Heads, let's talk....

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big_mike

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Now that's interesting! No doubt a extra coolant passage on each bank would help cooling some.
 

big_mike

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Never used a set, but the Enginquest heads get pretty good reviews for a cast iron head(Think they're 185cc), and there are quite a few shops selling them assembled with a 3 angle VJ and a throat cut. At that point though $$ you're close to aluminum. Personally I'd rather the iron heads on a daily driver that I planned on putting thousands of miles on towing etc.

Why the iron over the aluminum? Mainly cooling style of the older 350? I had aluminum heads on my LS build and not a single issue after 80k hard miles. That car saw 6k rpm at least once a day, lol.
 

slowburb

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Never used a set, but the Enginquest heads get pretty good reviews for a cast iron head(Think they're 185cc), and there are quite a few shops selling them assembled with a 3 angle VJ and a throat cut. At that point though $$ you're close to aluminum. Personally I'd rather the iron heads on a daily driver that I planned on putting thousands of miles on towing etc.

Me too; this is why I put another set of vortecs on. More consistent thermodynamics.
 

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Why the iron over the aluminum? Mainly cooling style of the older 350? I had aluminum heads on my LS build and not a single issue after 80k hard miles. That car saw 6k rpm at least once a day, lol.
Just personal preference if I'm not changing CR or going to a smaller chamber. I live less then 10 mi. from a 1/4mi track and I would pick the Aussie EQ's before I bought a set of China aluminum. Quite a few people I know have run them and had issues. They really need checked closely and bowls are larger then the seats. No comparison to the AFR 195's I had in a Nova.
 

big_mike

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I'm wondering if the misfire issue I was chasing on my 97' was a cracked head now. That's why that truck is down and the motor being used as a donor for my 99' tahoe. I didn't realize then how big a issue cracked stock vortec heads were honestly. That is why I wonder if messing with a stock casting is even worth it cause I'd be very disappointed if I sunk money into a set only for them to crack shortly after.

I have been trying to find videos from engine builders and machine shops for info on aftermarket "vortec" castings and their quality.

I will be staying with the stock intake setup with a upgraded MPFI unit to keep my cost down. I don't forsee this combo exceeding the stock fuel system and since it's not a high performance build I don't wanna invest the extra money to convert it to a true injector setup. It will be getting full exhaust and a 411 pcm swap as well.
 

slowburb

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There are sooooo many things that could cause a P0300/random misfire. Anything from a vacuum leak to sunken valve seats or valve sealing in general, to a cracked head. I like the ful exhaust idea, just don't oversize the pipes or you'll lose out on the bottom end. I have yet to understand how the 0411 swap affords any noticeable performance gains in anything from stock to warmed over L31.
 

big_mike

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I like the tuning capability of the 411 pcm over the stock black box. With another fbody in my future I plan on investing in HPTUNERS finally so I can do my own.

Exhaust plan was shorties into Jegs offroad pipes with (2) hiflo cats welded in (wife will kill me if I dont, lol), into a dual in/out thrush with a y transition into the single 3" stock exit pipe.

Should keep some good low end and since it won't be spinning 7k rpm I'm not too worried about top end performance for the exhaust. Just want better than stock flow and deep sound.
 

big_mike

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There are sooooo many things that could cause a P0300/random misfire. Anything from a vacuum leak to sunken valve seats or valve sealing in general, to a cracked head.

My issue started after the damn heater hose blew and the truck overheated. Never before that day, hence my new curiosity of a cracked head.
 

slowburb

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I'm running flowtech shorties, 2.25" head pipes, no cats, into a magnaflow 18" DI/SO, and a 3" tail. It's LOUD.
 
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