings in the fulcrums too.
Polite suggestions sought.
 
To get what I really want without paying for parts I will just remove I may have to start with bare heads.
Running Beehive springs with my moderate lift.
Too many issues seem to come down to double valve springs and heavy seat pressure.
If they were not insane expensive I would run Ti valves.
 
I personally like AFR also. But like most, they are now mass produced and in China. I would call Chris at Straub Tech . Whoever you go with , I would recommend having a shop go through the heads. I don't care if they are new. Its almost a sure thing that all new heads still need work. Buying heads from a shop that will also do the machining / cleanup is huge for me. I would call Chris, tell him what you want and they will suggest everything you need to ensure you get it correct the first time. Even a cam. Can hurt. And even if you dont buy from them, Id trust their opinion.
 
The promaxx 180s are overachievers for the money. I bought a set for my 302, I think I paid $800, but that a couple years back. Brought them to my machinist, he tore into them, checked flatness, valve job, guides, and gave them a clean bill of health. IIRC, the springs were good for 540 lift...but don't quote me on that.
 
If you are going to buzz that 327 to 7K I would for sure invest in a stud girdle as it keeps the rockers all in line with no flexing. I am a big cast iron head fan myself, aluminum heads no doubt are great but act like a big heat sink and despite what people thing one should re-tune with the aluminum heads. As for rockers I have used Harland Sharps for over 30 years on one set and never had a failure, they are a super good rocker arm as well as my Crower SS ones but the down side to those is they are heavy and that's not good for a lot of valvetrain stability IMO.
 
Search has been frustrating, I recall there is at least one company doing a SBC bushed or Aluminum rocker fulcrum but cannot seem to identify who they are.
Going to give HBR a call this morning.
 
I have to get the number from my desired gasket to continue shopping.
May try epoxy to match ports at the top of my intake runners.
 
Richard150MPH said:
I have to get the number from my desired gasket to continue shopping.
May try epoxy to match ports at the top of my intake runners.
Click to expand...
I am not sure I would worry about that after the "huge" mis-match I had with my Super Victor that was on my Vortec heads back in 2019. The side walls were off my almost a 1/4" but you know what, it worked fine. The car ran 10.90's all night. Unless the port is exposed to cause a vacuum leak I don't worry about that anymore.
 
Finally got some more numbers on the Brownfield/AFR heads.
Big issue has been determining rocker off-set required to deal with valve placement.
Still unable to locate a blueprint drawing for stock heads.
With that I could make better measurements.
But I have determined that my valves are 1.910" apart.
This is not an OEM spacing.
It may be common to other aftermarket heads, maybe AFR?
But it seems that is information no one makes available for comparison.
I sill need to be able to measure the valve location in relation to the head studs, the one dimension that cannot change.
 
I may have finally sorted out where to buy my shaft rockers.
Scorpion are sending me a partial set to check the fit.
They also have a Bushing instead of bearing option and are USA made.
 
Richard150MPH said:
Finally got some more numbers on the Brownfield/AFR heads.
Big issue has been determining rocker off-set required to deal with valve placement.
Still unable to locate a blueprint drawing for stock heads.
With that I could make better measurements.
But I have determined that my valves are 1.910" apart.
This is not an OEM spacing.
It may be common to other aftermarket heads, maybe AFR?
But it seems that is information no one makes available for comparison.
I sill need to be able to measure the valve location in relation to the head studs, the one dimension that cannot change.
Click to expand...
I think Brownfield's were 60-40 split heads as I remember from talking with my old circle track buds. They all ran them heads back in the day before the spec stuff came out, then all those head became dirt cheap. Post up a picture of them.
 
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