alum heads over iron heads
 

what would really be worth it, just out right going out and buying some nice alum heads.

or

i found some 1970 351Wheads at a junkyard close for like 150 bucks

so buying the alum heads or the 351W heads and cleaning them up, i know if i clean them up (port, bowl, new springs etc....) itll come close but probably be a couple hundred less, so is the alum worth it or should i go for the iron?

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

i asked the same thing multiple times and havent got an answered, i found completely reconditioned gt40 (non-P) for 300 bucks and i wanted to know if the extra 1000 bucks is worth it for the aluminum.

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

As far as out of the box goes almost all aluminum heads you can buy today will outperform oem cast iron heads. Aluminum heads are obviously lighter also i believe they help the engine run cooler by dispersing more heat into the coolant.

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

If you're thinking about porting ford stock iron heads, just buy the aluminums. Ported "stockers" will rarely make as much power as aluminum heads (though some might come close), but that's as much power as you'll ever get out of them. Aluminum heads are lighter, and already flow well. Then you port them

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

go aluminum! they have some cheap brands out there if you dont want to spend the money

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

what about gt-40. thats not stock and i've been told they flow pretty well (non-p) will i see a pretty good increase like the aluminum(of course not as much) but at least something i can notice? my delema is that my stock spring are big enough to support my cam and my valves are floating open at high rpms or heavy load

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

i dont know anything about the gt-40s but im always seeing threads about how good they are and the increases from stock.

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

Buying cheap no name heads is a bad idea..iron heads are fine if thats all your budget allows for,but older oem heads will not outflowperformance alum. heads.Plan what you want and do it right the first time. Youll just endup wasting money if you put GT40s on it,buy all the supporting mods..then 6 months down the road buy a nice set of AFR 165s and then you gotta buy all new stuff again.With most of the olderheads likefrom the 70s your gonna want to check the castingnumbers and makesure they have good sized combustion chambers,to big and youll lose compression.

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

i dont like aluminum heads, they warp easily. ive done a few headgaskets cus of warped aluminum heads, never have i had a prob with cast ones. a machine shop told me every aluminum head is warpped at least a little bit. it just how they are, i dunno. im not worried about trying to get more power out of my car either, so my opinion is kinda worthless, but if i was beating the crap outa my car i wouldnt want heads that can warp cus they get too hot

RE: alum heads over iron heads
 

depending on which school of thought you subscribe to one head is better than the other. me i feel like an equal flwoing and chamber size cast iron head is better than the aluminum one because once the hotspots in the chamber have been eliminated then you have a head that holds nice heat on a lower compression motor for more power that way. for the same amount of power on an aluminum head you'd have to run about a point higher in the CR because aluminum dissipates heats very easily. since most aluminum heads are created with a superior flow than the cast iron heads i would take aluminum because it's easier to repair yet more difficult to check for cracks (pressure checking vs magnaflux) simple tig weld versus heating to 400 degrees and welding with high nickel rods. my 5.0 will have aluminum heads when i build it and will be a high reving one.