Does anyone have a drawing or picture of both the LA and Magnum intake patterns superimposed?
New EQ Head port misalignment?
- Thread starter ZMAN24250
- Start date
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ZMAN24250
Speed person with a car problem
Did you measure them? Are yours also out of whack?
Michael Harrington
Well-Known Member
Mine appear out of whack. Although I have not set them on a block and checked. I don't have a bare block- only the running 318 in my 95 Dakota. This
s is the bottom portion of my SB weiand tunnel ram bolted to one head on my bench. The OEM style Magnum gasket doesn't match the EQ ports and the intake manifold also does not match the EQ ports. When I bolt this tunnel ram bottom to an LA head- which I have done- that match is much better and proper..
PRH
Well-Known Member
That’s pretty special.
You have to REALLY want the magnum chambers and valvetrain to deal with that.
I’d be embracing some SM LA aluminum heads instead.
You have to REALLY want the magnum chambers and valvetrain to deal with that.
I’d be embracing some SM LA aluminum heads instead.
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Michael Harrington
Well-Known Member
I'm shelving the EQ heads for now. I'm more than half way thru cleaning the surfaces with a mild port and nice polish in the he exhaust ports and combustion chambers. At this point the fully cleaned up ported and polished 2.02 J heads I've been storing for 25 years can be put on a future magnum based build. I don't want to port another set of heads. I kinda enjoy it but it is a lot of work. Plus I'm bitter after seeing what's up with these $900 EQ heads I bought, then another $160 to have them inspected with the guides machined down for higher cam lift capability. I'd entertain $2000 plus for some aluminum heads but they gotta be ready to run an LA intake and not require drilling.
PRH
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you’re a candidate for some TF190 heads.
ZMAN24250
Speed person with a car problem
The promaxx heads seem to be checking out for me so far. Spent about 10 hours this weekend on one head and i havent seen anything super bad yet.. though I cc'd the chambers and they came out to 67cc after I massaged them a little.... that's a bit more than I was hoping but c'est la vie...
Oldiron440
Big blocks rule small blocks drool!
I’ve seen expensive heads that are junk, usually Edelbrock and cheap heads that are just plain ridiculous like ports that hang below the gaskets, rocker studs in the wrong place etc.
I wouldn’t mind having some aluminum heads on my big blocks but I will not consider anything other than TF or Indy. But with the coin in my pockets I will have 915s forever.
Just remember you get what you pay for and sometimes less.
I wouldn’t mind having some aluminum heads on my big blocks but I will not consider anything other than TF or Indy. But with the coin in my pockets I will have 915s forever.
Just remember you get what you pay for and sometimes less.
well, now..... I can't remember checking the port alignment. Mine were filled with sludge/grindings or whatever. Now I'm worried some... lol. I've not used mine yet
Michael Harrington
Well-Known Member
The ORIGINAL EQ heads were cast (Possibly made completely) in Australia by a reputable company that has been making cylinder heads for a long time. For reasons I'm not aware of- production switched to china around 2019???? The heads took a huge downturn with this change of manufacturer. The great reputation, great performance and fantastic bang for the buck is gone. I am proof that having a shop check the guides for clearance and the valve job for sealing is not going far enough. I should have layed a gasket across the mounting surface the same day I received them.
ZMAN24250
Speed person with a car problem
Edit: It seems summit racing has acknowledged this quality issue and may be fixing it with the supplier. So this may or may not be mended. But still buyer be ware.
WARNING. PROMAXX heads may be susceptible to this same sh*tty casting! Buyer beware. Scrutinize ANY/ALL aftermarket replacement magnum heads.
From my greety own doing and lack of attention, I blew through the side wall while porting the first head..
So I broke down and bought a third promaxx head... guess what?!?!?! It's the same junk casting as before with the EQ heads.
Two of the promaxx looked good, this third is junk.
WARNING. PROMAXX heads may be susceptible to this same sh*tty casting! Buyer beware. Scrutinize ANY/ALL aftermarket replacement magnum heads.
From my greety own doing and lack of attention, I blew through the side wall while porting the first head..
So I broke down and bought a third promaxx head... guess what?!?!?! It's the same junk casting as before with the EQ heads.
Two of the promaxx looked good, this third is junk.
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Same head different name from the same foreign place.
PRH
Well-Known Member
Looks like there is no “maybe” about it.
I’m glad I’m not in love with Magnum stuff.
If I “had to” run magnum heads, I think I’d go with the Ede’s.
Edit- it appears Ede is pretty proud of those units!!
I guess I’ll go back to being glad I’m not in love with Magnum stuff.
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Michael Harrington
Well-Known Member
I bought mine from a seller on eBay and the store is called Engine Parts and Cores. Located in Las Vegas. The pic below is of my purchase. This link is their current litsing.https://www.ebay.com/itm/176692881855?
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Michael Harrington
Well-Known Member
I'm considering leasing the drill jig from a member here to properly drill he mount holes on my Vegas EQ heads. But I'm having second thoughts on that- My machine shop gave the thumbs up to the out of the box valve and valve seat prep, guide fitment and quality of the springs locks and retainers. But now I'm questioning if any other unorthodox defects my exist with these castings.
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ZMAN24250
Speed person with a car problem
I bought my engine quest heads from the Las Vagas facility through their ebay store.
The Promaxx heads I bought directly through summit racing.
Seems like most of these places get their castings from the same place. So just check over whichever you get.
Like I mentioned, I got two promaxx heads that had the intake runners in the right place but the third I got was a different casting with the intake runner issue.
The Promaxx heads I bought directly through summit racing.
Seems like most of these places get their castings from the same place. So just check over whichever you get.
Like I mentioned, I got two promaxx heads that had the intake runners in the right place but the third I got was a different casting with the intake runner issue.
ZMAN24250
Speed person with a car problem
More updates.
Took the NFG head back to summit store to exchange. Laid out what was wrong and showed them the good head, and they agreed there is a quality issue. After looking through the first few boxes and finding junk castings, they eventually brought down their entire stock and went through boxes until we found the some good castings. (There were some in the mix of their stock)
They're also submitting a quality investigation as I understand it so hopefully these promaxx heads will be reliable from Summit soon!
Took the NFG head back to summit store to exchange. Laid out what was wrong and showed them the good head, and they agreed there is a quality issue. After looking through the first few boxes and finding junk castings, they eventually brought down their entire stock and went through boxes until we found the some good castings. (There were some in the mix of their stock)
They're also submitting a quality investigation as I understand it so hopefully these promaxx heads will be reliable from Summit soon!
StreetSleeper
Well-Known Member
If we bought these heads a while back,
What is the best solution if return is not an option ?
Weld up the holes and drill new ones or
Do it to the aluminum intake and hope for the best with the gasket?
What is the best solution if return is not an option ?
Weld up the holes and drill new ones or
Do it to the aluminum intake and hope for the best with the gasket?
ZMAN24250
Speed person with a car problem
So, some quick visual identifications we found to tell what seems to be the good casting from the bad (aside from the port/gasket misalignment) are shown below.
Overall the casting seems to have a much duller finish and is closer to cast iron gray. The other heads seemed to be more glossy black but not really painted.
Between sparkplug holes, I found the good heads I got had a block (pointed out by the flat head). On the bad ones there was a bump (where Phillips is pointed) as well as casting numbers/dots (see picture).
Also, not sure if this helps at all, but these ones that are good appear to have been machined on July 15th 2021....
Hope this helps others.
Overall the casting seems to have a much duller finish and is closer to cast iron gray. The other heads seemed to be more glossy black but not really painted.
Between sparkplug holes, I found the good heads I got had a block (pointed out by the flat head). On the bad ones there was a bump (where Phillips is pointed) as well as casting numbers/dots (see picture).
Also, not sure if this helps at all, but these ones that are good appear to have been machined on July 15th 2021....
Hope this helps others.
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ZMAN24250
Speed person with a car problem
I thought about this...
First off, it's not the intake bolt holes that are wrong, the port is just purely in the wrong spot.
So only thing I could think of is make your own gasket, and port an intake specifically for those heads. Or you could try welding/adding epoxy or some equivalent to the ceiling and shaping from there. None of which I wanted any part of. I imagine that messes with all sorts of airflow changes I don't know enough about to deal with.
RAMM
Well-Known Member
I don't want to hijack this thread but I do have some recent experience with EQ cast heads (Chevy Vortec). I will start a separate thread. EQ used to make such great castings for us Mopar guys. They still seem to make great castings for the Chev crowd. I spoke with Joe Cabral @ PRI and asked him what happened when the TooWoomba foundry shut down. I was told they lost the cores and core boxes for the EQ Magnum line. All the Chevy stuff was retained and moved to China while the Mopar stuff had to be redesigned and it simply isnt the same or nearly as good. So sad. J.Rob
Michael Harrington
Well-Known Member
I posted pics in this discussion of my LA Tunnel ram bottom half bolted to my head. As ZMAN mentions above the ports do seem in the wrong location. I'm calling it a lesson. (Bought mine almost two years ago and had the guides cut down for bigger cam AND I started porting them) I can use the components (Valves from the EQ heads and the Hughes springs locks and retainers) for some future OEM Magnum heads. I may just modify the holes in my LA intake to work on the Magnum head.
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