I have an 1989. Been looking at new heads still. I saw Lingenfelter has a CNC machining/porting service for the aluminum 113 heads. It's $1400. Has anyone ever had their stock heads reworked there? What did you think of it afterwards?

Just curious,

Went

 

Well, from past experience, their work has been top notch. They have taken a lot of stock heads, massaged them and mated them to the Superram and headers and made good power.

 

For a few more dollars you could get a set of AFR's and make more power.And have a set of way better heads.

 

And with a few dollars more you can port those AFR heads and make.... Yeah, I been down that road before.

 

I had my 88 stock heads machined and ported for 1/3 that price. That way I could afford to port the runners and plenum. Local Race shop near Statesville, NC did the work. All I know is there is no more smoke out of the exhaust when first cranked. Power, well it's no C7 but my C4 roars.

 

Things I'd ask is what sort of hardware they use and whether it was CNC ported or whether it was just hugged out by some wannabes head porting guy. I quizzed the guy who was supposed to do the job and it was a one size fits all. When someone is so much cheaper, I get really nervous. Say they changed high 1000 to 1300, fine. 500 is very low

 

AFR'S don't need porting and come with top of the line valves and springs.You'll never get the flow numbers out of L98 heads that you can get out of a set of AFR heads.

 

From a purely engineering stand point the choice is a purpose built lightweight casting with more metal removed vs. a new casting made to be either run out of the box or ported with plenty of wall thickness to easily allow for it and still be structurally sound. If you have to pay a couple hundred more for the AFR heads it is still a better investment in my mind if a car you you are going to keep and put a bunch of miles on.

 

Like mentioned aftermarket heads are stronger, better alloys and better in everyway, unless you buy china crap. No way I'd invest $1400 in some used stock heads, even LS! The only reason to put that much $ into anything stock is because rules say you have to use stock parts.

And I kinda like the stock heads even!

 

Dart also makes good heads, plus they're a little cheaper then AFR.. I have a set of the Dart Pro 1 heads on my 383 and they do a good job.....I agree, I would never invest in having stock heads reworked, now days it's a waste of money.. There are new heads out there for about the same amount of money ....WW
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Summit has a set of AFR 195 , alum heads for 1,600 bucks.. and those are the ones that take a vortec manifold (going to buy those). The standerd heads are offered too. The 113 heads just aren't that good . better than iron heads, but many, many, aftermarket heads are much better.

 

Improvement in combustion chamber design by itself is worth it
No reason to mess with old stuff that just isn't efficient unless the $ just isnt there for it.

 

Also, as ddahlgren pointed out, the walls of AFR heads are thicker/better...the deck too.

That "last" extra couple hundred buys you more than you can see/feel.

Now...all this said, the ONLY reason to consider porting stock 113s on an L98 is if you are going to stay with a 350 TPI. That's because the flow requirements aren't that high for a mid-range motor. Was it member "TA" that built an impressive ported (stock) TPI setup?

If you are going for a 383 and/or a higher revving intake, there's just too much extra power that you can get from an aftermarket head.

I know I've seen some convincing articles on chamber design...that helped show what you get in an aftermarket head compared to porting. There are probably links on AFR/Dart's website.

FWIW, I chose the AFR option 5 years ago.

Oh yeah...one last thing. The chamber/flow on the 195's is so much better than stock...and many other aftermarket heads, you can use a smaller cam to hit the same top HP numbers. Plus, by having less duration, you will have more torque "under the curve". Can you get this AND a better mixing chamber out of a porting job? No.

But it still might depend on what your building and your overall budget. A good 195 CC head isn't warranted for a 350 torque motor. You need to be shooting for high 350 hp numbers or more CCs to benefit from the better heads. If you are sticking with the stock (or even aftermarket longtube) TPI setup , I would suggest a good bowl job from a local well-known porter to save money.

 

I actually was just re-reading a book I have the other night and they compared ported 113 heads vs ported vortecs. They picked up about 29hp with the vortec upper rpm only. Then put on some unported trickflow's and pick up a few more hp.

 

That reminds the runner of the 128/113 has injector spray in mind as well, same as LT1 or LS heads. Other heads flow better but an injector from a stock intake may not spray as well. If the gain vs the loss is better idk.

 

I got the TFS when they came out. Their QC sucked and cost me a motor when the wobbly valves had a broken spring and the piston kissed the valve. That was the last time I bought cheap. Regardless of how they have improved the power, only way I would use their heads is if they were bare and I had my engine guy go over it and put whatever he wants.

 

There are deals out there for AFR heads if you know where to look. Also, it's hard to find a head that will outflow an AFR head for any given port size.

 

The guys at Brodix do a real nice job so maybe best airflow for $$$$

 

Depends on whether you can or cannot look. The time to look is when I am planning a build. The time to look for deals is NOT when your motor needs to be back together and you need the heads YESTERDAY.

I was in shop class when a simple head inspection turned into a motor rebuild. I was under the gun so I had to settle for whatever price I could get with a quick few phone calls. If I had time, I'd have called around and around and waited but I didn't so whomever had AFR for the best price, I bought. Thanks TFS.