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Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE April '12: IT'S ALIVE AND RUNNING!!

GrabberOrange69

GrabberOrange69

Troglodyte
Not to be confused with cheap head.

I just bought these on FleaBay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370453308843&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT. They say you get what you pay for, so these should be good for a "Country Squire's" worth of cuss words and busted knuckles.

I was lured by the siren sound of low$$$.

Wish me luck

//////////////update Feb 2012////////////////

After a year of letting this project gather dust, I'm back at it (my job has been killing me - plus I've tinkered around with my '65 Coronet wagon).

Spent the whole day in the garage fly-cutting the pistons for the bigger valves in the Chinese heads. Was pretty straight forward, just time consuming.

The fly-cutters are from Isky Cams, 2.05 and 1.65, and mount on pilots w/ adjustable stops...
Flycut4.jpg


...pop the cutter on the pilot...then I added wheel bearing grease to the cutting face to capture as much of the shavings as possible...
Flycut2.jpg


Flycut3.jpg


...then set the piston to top center, lay the head on the deck and finger snug the center head bolt...

Flycut1.jpg


...and turn the cutter with a tap handle. Only have to put the head on and off the decks 16 times! LoL

////////////////////////////////////////////Update Mar 2012///////////////////////////////////////

Got 'em painted and bolted on today. Here's the block deck while I was cleaning it - shows the notched piston...
BlkDeck.jpg


Here's different views of the loaded up heads...
combustionchambers.jpg


HeadLoadedface.jpg


HeadLoaded.jpg


4 weeks left to get 'er done and on the road!
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...

I hope you luck with them. After all the horror stories I've heard about them, I'd be leery.
Bill
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...

They are a risk, but I have one ace in the hole - my dad owned a machine shop for 30 years before he sold it and retired. He's going to check them out and tweak them if needed before i bolt them on.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...

I bought a set of those Floo Tek heads that were and sometimes still are being called Flo Tek... anyways, I know they are not the same as what you got, but two disturbing things I found with the Floo Tek's... First there were voids in the castings. I saw them in the machined valve cover seal area but was leary of where else they may be. Also, the deck thickness in the combustion chamber area was thinner than the stock 5.0 cast iron heads E7 heads. Aluminum heads should have thicker decks, not thinner... Twisted Wedge I think is something like 1/2" and I think AFR is closer to 3/4... that's a big difference compared to the less than 1/4" on the Floo Tek heads. I'm not sure how the Pro Comp heads compare, but just figured I'd point out some of the things I found. Seeing that I had a brand new short block put together, I didn't want to risk it with so so heads. BTW if you need a set of inexpensive rockers, let me know... I have a set of Pro Form 1.6 rollers that I didn't use since I ended up getting AFR pedestal mount heads.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...

"stangg" said:
...I'm not sure how the Pro Comp heads compare, but just figured I'd point out some of the things I found. Seeing that I had a brand new short block put together, I didn't want to risk it with so so heads. BTW if you need a set of inexpensive rockers, let me know... I have a set of Pro Form 1.6 rollers that I didn't use since I ended up getting AFR pedestal mount heads.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the warning. I think I have a set of rockers buried in the garage, but can't remember if they are bolt downs or stud type. I'll PM you if need a set.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...

I first read the subject line on this one and thought it belonged in the old password protected boards, LOL!

When I was working on gathering parts for an engine build I was pretty tempted to get some of the cheap heads that are out there.

Then I decided to go with ported GT 40's that I found a good deal on, can't say I've had any regrets.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

I've though about them too, simply due to the price, as they're approx 1/3 the cost of AFR's I'm eyeing. Please let me know how they checkout.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

I've heard Trick Flows are on sale at Summit right now. $1000 for the street/strip heads.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

Im interested to see how the bolt holes line up on the deck as well as the VC mating surface.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

"65fast" said:
Im interested to see how the bolt holes line up on the deck as well as the VC mating surface.
Click to expand...

I'm dragging them over to dad's house on Sunday to check them out. He kept enough stuff to do guide, valve and seat work, plus his straight edge. So as long as the bolt holes are right we'll probably be ok. Otherwise I have 2 expensive door stops.

Just as a reference they were $595 to my door, but if they are jacked-up, the twisted wedge @ $1000 will have been the way to go.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...

"stangg" said:
I bought a set of those Floo Tek heads that were and sometimes still are being called Flo Tek... anyways, they were claimed to be australian castings by the dealer selling them but in reality were cast in China according to the stateside assembler
Click to expand...

Hey man, this has already been beaten to death.

Alex says they are Australian castings. I do not believe he would lie.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

btw, $595 and free shipping is an incredible deal. I hope they work out for you.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

"pprince" said:
btw, $595 and free shipping is an incredible deal. I hope they work out for you.
Click to expand...

I hope they work out too. Yep, they were really cheap, especially for 210cc intakes, and I gues they hit my "wiggle" number to try them out.
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...

"pprince" said:
Hey man, this has already been beaten to death.

Alex says they are Australian castings. I do not believe he would lie.
Click to expand...

As mentioned I called the stateside assembler who happens to be Tri State Cylinder Head in Indiana. They stated the castings come from China.

I later heard they carry a couple of sbf castings... some chinese, some australian, it doesn't matter because ultimately I wasn't satisfied with the voids in the casting and the thinner decks and therefore returned them. Chinese or Australian castings - I really don't care... the point I was trying to make is that cheap heads could potentially have casting defects and you probably want to check them out thoroughly. Trust but verify.... that's what I did... this is one of the Floo Teks that I got.

FLOO_TEK_10.JPG


What would you do? Granted it's in the valve cover gasket area, but how could you verify that there aren't anymore above the combustion chamber? I wasn't willing to take that chance on a new shortblock

Anyway, the intent of my original post wasn't to throw jabs at Tri State Cylinder Head but rather highlight to the OP what some of the inexpensive head weakness' may be. Hopefully he has come across a nice inexpensive alternative.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

That is definitely a defect.

I bought a set from Alex and they look fine.

This is his response to the China thing:

"I always love a uninformed individual who just has to spew some sort of garbage by spreading lies or rumors.

Our heads are cast in Australia, not China as many others on the market are.
They are assembled in Indiana.

One of my rules is to always make sure that your brain is in gear before engaging your mouth, or in your case keyboard.

Please don't make statements or accusations you cannot back up. It makes you out quite the fool.

Thank you"
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

as long as they arent cast in Canada I wouldnt worry about it too much.....
 
Re: Cheap Chinese heads...UPDATE 7 Dec

"pprince" said:
That is definitely a defect.
Click to expand...

Kinda throws the whole cast in China vs Australia debate out the window if they are truly cast in Australia...
Can we get back to the topic of these chinese heads that the OP got. My original posting was simply to give the OP some guidance on what to look out for.
 
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