well, got my cam now just waiting till i get new heads and timing chain to get it installed. i found these edelbrock heads. almost a 100$ cheaper than anywhere else and free shipping. been thinking about the ones from clearwater but getting these for a couple hundred more would probably be a better buy. might not even be that much after shipping.

so, what would be the down side of running aluminum heads? and the benefits? over iron heads.

http://www.autopartsdealer.com/edelb...s-p9937-p.html

 

i would go with the clearwater 380 a piece and free shipping 2.02 valves , you shold be spitting out some serious power ! ! wait till you get the sct to top it off haha

 

They are lighter but can warp really easily when overheated.

 

like stated above and think you need special gaskets

 

Overheating is very bad for aluminum heads. That is the only downside. If you run hot, then you will need to get them resurfaced.

Here are the pluses of the eddies:
1. They have 58CC chambers, meaning higher compression and more power. Hence why their flow numbers are so low it makes you think that the heads are not that good compared to clearwater heads or the Iron Rams from hughes.
2. They are MUCH lighter and you won't think you need an engine hoist to put them on when compared to the weight of iron heads. I believe Iron heads weigh about 30-40 lbs each.

Downsides:
1. If you want to run boost later on down the road, you will need to limit the boost to 6lbs. unless you are planning on changing every fastener in your rotating assempbly and heads to ARPs. Especially head studs. They can be spendy.
2. Overheating. Only put aluminum heads on an engine that is in very good running condition.


I bought USED aluminum heads, and it was a nightmare. If you are buying aluminum heads, you really should buy them new. Otherwise you are running a crap shoot.

I believe you need thicker gaskets for those heads if you don't want such a high bump in compression. That way you don't need to run a higher octane.

--Dan

P.S. I would go with clearwaters if you are thinking of boost alter on down the road, or if your engine has over 90K on it.

 

cptafw163-i have 65k on my motor. and yes i am thinking boost in the future. and i always run 92 or 93 octane.

lastrights-i havent seen the clearwaters for that cheap,and the edelbrocks that i linked to have 2.02 valves also.

just trying to weigh all my options. i am gonna be upgrading my heads here in the next couple weeks. and gonna take them and have a little work done to them before i install 'em.

and what kind of "special" gaskets are you guys talking about?

 

and here's the arp bolts you are talking about. yep, kinda pricey. and this was the cheapest place out of about 10 stores i checked.

http://www.sparktecmotorsports.com/arp-144-4003.html

 

For the head gasket, basically, just a thicker gasket, to drop compression ratio a bit.

 

THose aren;t the head studs I was talking about. I had to get the $1200 ones.

And the special gaskets are THICKER gaskets so you can run a lower CC chamber head and still not have such high compression.

I would just get the Hughes Iron Ram heads SUPER PREPPED. They will run you about 1600 because the spring kit doesn't come with the heads. But that looks like a nice set of heads!!
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/p...2&partid=23949

You are looking at around 245 CFM of flow if you install 1.7s on your truck.

 

Get an SCT tuner and keep the bump in compression. The aluminum's ability to dissipate more heat should allow the heads to be run with no tuning, but you can usually push the timing more advanced with those heads and even see more benefit. That can only be done with a tuner.

Low compression is the reason these trucks are dogs. No production vehicles come with a compression under 10:1 anymore. The Ram is 8.9:1 on the 360 and 9.1:1 on the 318, this variance is due to the dished vs. flat top piston. 10.3-10.5:1 and an N/A magnum motor will really start to show some power, and still run pump gas properly tuned.

Aluminum heads are better for boost as they dissipate more heat and reduce the chance of detonation. Edelbrock makes gaskets specifically for our truck and their aluminum head application. If you want to run boost, look into Cometic or Titan headgaskets.