Suggestion on race heads!!!!

[BUICKTR]

Here I am one last time to ask for opinions on what heads to consider buying. My new combo for this year is almost complete. I waited to purchase the heads until the end of all my new parts. I still couldn't decide which ones to buy. My goal is to run 10.50's at around 126-128 mph. Here is my combo: Rebuilt/blueprinted 109 block, .30 TRW, resized stock rods, billet center caps, ported intake (match 1200's), 70 TB, Accufab Plenum, 218/218 comp cam, PT-70 turbo, PTE front IC, 72 lbs injectors, ATR Double pumpers, Modded ECM (Quad Air), stock maf, THDP, 3" single shot exhaust, Griffin Alum radiator, DRW 2004-R billet trans, trans cooler, 9.5 non-lockup conv (3200-3300) stall, 3.42 gears. My car will not be daily driver just weekend warrior.

The only dispute I have on the Alum heads is the cracking issue and lifting on high boost.
Any info about people using these heads and having problems on new castings.

Irons are more reliable but don't flow like the Alum and are heavier. My Buick is still a full weight Regal. I'm going to order the heads in 3 days so I would appreciate any feed back from anyone. Thanks!!

 

[rob nolan]

I have champion iron race heads. I ran 123 MPH @ low boost plus with a stock converter with the turbo i have. Couldn't build any boost off line either. When i get the tranny rebuilt and converter i should be mid to upper 10s @ 128+
when i turn the boost up some more.

Good Luck!!!!!!

 

[STP]

You won't have any trouble from what I hear with the new Champion castings cracking. Especially 8 bolted...

 

[NoNos38]

They all Crack... Go with Irons.. I bet I could crank out Low 10's all day long with my setup,But I really dont like the idea of rebuilding my short block all the time.

matt

 

[STP]

Well that info came straight out of Gary Harmon's mouth. I'd say he has more experience with Champion heads than all of us combined. Call someone who sells and uses them. Jack, Cal Hartline, etc. Then call Tom at Champion. Iron heads would probably get you to your goal. But you'd have to put some boost to it...Considerably more than what would be needed to run the same number with alum heads...I've been 128 on a set of ported big valved irons. 276" off center with a JC-45 and 23 lbs of boost. GN1R's and a 76 going on it now.

 

[G McCall]

You have a big decision. Are you going to run pump gas at all ?. Aluminum heads, if they work and or ported correctly, will give you much more power with the combo you listed. 75 hp is a rough figure depending on boost. Also, if this matters, aluminum heads will allow you to drive the car on pump gas or a combination of pump and race gas and still have a very fast car on the street.
NOW for dependability. Ha
I have used GN-1s with bad results several years ago(my son has um now after extensive rework by Champion) and I now have M&As. If you don't want to rebuild occasionally, I would stay with running in the high 11s with iron heads. My opinions.

 

[Steve Wood]

The flow advantage of a ported set of aluminum heads will take them past the ported heads...unported, not that great over ported irons from what has been posted here.

I hope you have a girdle on the engine if you expect to be hammering a bunch of 10.50s.

 

[Nick Micale]

Originally posted by BUICKTR
Here I am one last time to ask for opinions on what heads to consider ........The only dispute I have on the Alum heads is the cracking issue and lifting on high boost.
Any info about people using these heads and having problems on new castings.

Irons are more reliable but don't flow like the Alum and are heavier.

Actually not all alum heads lift or crack. I have seen the late M&A heads, now TA Perf heads, run for a season at 40+ psi and no problems.

Have seen many iron heads crack, as well as 8 bolt Champions, and of course many cracks with the 14 bolt version.

As far as lifting, the 8 bolt Champ alum heads hold much better than irons. Out-of-the-box champ alum heads flow significantly more than a max ported set of iron heads.

Your combo sounds good for the mid-10's goal you have set. Just be prepared to pull and freshen your stock-block once or twice a season so you do not end up with a pile of scrap iron.

 

[SPECTRA PREMIUM]

Hi.
With the Cam Duration and the Turbo Size, you may want to bump up your Stall Speed on your Converter. 3500-4000 RPM
A well Ported Iron 8 Bolt Casting #8445 should give you no problem to achieve your mid 10 second passes...

Good Luck.

Joe

 

[strikeeagle]

The issue is not iron v. aluminum. It's Champion v. TA, and can you wait???

 

[azgn]

you won't make your goal in one piece without the aluminums....and even with the aluminums, you can plan on regular rebuilds (at the least).....put a girdle on during the first rebuild

I agree you'll need more stall.......mid 10 sec car here uses a 5200 stall and runs 1.42 60' times (of course he has a FAST and BB 70)

I dunno if I would trust a double pumper on that fast of a car....fuel system upgrade would be advisable

good luck!

 

[KEVINS]

I have flow numbers of stock and aftermarket heads on my Tech Page in my sig if it helps..

ks

 

[BUICKTR]

Thanks everyone!! My car runs on C16 all the time. I never go out without it. I keep alot of 02's in stock. Once I put this project together and test it I will determine what stall it would need. Most likely a 3600-3800 stall. A FAST system will be in the works if the maf setup doesn't work as I expect. Once again thank you all.

 

[HRpartsNstuff]

I would have to agree with Nick Micale on this one. I have heard from more than one source that Champion GN1's are running without the problems they had early on. Even with all of that, I heard worse about the early M&A heads, but there are stories out there on all of them. We offer a few vendors products that are of the highest quality & good value for performance gain, to compliment the parts we make ourselves. We have been a dealer for Champion for a little while, and have only had great results with them so far. They do flow better than the ported irons right out of the box, and can easily be cleaned up to get some more out of them. You can do it with the heads you have now, just have to run more boost to do it. The quicker heat dissapation will keep your knock down, and the weight savings will help too. All in all, if you can afford them, it's a good way to go.

A girdle for the bottom end is a good idea too. We carry RJC products as well, great parts! Something to consider that a lot of people miss, lighter pulleys for the serpentine drive. With an aluminum crank, water pump, and alt pulley, you can take 7 or 8 pounds of ROTATING weight off the front of your crank. Your bearings & main webs will thank you on every shift!