Alternative to Champion Heads?

[tracer]

Before I roll the dice with new Champion heads (been reading Champion Heads Broke... thread), are there any cost effective alternatives out there? I remember how people raved about the Champions when they were released, CNC machined, flow great out of the box etc. Is there a good recipe I could follow to port my own heads to achieve similar results? What about alternative vendors?

Thanks, and Happy New Year to All.

 

[azgn]

if you can wait....TA Performance will be producing aluminum heads similar to the M & A's....but I imagine they will be improved versions

IMHO, if you have a stock block car, aluminum heads are overkill...you can make enough HP to kill a stock block with just well ported irons.....once you get to 600+ HP, it's only a matter of time.....

 

[S2V6RACER]

It seems that the champion heads are good on a stock bolt configuration with wirelock gaskets. Dave Bamford has ran consistant 10.05's with them and not had any problems.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a set and run them.

 

[XXQUICK6XX]

Champion heads

I've had them since they came out and no real problems and I put quite a few miles on them. And no problems that were related to them. And it's just my opinion they work for me and at the time they did out perform the old m&a's. And I can't speak on the new ones yet until I see some numbers from them.

 

[tracer]

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. When do you think the T/A's will be out? Any guesses on the price?

2002....gonna be another great year for Buicks!

 

[Carolinaturbot6]

I agree with azgn...

Unless you plan on building yourself an all out race car, the aluminum heads aren't needed. You can go very fast with stock ported irons, & not have to worry about having some of the problems we've unfortunantly heard about lately. I've got a newly built motor with Champion irons waiting to go in mine, but if I had to do it again, I think I would've just had my stock heads ported & went that route.

Yes, there are those who have used the aluminum heads & had great success. Then there are others who have had bad experiences with them. The problems seem to vary from car to car. If you ARE looking for an alternative to the aluminums, get the stock heads ported. That's probably the safest route to take. I'm hoping that the problems some have had with heads & cams in these cars will soon become a thing of the past. Good luck.

 

[Two Lane]

www.taperformance.com

 

[charlloots]

i love mt champion iron heads my only regret was not putting them on sooner i could under stand being hesitant its not cheap but is well worth it i wound up getting the manifold also you get what you pay for. the people at champion tech line are great also if you have any questions.

 

[frankg]

If you are interested in a set of irons, i have a set in the 4-sale section that outflow Champion CNC irons for $300 less. I've used Champions on customer engines and they are nice but mine are just as nice for alot less!! Unless you want to spend $300 more to get the name Champion engraved in the side of the head. Frank

 

[matt87]

i think its safe to say champion has sorted out the problems of the earlier style heads. the latest castings have been holding up just fine. i run the ported irons and aluminums with 0 problems.

 

[roz930]

I am wondering when or if Fox Lake is going to be offering our heads. A few months ago I remember Tim Stockwell who I believe is now working for Fox Lake looking for stock castings to play with. Might be a good deal for those looking to stay with their stock castings.

 

[Two Lane]

E-mailed him recently about the heads & intakes Fox Lake were working on.

Answer was essentially: "Not anytime very soon for either".
==========================================

I hope TA gets their new intake out soon following their heads & blocks arriving in February.

 

[Terbro]

All I know is that I put on GN1s last week and I couldn't be more impressed. GN1s flow better out of the box than ported irons can. It feels like I've just bolted on 80 hp - on the street (yes, seat of the pants data only). Whether there's any truth to the comment that only a "full on race car" needs GN1's, I don't know. People make comments like that without any basis. The only reliable information is factual data. When someone says that they replaced their ported irons with GN1s and showed no gain, then listen to what they say. You'll find people believing that what they have is optimal...because they want to feel good about their choices and they believed other's unqualified opinions and made decisions based on them.

 

[BoostedBug]

When I buy it will be the aluminum champions for my daily driver that isn't driven daily!