Iron Ram heads from Hughes

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Bill Dedman

Bill Dedman

bill dedman
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Has anyone bought a set of these new heads for the 318/360 Magnum?
They are new cast iron castings and feature 2.02" intake valves, 1.62" exhausts, and reportedly out-flow the iron R-T head considerably.

They sell for $1,024.00 a SET (2) with a racing valve job and intake and exhaust valves installed. You just add your springs.

They seem like a good deal to me, but I thought I'd ask whether anyone has had any experience with them, yet.

Hughes claims they have thicker cross-sections where OEM Magnum heads are prone to cracking (across the area between the valve seats.)

I have a Hughes cam in my car and like it a lot. I'd buy a set of these heads, next, if they have proven to be "as advertised."

Any info wil be appreciated.

Bill, in Conway, Arkansas
 
Keep in mind that all of these heads can be drilled to accept the "LA" style intake bolt pattern for an additional $80
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Sounds interesting.
 
Theres a few guys running them. They are made by Engine Quest. Do a serach for EQ Magnum heads. Kinda funny that Hughes would charge $80 for LA intake bolt patern when you can get them from EQ that way for the same price as Magnum intake bolt patern.
 
Over a $1000.00 for a set of iron heads...for $400.00 more you can have a set of Edelbrocks...
 
If your gonna run the stock 340 exhaust manifolds I'd go with the EQ heads because the Eddie heads need an adapter plate to space them out on the driver's side. Also the EQ heads have a stock look to them unlike the boxy Eddie heads.

I went with the Eddie heads due to the light weight. Especially since my car is a factory manual steering car.
 
stroked 340 said:
Over a $1000.00 for a set of iron heads...for $400.00 more you can have a set of Edelbrocks...
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But do Eddy's perform better? Probably not. Their flow numbers are nearly identical and according to Hughes site the Iron Rams respond real well to porting. Generally speaking iron heads make more power given identical flow numbers because iron doesn't disapate heat like aluminum heads do and heat is power. That's why when you run an aluminum head you have to run higher compression to make the same power. The only advantage of the Eddy's I can see is their lighter and aluminum heads do look cool.

I had the money to buy either when I bought my heads back in August and contemplated both and went with the Iron Rams just because it looked to me like I can make the same power with them for $600 less. There is only $350-400 dollar diff in the purchase price but the valve gear is much cheaper for the Iron ram Magnum style head. A good set of rocker arms for a LA style head will cost at least $350 minimum and the whole package, rockers, pushrods, guide plates, studs and adjusters for the Magnum heads only sells for $350 from Hughes.

It's just my opinion but they look to be a super good deal to me.

I hope to have my 408 together by spring and when I do i'll have it dyno'ed and post the numbers.
 
The performance is definitely there with the Iron Ram/EQ heads. I have also heard the quality of the cast is very nice too. As far as rocker arm gear goes this is what I have for my Eddie heads:

$450 - Comp Cams Pro Magnum rockers
$ 80 - Hughes Engines hold down kit.
$144 - Comp Cams push rods
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$674

Also upgraded retainers/locks for another $120.

Like fishy said, you have to add up what it takes to get the heads working on the engine for a true comparison.
 
Don't forget that Edelbrock has magnum style heads too. This cuts down on the valvetrain upgrade price.
 
ramcharger said:
Don't forget that Edelbrock has magnum style heads too. This cuts down on the valvetrain upgrade price.
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That's right. Good catch Joe. That would make the price quite a bit closer together.

BTW: Just to ad I didn't mean to sound like I was knocking the Eddy's. Of course their super good products. To tell you the truth I would've liked to had Eddy's more just for the bling factor but I couldn't see spending $400 more just for that.
 
fishy68 said:
But do Eddy's perform better? Probably not. Their flow numbers are nearly identical and according to Hughes site the Iron Rams respond real well to porting. Generally speaking iron heads make more power given identical flow numbers because iron doesn't disapate heat like aluminum heads do and heat is power.
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You hear this a lot, but I've never seen it substantiated anyplace. I do recall one magazine tested some World products heads in iron and aluminum and made nearly identical power with both. Also, there is more to making power than flow numbers.

It should be noted that there is almost no markup available in Edelbrock heads (with end of year price increase, typical wholesale price is $1325/pair for the Eddie Magnums), whereas there is profit margin in these iron heads, so a lot of vendors are going to push them.

You can buy those heads on Ebay (with springs) for less money if you do a search for Monster Magnum heads, and you can probably get them with the LA intake pattern for the same price.

If I were going to spend the same or similar amount of money either way, I'd get the aluminum heads. 50 lbs off the front of the car is hard to ignore, especially if you race at all. And if you're talking about porting, I'd way rather port aluminum than iron.

The Edelbrock Magnum heads should not be ignored as an option.

Steve
 
I believe there is a place that will assemble them with 3.1L V6 springs and ship them complete for under $1000. Hughes sells the same EQ head everyone else does. They come bare. Using the magnum valves you are limited in lift to under .450 or so. By using chevy valves (cheap too) you can run a better spring and get up to .550 lift. The heads for me to get are about $300 each bare. They move some air, and they have nice chambers too. The castings are very nice. I have seen several Modified Tour (cam restricted) 360 2bbls on the dyno surpass 460hp with them in stock form. They can make power, but on a 4" stroke IMO they limit the cam to too small for my taste. I think $1024 plus retainers, locks, and springs, plus $80 to order the LA pattern heads, is frankly robbery for a stock port EQ head.
 
fishy68 said:
But do Eddy's perform better? Probably not.
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According to who??..some magazine,i got "real" world results by the seat of the pants,and time slips,NO set of iron heads that i've ever owned and i've had x's,j's ect port/polished,come close to my Edelbrocks..and when or if my Aluminum heads get damaged they Can be repaired,can't say the same for iron heads...
 
There is a set of Large Port Commando heads forsale on the bag right now.Just an idea.
 
LXguy said:
You hear this a lot, but I've never seen it substantiated anyplace. I do recall one magazine tested some World products heads in iron and aluminum and made nearly identical power with both. Also, there is more to making power than flow numbers.

I've never seen it in person but have read a few articles that stated it. I agree flow #'s aren't a tell all. Chamber design and port volumes also contribute allot. I'm sure there's other factors too.
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It should be noted that there is almost no markup available in Edelbrock heads (with end of year price increase, typical wholesale price is $1325/pair for the Eddie Magnums), whereas there is profit margin in these iron heads, so a lot of vendors are going to push them.

You can buy those heads on Ebay (with springs) for less money if you do a search for Monster Magnum heads, and you can probably get them with the LA intake pattern for the same price.

You can't buy the Iron Ram heads with 2.02 valves on E-bay or anywhere else I've seen other than Hughes. That's the ones I'm talking about. Not the stock replacement EQ heads. These also have a performance valve job and stainless valves.
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If I were going to spend the same or similar amount of money either way, I'd get the aluminum heads. 50 lbs off the front of the car is hard to ignore, especially if you race at all. And if you're talking about porting, I'd way rather port aluminum than iron.

50 lbs does help some. Especially at the front of the car. The old standard rule of thumb was .1 sec for every 100 lbs. that would only make it .05 sec faster according to that but due to the weight dist being better it may be .1 sec. It helps for sure but it's not a tremendous gain. I'm sure it would help handling some also. I agree porting aluminum is much faster but you have to be that much more careful also not to go too deep. I have shaky hands so I have to leave aluminum stuff to a buddy.
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The Edelbrock Magnum heads should not be ignored as an option.

Steve
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stroked 340 said:
According to who??..some magazine,i got "real" world results by the seat of the pants,and time slips,NO set of iron heads that i've ever owned and i've had x's,j's ect port/polished,come close to my Edelbrocks..and when or if my Aluminum heads get damaged they Can be repaired,can't say the same for iron heads...
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I was refering to stock Eddy's. Not ported ones like yours. Of course ported Eddy's will out power stock Iron Rams.

Who told you cast iron can't be repaired?? If you ever make your way to Illinois stop by and I'll show you an X head me and a buddy repaired that I accidentally ground through the intake roof on. It's been running on my 360 for over 3000 hard miles now with no problems. Also several yrs. ago I was involved in repairing a broken iron block out of a forklift and it worked fine after we were done and lasted for several yrs. until the rings finally wore out. I also personally watched a guy weld up a crack in the 327 block in his 68 Nova and it lasted fine. Cast iron can be repaired if you know what your doing. It's time consuming but it can be done.
 
Are there any other aluminum heads in the same price range as the Edelbrocks?
I don't know why but i've never been a fan of Edelbrock products at all.
 
there's an article in the new Engine Masters magazine about a 318 build that uses these heads. Made 400hp with stock heads, and 425 ported.
 
UncleTed said:
Are there any other aluminum heads in the same price range as the Edelbrocks?
I don't know why but i've never been a fan of Edelbrock products at all.
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I dont know of any other Aluminum street heads for small blocks in the same price range or not.

Mopar Perf use to sell an aluminum Magnum head which I believe is gone, The Commandos arent being made any more. I think all that is left for aftermarket heads is Eddys, Indys which probably arent the best choice for a small cube street motor and W2s which are iron.
 
fishy68 said:
I was refering to stock Eddy's. Not ported ones like yours. Of course ported Eddy's will out power stock Iron Rams.

Who told you cast iron can't be repaired?? If you ever make your way to Illinois stop by and I'll show you an X head me and a buddy repaired that I accidentally ground through the intake roof on. It's been running on my 360 for over 3000 hard miles now with no problems. Also several yrs. ago I was involved in repairing a broken iron block out of a forklift and it worked fine after we were done and lasted for several yrs. until the rings finally wore out. I also personally watched a guy weld up a crack in the 327 block in his 68 Nova and it lasted fine. Cast iron can be repaired if you know what your doing. It's time consuming but it can be done.
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Well most guys don't want to bother spending the money to fix iron heads,they're not cheap to fix and in the long run your better off going aluminum...
 
fishy68 said:
50 lbs does help some. Especially at the front of the car. The old standard rule of thumb was .1 sec for every 100 lbs. that would only make it .05 sec faster according to that but due to the weight dist being better it may be .1 sec. It helps for sure but it's not a tremendous gain.
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Don't forget that .1 gain in 60' can be worth .2 in the quarter, which is where the real effect of lightening the front of the car comes in, not to mention the positive effects on how the car reacts.

If I can spend a little more money, make my car hook better, and pick up .1 (or more), and not have to lift some mega heavy heads (LOL!) that's way worth it to me.

Heres the article I was referencing earlier:

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0602_iron_versus_aluminum_cylinder_heads_test/index.html

Steve
 
LXguy said:
Don't forget that .1 gain in 60' can be worth .2 in the quarter, which is where the real effect of lightening the front of the car comes in, not to mention the positive effects on how the car reacts.

Oh. I thought that the saying was the tenth gained from the 100 lbs of weight is in the 1/4, not just in the 60'. I agree it would be a positive thing even if it was just .1 quicker in the 1/4. Either way about it I haven't raced enough to know how accurate that saying is.
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If I can spend a little more money, make my car hook better, and pick up .1 (or more), and not have to lift some mega heavy heads (LOL!) that's way worth it to me.

Yeah we love aluminum for it's easiness on the back.:cheers:
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Heres the article I was referencing earlier:

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0602_iron_versus_aluminum_cylinder_heads_test/index.html

Steve
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Yeah that sure dubunks the old theory that iron makes more power. At least on a sb Chevy. I see they did a good job making the comparison equal. I wish I could provide the link to the one I read that showed iron made more power but that's been a couple yrs back and I don't have a clue what magazine did it as I read several. All of them I've read for yrs. have said iron makes more power so that's where I got the info. I'm sure I saw a dyno comparison also but they may not have been as thourough at making all parameters equal.
 
Fishy, The key to maximum power output is to use all the energy to move the piston. Because iron does not remove heat from the burn as well, it will always make more power when built identically. It keeps the heat where itbelongs. But it's a very small margine, and by identically i mean chamber design, spark plug, valve size, shape and material, etc have to be identical. Not many heads offer that identicality (word?) in both materials. An engine built for aluminum heads that takes into account the chamber heat retention, will make the same power as iron. That's why big $$ engines use chamber coatings with aluminum heads. The car manufacturers use aluminum because it's lighter. No other reason. They also build the rest of the engine around it's use. That's my take anyway...
 
moper said:
Fishy, The key to maximum power output is to use all the energy to move the piston. Because iron does not remove heat from the burn as well, it will always make more power when built identically. It keeps the heat where itbelongs. But it's a very small margine, and by identically i mean chamber design, spark plug, valve size, shape and material, etc have to be identical. Not many heads offer that identicality (word?) in both materials. An engine built for aluminum heads that takes into account the chamber heat retention, will make the same power as iron. That's why big $$ engines use chamber coatings with aluminum heads. The car manufacturers use aluminum because it's lighter. No other reason. They also build the rest of the engine around it's use. That's my take anyway...
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Thanks for the info Moper. That's the way I understood it worked also.
 
I missed something somewhere. You stated the heads cost $1020 something. But when I went to their site, it was in the $15-1600 range? Did the price just go up or am I missing something? The sound good till the price gets there with the alum. heads.
 
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