‘97 RCBS 5.7 4L60E 0411 SWAPPED Aluminum Aftermarket Heads Best Choice

[97SWBCHEVY]

Engine is at the machine shop and the vortecs didn’t pass the flux! Lol
So…the build is gonna be a lil more than mild, but not not really close to being wild…but I am going with the LS6 beehives so I figured I might as well go with some aluminum heads with a lil better flow…
not necessarily cnc’ed though…
So what are y’all’s thoughts???
Thank You,
Shane

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Etec 170s work extremely well. I would buy them bare myself. Good valves, springs and hardware. A little bowl cleanup and they are awesome for a 350 or 383. Port the intake to match. Also personal preference is double springs.

 

[JeremyNH]

Best vortec pattern heads available are AFR 912s. They're expensive though. Etec 170 and 200 are good but are markedly inferior to the AFRs despite costing almost as much. There are Chinese sourced aluminum heads available (multiple vendors but likely the same factory) for ~$1000/pair or more. Look at Blueprint though before you pull the trigger. They have those Chinese aluminum heads, cleaned up and machined in house, on their 383 truck motors and when you look at the dyno they outperform the 5.7L but not near so much as a 383 should. In truth if you're not making a lot of other changes and aren't willing to shell out the big money for Etecs or AFRs you would probably be best served to simply get new vortec heads and proceed with your original plans. Vortecs are good heads and imho you can't beat them with short money.

 

[97SWBCHEVY]

Etec 170s work extremely well. I would buy them bare myself. Good valves, springs and hardware. A little bowl cleanup and they are awesome for a 350 or 383. Port the intake to match. Also personal preference is double springs.

This will prolly be what I end up going with…but just curious why, or if you a reason on why not the 200’s..? As far buying them bare is that mainly about getting better quality valves, springs, retainers, keepers, and seals, or to save a lil money, or because you are gonna tear em down and check em all out anyway when get em?
Thank You Sir!

 

[JeremyNH]

This will prolly be what I end up going with…but just curious why, or if you a reason on why not the 200’s..? As far buying them bare is that mainly about getting better quality valves, springs, retainers, keepers, and seals, or to save a lil money, or because you are gonna tear em down and check em all out anyway when get em?
Thank You Sir!

That one I can answer. For trucks you want a more restricted runner to keep velocity up at lower rpm's to build torque. Those reduced runners mean flow restriction at high rpm so you lose horsepower. For trucks you favor low rpm torque for cars and strip high rpm HP. I think for a truck 180-190 is about ideal which is why he mentions porting the 170s. AFR 912s are 190cc. The Etec 200s will cost you torque so not the best fit in a truck. Lots and lots of other factors though but that's the gist in shorthand.

 

[98 Nitro]

The Etec 200 or GM fast burn heads are not good for torque like a truck needs, you could also look at aftermarket Vortecs that are cast iron, buy the Darts bare and clean them up and use good valves/springs.

 

[97SWBCHEVY]

Best vortec pattern heads available are AFR 912s. They're expensive though. Etec 170 and 200 are good but are markedly inferior to the AFRs despite costing almost as much. There are Chinese sourced aluminum heads available (multiple vendors but likely the same factory) for ~$1000/pair or more. Look at Blueprint though before you pull the trigger. They have those Chinese aluminum heads, cleaned up and machined in house, on their 383 truck motors and when you look at the dyno they outperform the 5.7L but not near so much as a 383 should. In truth if you're not making a lot of other changes and aren't willing to shell out the big money for Etecs or AFRs you would probably be best served to simply get new vortec heads and proceed with your original plans. Vortecs are good heads and imho you can't beat them with short money.

Ya I’m prolly going with the Etec 170’s…maybe the 200’s if I can find a significant/substantial reason to…maybe blueprint if see some once I get the looking…but the AFR’s are basically double the price of the Etec-170’s… also are all the Flotec & Speedmaxx heads the ones from China?
Thank You Sir,
Shane

 

[97SWBCHEVY]

That one I can answer. For trucks you want a more restricted runner to keep velocity up at lower rpm's to build torque. Those reduced runners mean flow restriction at high rpm so you lose horsepower. For trucks you favor low rpm torque for cars and strip high rpm HP. I think for a truck 180-190 is about ideal which is why he mentions porting the 170s. AFR 912s are 190cc. The Etec 200s will cost you torque so not the best fit in a truck. Lots and lots of other factors though but that's the gist in shorthand.

Well for starters I’m gonna ask a question that may sound stupid to everyone on here but me…but here it goes…lol
While I understand wanting low rpm torque in trucks…but when I say that I’m picturing 4x4’s, 3/4-1 tons…hauling/towing trailers etc…but I don’t really consider my Single Can SWB w the 4-6 drop to be a truck…lol

 

[L31MaxExpress]

That one I can answer. For trucks you want a more restricted runner to keep velocity up at lower rpm's to build torque. Those reduced runners mean flow restriction at high rpm so you lose horsepower. For trucks you favor low rpm torque for cars and strip high rpm HP. I think for a truck 180-190 is about ideal which is why he mentions porting the 170s. AFR 912s are 190cc. The Etec 200s will cost you torque so not the best fit in a truck. Lots and lots of other factors though but that's the gist in shorthand.

Its not so much that the 200s cost alot of torque, the 170s just offer a little more midrange torque and better throttle response. For the RPM range of the Vortec and the 350 cubes the 170s do better. I ran a set of cleaned up 200s on my 350 in my Express van, still made more torque than the factory Vortecs but it was happiest with the tach upstairs. I also ran Etec170s on both the 350 in the Express and the 305 in my 99 Tahoe.

 

[JeremyNH]

Ya I’m prolly going with the Etec 170’s…maybe the 200’s if I can find a significant/substantial reason to…maybe blueprint if see some once I get the looking…but the AFR’s are basically double the price of the Etec-170’s… also are all the Flotec & Speedmaxx heads the ones from China?
Thank You Sir,
Shane

Etecs are sold individually and AFRs by the pair. Last I checked Etecs were $1800/pair and AFRs $2000/pair.