TFS Twisted Wedge or Sportsman II's?

[novaman_68]

I am going to buy a set of heads,but I have been kinda scared away from alum. heads buy a local machine shop and some older drag racers in my area. I am concerned with longevity of alum. I have heard horror stories about alum. heads twisting and warping. I know the iron heads don't flow near the numbers the alum. heads do, but I want something that will last for years........I am rambling, sorry I'm just a poor boy and don't want to spend another $1000 in a year. :hammer:

[boodlefoof]

The twisted wedge heads flow incredibly well from what I hear. I've heard some less than wonderful things about the Sportsman II heads consuming oil as well. I haven't run either though. Do a search over on www.camaros.net There are lots of old threads about these heads.

[Lowend]

The rumors of Aluminum heads having durability problems are old wife's tales.
Look at it this way, every Honda since 1976 has had an aluminum head, and they are considered one of the most dependable cars on the market. Every Corvette since 1987 has had Aluminum heads and they are more duriable now than ever before.

That said - I would NOT use Trick Flow heads on anything. They have the absolute worst quality control in the business. I have had friends get the heads with the valves not seating right, the pushrod holes being done wrong, chambers being miscut.
There is a reason that Trick Flow is cheap... its because they are slammed out as quick as possiable and no one double checks anything.

If you want an Aluminum head I encourage you to use them, but stick with reputable companies like Edelbrock, Air Flow Research, or Brodix

As with all things in life, you get what you pay for

[chicane67]

You ask for information and you shall recieve:

On the subject of cast iron vs aluminum (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/7192.html?)

Cast Iron vs. Aluminum part II (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/6014.html?)

Thread 1 (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/8169.html?)

Thread 2 (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/9/7244.html?)

Thread 3 (http://www.camaros.net/forum/ultimatebb.php/topic/9/2217.html)

Thread 4 (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/6407.html?)

Thread 5 (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/4/8085.html?)

Thread 6 (http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/9/10540.html?)

I doubt its required to get into the vendor bashing thing, because I can find a hundred people that find problems with every head mentioned. Just because one person and some of his friends have had problems with a certain product doesnt mean that you shouldnt educate yourself on the facts of the matter. Most problems with cylinder heads start with the end user and their mis-conception that they actually know what they are doing, when in reality, they only know enough to get themselves into real trouble.

Most of the above threads were to settle the common arguement from the guys running AFR heads and then finding them being knocked off of their high horse (I guess owning AFR products can be EGO related). AFR, TFS, ProTopline, Brodix, Edelbrock, Canfield, Dart, World, GM and Aero........man what a list to choose from. They all work, iron or aluminum. Just find enough information to make the best possible solution for your needs.

I have run about everything on the market over the past 17+ years and have problems with everyone of them. But to answer the real question, the answer relies on the combination that you will be ultimately running. Some parts are just happy with each other and some are not.

Do yourself the favor, and continue your search for the knowledge it takes you to find the answer you are happy with.

Happy reading.

[rocketrod]

Excellent post chicane67, I couldn't agreee more.

Rod

[yody]

Lowend first you say that you had a bunch of trick flow heads at your shop that sucked and now suddenly it was your friends that had crappy trickflows? You seem really bent on trickflow. I haven't heard ONE complaint against trickflows in person or on the internet, I have heard complaints about the older twisted wedge heads. IF this is what you are talking about then you too are stuck in the past. We all know that that was a problem and has been fixed with their 23 degree heads that perform awesome!! Look at Eric68 on camaros.net using the trickflow aluminum 23 degree heads and a simple 383 engine combo, he is running low 11's on pump gas. and that is on a almost stock set of heads. I do not work for trickflow or anything, but i have had a few sets in my hands and have seen them perform and everything was perfect. I always see you bash the company. But I will have to agree with chicane on this one;

"Most problems with cylinder heads start with the end user and their mis-conception that they actually know what they are doing, when in reality, they only know enough to get themselves into real trouble."

I would put in a vote for either; Trickflow, AFR, or Brodix. Can't go wrong with either 3, some of the bestin the industry, oh wait, dohn't let me forget to through Canfield in there too! I wouldn't waste a dime on either the sportsman's or the Twisted wedges. Unless you either want to spend money porting, or correcting valve train probs.

[Lowend]

Yody
I am bent on Trick Flow and for good reason... I do this for a living, I see literally hundreds of hi-performance engines every month. With-in that construct I see LOTS of problems with Trick Flow heads, far more than any other cylinder head. Most of these are not problems that can be caused by end-user error (ie valves not matching guides).
I am not saying that Trick Flow is incapable of building a good head, and I'm not saying that someone can't make power using them. I AM saying that their QC is very poor.

[LowBuckX]

Summit Racing is Known for dumping a product if they have alot of issues with them. That said Summit has been the main supply house to get Trickflow heads. Im running the Old twisted wedge heads myself and have about 30k on them. Only Issue i had with them where the valve springs. But I replaced them and they have been fine.

Kenny Dutweiler endorses the 23 deg heads and that alone it a great testament to them.

[novaman_68]

Thanks guys, I am running a .030 over 350 w/ stock cast crank, forged trw flattops w/ 4 valve reliefs, and a Crane oval track Saturday night special cam .480int. .494exh. 228 234 duration and 4-speed saginaw with 3.08 gears in a 10-bolt. This is all in a 68 Nova and it has ran as fast as 13.50 @ 102mph. My heads are 461x casting double humps w/62cc chambers 2.02 1.60 valves. I like the heads but I don't trust them, when I had them cut for the bigger valves the machinist went too deep and after running them for 1 year I started getting water from under the hardened seats he installed. This was on the exhaust valve on #1, so I dont know how many more might be fixing to let go.

[sanddan]

I have the twisted wedge heads, what type of problems were people having? I also had to replace the springs as I changed to a Hyd Roller cam but have not had any issues. Just curious. Also, I bought them before the 23 deg heads came out.
DAn