So many aftermarket heads to choose form , can anyone recommend some aluminium heads for a carb 351w for under $2000.
Not many options in Australia so was thinking of getting some from summit racing.

 

A little more info about your 351w would help to narrow it down: intake, cam, etc... Also, what is it going in and what type of driving will you be doing, to help narrow down the recommendations.

 

The intake is going to be a Edelbrock rpm air gap, carbureter a Holley 600, the engine is six months old.
The PO done a stock rebuild, he bored the block 20 thou put KB flat top pistons with 12cc valve reliefs redone the E7 heads stock and the cam he fitted is 194/204. 270 280 424/448 109-119. I think its called a stage one.
Last week I fitted a set of long tube extractors which made a nice difference plus a lot of fun going through underpasses.
I would like to get the most out of its cubic inches, something like 350 flywheel hp and low end torque.
It currently gets 12mpg and revs to 4500 then bombs but does pull well till then.
The car is a 2wd 1990 f150 with a ZF 5 speed.

 

Well, here's my IMHO.....Edelbrock heads- nothing really good or bad about them, they are middle of the road as compared to what is available. in general...aluminum is lighter, dissipates heat faster which typically means can take a hotter burn/more advanced ignition timing, but Cast iron will handle a lot more heat longer without warping....and typically handle higher cylinder psi. If your heads are in good shape, just needing a rebuild, yes, you can probably get almost the same performance (as long as you are not turning over 5K rpm) for a lot less $ than the al heads will cost.....but this is also area dependent too......

The oem heads are very, very capable of supporting up to 300+ hp...is it the most cost effective, not always however, with just about every one of the popular cylinder head (aftermarket) mfg going to china for their production, the quality is absolutely terrible...resulting in valvetrain failures, seat failures, etc. There is a reason the pricing is so "competitive", if you disassemble almost any of the brand new al aftermarket heads, you will almost certainly find vale surfacing is either poorly done or non-existent, seats....poorly inserted & finished ....and the ports.......not as bad, but has some unfinished business that when you pay $1k or more you should not be seeing.....and typically, if you take it to a machine shop for testing...most of the time there is defective machine work that is so bad, it requires re-machining the heads.

Please don't think for one minute, that any of the mail-order crap today is really worth the $ in comparison to buying a set of al heads and having them machined & built yourself. These vid’s really says it all IMHO........

 

Thanks Beechkid

 

Can get some world Sr or Jr heads locally for $980 each. Do they play nice with the 351w?

 

Any help would be welcome, what size valves, intake runners, flow rates and a matching cam. Im very confused by it all.
I would like to match it all up the best I can.
As the great Tim the tool man said " more power"

 

Here are a few combos that might work for you. AFR have more heads now to pick from now and some a re pretty well priced. There is no money savings in the offshore cylinder heads that are everywhere, World products is an offshore reseller too, those heads would likely need a complete rebuild, you'll be better off with something domestic like AFR or Dart or Edelbrock.

 

Thanks Paul, thats interesting, most of the gains are over 3000rpm which I don't go over very much.

 

At 3000rpm you probably barely in the power band for the cam shaft.
I would think the power band is around 2,000-5,500 RPM.

I bought Edelbrock 60399 heads, a little expensive, and Edelbrock's plant apparently moved, I ordered heads last year, still waiting for one.
Heads were complete, and I will still have to take apart and clean/lap valves etc.

Buying bare heads for me, would have cost double, machine shops around here are expensive.

If your not planning on using all your power in that motor, meaning you don't go over 3000 very much, you might as well buy a low-middle priced head, not overseas head.

How about the E-Street head? How does it compare in the line up?
Edelbrock 50259 E-Street, price is on the lower side.

 

Thanks Mr White, I know how you pay for your builds.
I have looked at the cheaper heads but videos like Beechkids make you wonder. One thing I have noticed that if you do get the cheaper heads make sure to pull them apart and give them a good going over.
I can get the Edelbrock heads locally for $1480 Aussie or the AFR Enforcer heads for $1600.
Even though most of my gear changes are around 2000 to 3000 rpm I would occasianly like to rev it to at least 5000 to 5500.
At the moment it gets to 4500 rpm and its like its hitting a rev limiter.

 

GT40p heads have a good valve size for a mild cam and the smallest combustion chambers for stock heads on a 5.0

 

The OP has long tube headers so GT40p heads wont work and will get him nowhere near 350hp. Do not rule out Trickflow 170 heads, they are of good quality and have optional dual springs that can enable .600 lift.

 

GTP heads actually do flow well enough for 350hp and longtubes are one of the few exhaust solutions that can work, but it won't be a frustration free install with at least some of the header tubes needing to be clearanced and all plug boots requiring heat shielding.

 

I didn't get this right away, took me 2 days, then this morning I laughed. I used to get that a lot, years ago.
Fun Fact: actually, its the truth, my grandfathers first name is 'Walter'.
Thanks for the chuckle!!