I'm looking into cylinder heads and am curious about which will have overall better performance. The four I am looking at are:
Vortec kit from Scoggin Dicky ~ $950
Trick flow 23* ~ $969
Sportsman II ~ $900
Iron Eagles ~ $969

My combo is a 355 with an edelbrock EPS intake, 600 cfm carb, presumably flat top pistons, 224*@.050 intake/exhaust cam with .465 lift. My current heads are 882 or 883 (dont remember.) Also if someone could help me out with a rough estimate of HP + TQ increase I'd appreciate it. I assume 40-50 horse and torque.
Thanks for all the help
Mike

Well I think you can eliminate the Sportsman II's because they can't even touch those other cylinder heads as far flow. Trick flows are good head plus they are aluminum so they are light. Unfortunatly, you really can't do anything more to them they are as good as they get out of the box. I's say the real choice would be between the iron eagles and vortecs. Outright i'd say the iron eagles are worth more power. I would also say an rpm intake would be better match with those heads, the eps is ok. With vortec package you get everything you need, rockers, gaskets, hardware and manifold, no guessing. Plus it comes with an rpm air-gap manifold which is worth some power. If you want great low-end torque and drivability you can't beat the vortecs for the price. But it's really up to you. Whether you want keep your intake manifold or not. I don't think you'll be disapointed with the vortecs or iron eagles either way. They are both great heads and you should see at least 380hp+ with these heads and 410+ ft/lbs of torque. You might benifit from a bigger carb though. a 650 or so.

Outlining your goals with the engine and car would help.

i cant give you comparison data since i have not owned all those heads. but i can tell you that i bought a set of iron eagles (200's)for my 406 and i am very happy with them. obviously they were a huge improvement over the double hump, factory heads. the casting quality in general i would rate very high. they are a strong head with plenty of beef in the areas where you need it. the power band is super and perfect for my street application. i know aluminum has some advantages with weight and heat dissapation but i personnaly do not like matching aluminum to cast iron in a critcal seal application. the thermal expansion rates are so different that you are constantly fighting against physics to maintain a good seal. EVERY OEM aluminum head car i have owned, no matter the manufacturer, eventually warped and lost coolant into the block. so rightly or wrongly i have a personal prejudice against them. i think you have to give cast iron the edge on reliability at least. hope this helps and good luck. looks like you are taking a sensible approach so i'm sure you will be happy with what you decide.

What do you want to do? A cruiser with 3.08s and an auto no choice the vortecs win. For something with a lot of RPM and gear the higher flowing heads are needed.

Originally posted by 70chevelle15:
Well I think you can eliminate the Sportsman II's because they can't even touch those other cylinder heads as far flow. Trick flows are good head plus they are aluminum so they are light.Funny you should say that...I've had some people tell me Sportsman II's and Iron Eagles are relatively the same head.

Aluminum heads are also nice but I've been told while they make the engine lighter and run cooler they also rob HP cuz they let the engine run too cool.

Originally posted by 79943:
i know aluminum has some advantages with weight and heat dissapation but i personnaly do not like matching aluminum to cast iron in a critcal seal application. the thermal expansion rates are so different that you are constantly fighting against physics to maintain a good seal. EVERY OEM aluminum head car i have owned, no matter the manufacturer, eventually warped and lost coolant into the block. so rightly or wrongly i have a personal prejudice against them. i think you have to give cast iron the edge on reliability at least. hope this helps and good luck. Head gasket technology has come a long way. There are tens of MILLIONS of cars on the road now days with iron blocks and aluminum heads. The last three cars I had came equipped with aluminum heads and an iron block. All went 130,000+ miles without ever losing any coolant. The other advantage of aluminum is that they can be welded easily if you damage them.

I don't have any experience with the other heads that you mentioned, but the Trick Flow is a pretty decent head. I have some. I'd buy them again if I had it to do over again, but I'd take a good long look at a set of AFR's.

Mike

Thanks guys,
My rear gear is 3.08's with a stock converter. I drive freeways quite a bit, so I like the tall gears. I know my cam isn't matched that well, but it still runs pretty good and has decent lope. I would like a decent street cruiser with some go. I think I'm going to decide between the Iron Eagles and the Vortecs. Does my cam have too much lift for stock Vortec springs?
Thanks again
Mike

If you buy that kit from scoggin dicky for $950 it comes with already upgraded springs good to .520 lift or so. The cheaper $779 package comes with the stock heads and I think your cam would be pushing it with those. For extra 170 or dollars your might as well get the better valve springs. Iron eagles are good for that lift out of the box.

pretty happy with my sportsman IIs over here. i heard they work great when the exhaust side is cleaned up, i hope to get around to it when i build the new motor.

btw, if i had to do it again, i would've stretched for the AFR heads for a few hundred more.