Aluminum heads 289

66FSTBCK said:

I have read about AFR heads on here. This is going to be a cruising car....no track time. I will have to remove the heads that are on there and look at the pistons. Just assuming they are completely stock (if there is such a thing as a "stock style" piston) would those AFR 165 heads work well?

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Hi,
After the decision is made as to what you expect from your engine, (you have) the next most important purchase are heads. AFR 165 heads are a good choice for a street cruiser. But, to get the most out of them, you need to do the math to determine what your CR will be. The 289 heads have smallish chambers somewhere around 54-56 CCs, if memory serves. To keep your CR in the range of 9.0 to 9.5'ish, you'll need to, most likely have the AFRs shaved, especially, if you retain your stock pistons. There are numerous calculators for determining CR. Also, you'll need to make sure your PR Geo (push rod geometry) is correct, as well. Keep in mind, you want to build for torque, not so much, HP. HP will be there, but, "torque" is what you want to to feel in your butt on the street. Do the research, heads affect more than you may think. Also, you'll most likely have to re-tune your carb and should be running a dual plane intake.
Good luck and Happy Trails!
(BTW , nice looking ride you have there)

cmefly said:

I have owned power heads and they do a great job of making good useable power. but for a little more money you can buy a name brand aluminum head that will out flow fully ported stock castings. Just depends on what your goals are.

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It's all in the mix- Goal, budget, ability. The only numbers I have seen on this, a fellow near here did exactly as described in my link. His level of ability- He'd never had an engine apart. He saw me doing the job, and brought me one of his heads. I did one of his exhaust ports, and he went home, borrowed a die grinder, and did the other seven. When assembled, using a C9OZ-6250-C hydraulic cam, it turned 323.5 hp @ 5300 on the engine dyno.

Thanks for the compliment kenash!

I really like the look of aluminum heads. It is more for show because it will never see a track or drag strip anytime. A nice bump in HP for cruising would be nice though. I know the engine was rebuilt with all stock components. I looked at summit racing and all I could find was Sealed Power brand kits. Their pistons look like the ones attached. I have attached a pic of the engine too.

If it matters, I am planning on running on an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake with shorty headers. If need be I can change the Comp roller rockers that are on there now.

Long story short.....I want simple aluminum heads that look good and require no extra machine work with my stock internals and Ebrock intake, etc.

66FSTBCK said:

Thanks for the compliment kenash!

I really like the look of aluminum heads. It is more for show because it will never see a track or drag strip anytime. A nice bump in HP for cruising would be nice though. I know the engine was rebuilt with all stock components. I looked at summit racing and all I could find was Sealed Power brand kits. Their pistons look like the ones attached. I have attached a pic of the engine too.

If it matters, I am planning on running on an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake with shorty headers. If need be I can change the Comp roller rockers that are on there now.

Long story short.....I want simple aluminum heads that look good and require no extra machine work with my stock internals and Ebrock intake, etc.

Click to expand...

Hi
If going for new pistons, might want to consider Probe's dual relief. If you ever use TWs, you'll be glad you did.

You could get away with running Trick Flow 170cc Twisted Wedge heads if you are running a cam smaller then .520" lift and 224* of duration and it sounds like you are running something much smaller then that. The problem being, TW heads use an altered valve location that rotates the intake valve towards the center of the cylinder. A better design then inline heads but can cause some issues with valve reliefs set up for inline valves. Using the above mentioned guidelines you shouldnt have any issues with clearance.

170cc TW heads will run circles around AFR 165's for less money and better components. They also give you the ability to port them much larger then their current size (Up to 205cc's which is comparable to 225cc's for an inline head like AFR) which you cant do with the AFR heads if you end up stroking the engine in the future or want to put the heads on another build. They also have alot of deck material so that they can be milled down a bunch to decrease the combustion chamber size to bring up your compression ratio.

As others have said you need to find out what pistons you have and how far they are in the hole so you can calculate a compression ratio. If you go with an aftermarket head with a much larger combustion chamber alot of the performance increase will be negated with a lower compression ratio.