I just unboxed a pair of small block RPM heads and found 'peppering' on the fire deck. There is a small chance the cutter didn't clean up the cast face but wirh the consistency across the surface it looks more like inclusion porosity to me. Has anyone else noticed this on their heads?
Edelbrock Head Quality
- Thread starter JedIEG
- Start date
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Smoother than cast heads.
That's porosity, but it's nothing to worry about, they will work...
Dan the man
Well-Known Member
Looks like there is some light scratches as well
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
that's what gaskets are for
Ok I wasn't too worried, just surprised when I saw it and was really wondering if anyone else noticed it on their heads. There are some other minor quality issues around post processing the machining on these heads I was a little surprised to see (knicks, incomplete deburring, non-cleanup etc.). Aluminum heads are outside my area of experience so I don't have a good gauge on what is typical.
I got those same heads in 2020 and they did not look like that. However, I believe you'll end up milling at least a bit off as the chamber volume is really about 65cc's, not the 63 cc's they usually state. If you do, that should clean up.
Uncle Bob
Shiny paint causes stress.
Mine had scratches but I didn't look that closely to find pits. If there were any there they were tiny and few. In the end I decided:
Vic is dead and Daughter sold off company so quality control isn't what it was 10 years ago. PBR can tell u all about minor flaws with Edelbrocks new stuff.
It's a shame but the Chinese offerings out of the box look better !
I know for a fact
PBR just finished porting a bare new set of Edelbrocks I shipped him.
Dan the man
Well-Known Member
Another reason for the quality issues is that the intake manifolds and cylinder heads are cast in California and machined in Tennessee. I don't have any personal experience with either but I've heard more than once that Chinese cylinder heads should be taken apart and inspected and the valve train parts replaced with new parts, if this is true wouldn't the Chinese cylinder heads be just as expensive as the edelbrock heads?
Mopar73340
Well-Known Member
I had two of the small block “EFI” manifolds a few years ago that were totally wrong in the distributor area and had to have material removed so the distributor could be installed. It’s beyond me how they could screw that up.
Exactly it's simply the trend today !!
I paid more money for the Edelbrocks
Mainly because I wanted USA product still means something to me but like mentioned earlier it's a dame shame something built in CHINA has a better
Finished product than a
Originator Legendary USA company.
To tell u the truth it's probably safe bet to have ANY head checked today before running it , if sold as ready to run
Brodix
Edelbrock etc etc
I would run a Speedmaster head out of the box way before I would run an Edelbrock head out of the box. I’ve seen way to many tight valve guides in Edelbrock heads and that spells quick disaster
I gave speedmaster 3 chances with other parts and all of them had major issues with quality or design. So with speedmaster I assumed I would have to treat a set of heads from them as cores out of the box... With that I chose Edelbrocks where there is a chance they might work with some minor adjustments and customer service in the US to talk to.
If anyone has tips on porting the RPM heads, I'm looking at that next.
Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to double check the guides. I have only pulled the valves on one cylinder to look at the port. The stem seals are pretty tight so I can see a tight guide and low oiling causing a valve to scuff pretty quickly.
If anyone has tips on porting the RPM heads, I'm looking at that next.
Three three days of reading on the Speedmaster sticky post. Follow the exact tips in those post and you will be fine.
Just to follow up on this: I did some additonal measurments and felt the porosity was too severe around the sealing ring for the gasket. I emailed Edelbrock Tech Support and showed them photos of my heads. They felt that the porosity should not have made it through their quality control and requested I call their warranty department. The guy I spoke with at warranty was very nice, understood what I was talking about and gave me some guidance on how to proceed to get results fast. He suggested I return the heads to Summit and ask for an exchange. Summit got me new heads without question. The heads I got as replacements have no porosity.
I’m glad you got fixed up so easily. They seem like they are interested in making things right now so that’s a good thing.
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