Flow was 240 intake-190 exhust @.500 lift. Pretty far off from AFR claims of 260ish. The guy that did the flow work is very good and well know around here. He does some of the high dollar work for Borowski Racing out in Joliet, IL. I'm disappointed in the head flow, but happy how the car runs in spite of it. Does anyone have actual flow #s off their 190's?

 

I think they all inflate the flow #'s. I have a set of edelbrocks that were supposed to flow 239 at 500. They flowed 217 at 500. With porting we got 250.

 

Did your man use the same test standards as AFR? Flow benches are like chassis dynos. Mess with the correction factor and numbers are changed for the good or the worse.

 

28" I'm going to take them to another guy just to see how the two flow benches compare. Has anybody else out there had a set of 190s flowed? As popular as these heads have been it seems like more people would have some numbers on them.

 

I agree w/tj-
Were the claimed flow numbers from a box stock or CNC ported head? Makes quite a difference. That's a good head you have there.

 

Corvette0096 has a set of AFRs as well. He did in fact have his flowed at the one of our local machine shops. Perhaps he will chime in and disclose his flow numbers. I have two pairs of AFR 210 LT4 heads here. However I have not flowed either sets to see where they stand. I have been using AFR heads for several years and was the receipient of one of the first sets of their LT4 renditions back in 96. I did have a couple issues but not with flow. The gasket indexing pin holes were made for a LT1 gasket and I had to releive the valve cover gasket railing for more clearance so that the intake would fit. Back then the heads were supplied with a flow sheet, and my machine shop flowed them. On their SF600 bench these heads flow 8 to 10 CFM more than the AFR flow sheet. In my case the heads were 195 AFR LT4 heads. I don't remember the numbers as its been so long ago but I do remember it was more, I do still have the flow sheets and notes from the machine shop but all that is still in New Mexico

 

I hear they are completely redesigning the 190, and its expected to be out sometime June/July. Gives me a little time to save...

 

Where did you hear this?

 

Straight from the horses mouth-(Tony)He is the chief port designer at AFR.

 

Didn't they just drop the 190 all together and is making just the 195 series for all the SBC line. As you may all know, the LTx heads start out as conventional SBC heads, but before they go to heat treating they have the water passages welded shut, then they go to heat treating. That is why LTx heads have a 14 week wait.

 

If your'e referring to the LTx head, you may be right (TJ). I know the 195 is going all new, I asked him about the 190 the other day for a 406 buildup. Unless he and I got our wires crossed, I believe they are redesigning the 190. I could talk to him tomorrow morning and make sure if you like. I've been wrong before...

 

 

Which heads are those, Corvette96?Out of box or CNC'ed?

 

His heads are the 100% CNC versions from AFR. On Archies SF600 his heads actually flow more than AFRs specs.

 

Pretty respectable #'s!

 

Yes they are, Rich can run mid 11's in his car. I haven't actually seen him do it yet, as he hits the brakes hard at the end of the track last season. But even doing that he has broken into the 11s

 

That's pretty encouraging! What else does he have ion the motor?

 

Rich is running a 383, SR manifold that has been ported by AI to match the AFR heads, for a cam he has the 219. I am sure he could get more if he gets a different cam. Also he has headers, hooker 2151s I beleive. He can also get more by going to true duals, right now he still has that gutted cat going into a Y. He should dump that and install a late model 3" system similar in configuration to what is in the LTx series. He is running about 10:1 compression right now.

 

Damn, I have a long ways to go. Just goes to show if you have an efficient cylinder head, you don't need a ton of cam to go fast. Sounds like a good running car!

 

Guys...

Just wanted to clear up a few things.

First and foremost is that AFR does NOT inflate their flow numbers although I would be lying if I didn't say that I believe some of the advertised figures quoted by a few other various companies might be "optimistic" shall we say. AFR sells alot of product to engine builders....engine builders like our product because we help make them look good by putting up big power on their dyno's....engine builders also frequently have flow equipment or access to flow equipment and we dont want to get caught with our pants down regarding flow etc., plus we have a tremendous amount of integrity and pride and advertising "optimistic" flow information is simply not an option. We stand behing our flow numbers 100%....Our policy is that if a NEW head (not already ran on an engine) does not flow within 2.5% of advertised, we will re-run it on the CNC, build a new head, whatever we have to do to get the customer what he paid for. Our advertised numbers represent an "average" of what our product flows in a production environment...Some might be a couple of percent higher, some might be a couple of percent lower, but they should all be extremely close to what we advertise. We don't typically receive calls from customers that think their heads might be off 6 CFM....the call we occasionally get are from people who think they might be 15 or 20 CFM away. Reality is that 4 out 5 people that send heads back for evaluation from concerns regarding flow are pleased to find out that the heads do flow at or close to what we advertise....the few exceptions we always end up making good on.

Flowing a head does require the proper fixturing, radiused entries, exhaust tubes to simulate a header, etc. and alot of the time the heads being flowtested outside of AFR are not done using all the correct equipment....a "clay" radius being the first clue you might be flowtesting the head at the wrong shop.

In regards to the 190's in question, the fact that these heads havent been produced by AFR in over a year (we now only offer 180 and 195 cc street heads) leads me to believe they were flowtested with some carbon buildup in the intake ports and on the valves and even if all the proper equipment and procedures were used, the heads would certainly flow less than we advertise due to that fact.

If any of you receive a set of AFR heads that you feel do not flow as advertised (within 2.5%) and feel reasonably confident that the operator that checked them had the proper equipment etc., I urge you to contact me personally and we will bring the heads back here for flowtest and evaluation to make sure you received exactly what you paid us for. I can be reached at (818)890-0616 Ext. 109

Thanks guys...

Tony Mamo
AFR Sales / Product Design