A VP here where I work has an old El Camino that he is going to be buying a new crate engine for. He indicated he found two, same hp, but a $2K difference for aluminum heads, with not much of a total weight difference. He asked what's the big deal and if it was worth the $2K.

I told him I haven't gone down this road (and pray to Gawd I won't soon), but that I had always understood the Aluminum, being ligter, made life easier for everything, allowing lighter components, et al. The weight difference seemed to NOT agree with this thinking.

Feedback?

Thanks,

SJ

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AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA SJ. You crack me up!!!!!

That made my day. You the man.

The difference in heads on the old school v-8s isn't just for wieght difference.

It's the type of heads.

Much like we have stage 2 DR heads, or black flag racing heads, or custom ported heads.

Every head manufaturer has a flow, and reasons why theirs is the best. Some claim other properties, like help remove heat.

they will also change there compression ratios with heads sometimes.

The only way to know if it's worth 2k is to talk to someone that knows the engine, and what heads work really well on that engine for certain applications.

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Look at it! LOOK AT MY @SS AND TELL ME IT'S PRETTY!

$2000 damn they must be using some really nice ones. SBC aluminum heads are in the $1200-$1600 range unless they're some crazy head for race car.
The reason for using aluminum heads is only partially for weight reduction. It also results in a cooler head temp which decrease the chance of knock. That also means it is possible to run a little higher compression ratio on pump gas.

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'94 vr4- Now with extra slowness