440 Source Big Block Alum. Cylinder heads

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coronetblue

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By chance, has anyone out there purchased the 440 Alum. Cylinder Heads from 440 Source?
I'd like to hear about the quality, the fit, any flaws, problems, etc. if you did.
I don't know where these are being produced at, but everytime I've called there, they are waiting for the next batch to come in. So, I'm wondering if these aren't being reproduced in China???
Any advice, Your comments are appreciated.

Coronet Blue
 
Only thing I've heard is to have a good cylinder head man check them out. Look for tight valve to guide clearance, and check the valve job. But I've heard that you should do it to Eddy heads too.
 
I bought a set...
In general all mass produced aluminum heads should be checked out since every aspect isnt individually checked before you buy them.
depending on how high lift of a cam you get you time want to get better springs and retainers and locks.
Also get the valves checked.
Most people seem happy with them and for the price and weight savings in general im happy with them. ALso the only heads i think with stock port locations and no huge edelbrock stamps so if you paint them no one will know you have high flowing aluminum heads!
 
dusterdon said:
Only thing I've heard is to have a good cylinder head man check them out. Look for tight valve to guide clearance, and check the valve job. But I've heard that you should do it to Eddy heads too.
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ALL cylinder heads. for that matter, any and all machine work/ parts bought, etc. assume nothing is good, until verified!
 
And you should buy head gaskets from 440 Source too. They had (dont know if it's fixed or ignored) some issues with the chamber placement and std Felpro/Victor/Mr Gasket head gaskets.
 
i got a set just now...
going to put them on in a few weeks or so.
i only have 509 hydrolic cam so im just changing locks to better ones.
lapping valves and getting a 30* back cut on them.
For price,stock port locations... and no edelbrock stamp real big (which was a concern for me) i wanted it to look like a fairly stock motor.
Good heads,good price.
They suggest specific arp bolts and head gaskets...go by what they say
 
In response to my post, and after much investigation, I have determined that I would not purchase these cyl. heads for the prime reason of the intellect of the company not capable of giving forward answers.
I have called this company twice with the proposed question: "are these heads made in China"?
Nobody knows I was told, by two different people. As an ex Automotive Engineer in a manufacturing environment, I know you get what you pay for.
That applies to all products made.
The fact that a company can say that they produce the heads, means that they are the manufacturer. When I called there I was told to send a FAX to the company asking "where is the manufacture origin of these cylinder heads.
I asked the Technical department, and they could not tell me either. If it is such a big secret, how do they expect to sell the things?
This is piss poor in my opinion. I have seen too many companies use the public for a test proving ground in order to get instant revenue of products out the door to capitalize on their investments with quick returns. If yey can produce them in a marketable pattern to the public for 50% less than others, chances are they are cast overseas.
I am in no way criticising the quality of the product, just the unwillingness of the "so called manufacturer." They need to come clean if they want to promote their product.
I never had this problem with Edelbrock!
 
Guys!!!! the heads are made "DOWN UNDER" new zealand or australia..... I'm a dealer an I sell the same set of heads ....I have a set on my bb 383.... haven't had any problems with them.... haven't beat on them "YET" but I will....an soon...
 
They are not cast in New Zealand or Australia. Brandon took an edelbrock head, took it apart, and had the port designs installed in a stock looking casting. They ports are very similar, enough that it's a simple tweak to run an Edelbrock CNC program on them. In fact, I believe the ARP studs are also the ones used for the RPMs. Not certain, but I think so. But, they look factory when painted, except the heat crossover area. The casting quality overall is decent. I understand the chamber size is too large and spec too wide to always be able to use the "typical" gasket. The parts, retainers, locks, and springs, are not high quality. My experience and opinion is the metalurgy in China is piss poor, and that is a direct result. Brandon is not shy about his product. They are ALL chinese cast, machined, and assembled. Same with all his parts, except the pistons, which I believe are Keith Black manufactured for him.
 
i am calling Kim at 440 source in the morning to break bad news to him. This is the second set of heads i have got from them. The first pair cracked after about 15 passes. he made them good and i give him credit for that. I got the second set installed and ran them in the garage and they were fine. Car was being painted so my first trip to the track was last Saturday 4-25-09. Drove the car around in the pits to put heat in it and all was fine. Made the first pass and came back to pits and both heads were cracked and leaking water, car never gets hot or nothing. I think its just piss poor quality from china, they might work fine on a street car but they cant handle a 8.90 dragster. I hope they get all the problems worked out, they have very good customer service in my opinion, but let's see what happens when i ask for a refund. I was about to buy a 500 inch stroker kit from them, glad i did not.
 
From what I hear they are pretty good heads. But like everyone else has already said... whenever you buy something like that make sure you know exactly what you're buying, what you'll need, and look everything over when you get it.
 
This is the first Ive heard of them cracking . Maybe a bad batch?

Keep us updated .




I run a bunch of 440Source parts including their stroker kit. No problems on the 3rd year . so does my buddy with a 9.14 Cuda .
 
I'll never knowingly buy anything made in china, whether it's food, car parts, toys etc. I saw a documentary on it tonight and this clinches it.
It's nothing against the chinese people, they are told to do what they can with the resourses that they are given.
I always buy north american when possible. You can't go wrong with edelbrock products......
Japan however, has strict quality controls on their products.
Just my 2 yen's worth.
Tom.
 
Dartnut said:
I'll never knowingly buy anything made in china, whether it's food, car parts, toys etc. I saw a documentary on it tonight and this clinches it.
It's nothing against the chinese people, they are told to do what they can with the resourses that they are given.
I always buy north american when possible. You can't go wrong with edelbrock products......
Japan however, has strict quality controls on their products.
Just my 2 yen's worth.
Tom.
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Commendable act, good in theory, but companies have a way of wording things. For example, anyone remember Ford Festiva's?? They were "assembled in the USA" well one problem, the cars were built in Mexico and shipped to the US with the bumpers inside the cars, they got here had bumpers slapped on and were then dubbed "American Built" I wouldn't say so. I used to be the same way til I took some economics classes and learned that buying foreign is inevitable. Just so you know, only 10% of your hard earned dollar leaves the country, 30% of it goes to taxes that half *** fund government projects. . . ain't that a kick in the nuts? Pissed me off too
 
At one point the Chinese government was thinking about making a manufacturing town and naming it...get ready for this,"Usa." That way everything could have a label that stated "Made in USA." Don't know why there is melamine in the formula, lead in the kid's toys, and poison in the pet food? Uh huh.
 
I bought a pair a while back but havnt installed them yet.
I did alot of reasearch because i can only do it once on my budget.
From what i found these heads are good for price and for a good 10-12 second car. In my opinion if your running a 8-9 second drag car you have enough into your car where everyone knows its not stock... meaning the stock port location and absence of edelbrock logos part dosnt matter...
And if you have the money and means to get your car that low in e.t. i wouldnt skimp on heads anyway,
I bought them because 400 dollers in savings made the differnece of purchesing heads or not... no matter what you should get them checked out.. and with everything theres no guerentee they will last a week or forever. Theres alot of people with low e.t.'s that ran there heads,stroker kits, and so on with no problems for years.
Overall take everything someone says with a grain of salt and go with your gut. I have no ties with this company and im not defending them because i can care less but all and all theres alot of people that are afraid of chinese japanese and all that when you use there products and trust your life with things made there more then you know it.
My 2 cents
 
You never buy anything from China... Check your labels. We don't have any choice unless we're rich. 6 grand for Indy's. I had just sold my Harley, walked into their shop and the guy wouldn't even take a head out from the display case to show me. They can kiss my ***. It's about time someone challenged them. We like to build our own engines, some with good results, some not. Building stroker motors with oversize aluminum heads is not for everyone. Measure components before you build. The new Hemi's are horrible from what I hear. For 15 grand U have to tear them down and check everything.
 
Skeletoil said:
You never buy anything from China... Check your labels. We don't have any choice unless we're rich. 6 grand for Indy's. I had just sold my Harley, walked into their shop and the guy wouldn't even take a head out from the display case to show me. They can kiss my ***. It's about time someone challenged them. We like to build our own engines, some with good results, some not. Building stroker motors with oversize aluminum heads is not for everyone. Measure components before you build. The new Hemi's are horrible from what I hear. For 15 grand U have to tear them down and check everything.
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as for indy,you dont have to look very far,there is a company named brodix that sells B1´s they are more than capable to bet up on indys heads.

how did this endup in the smallblock section by the way? :S
 
Check out the Edelbrock victors.My ex boss is building a lo deck 440 stroker ,good valve job(eddy valve sizes)fit guides,relieved p/rod res.Good valve job(r/out check,30 d backcut,bowl cutter.1st flow numbers look good.350+ at .600 lift,with lo lift numbers better than well done 906/915s.More money,but you get what you pay for.
 
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