What kind of experience has the people in this forum has had with Patriot Performance Products, i.e. heads, stainless steel valves, gold springs, cams etc... The reason is that I would like to do an engine build up and they seem to have very low prices. So...any reason behind those low prices??? Thanks in advance for your replies...

 

Most will claim that Patiot Perf is just "CHEAP heads". Which they are in a monetary value. But I've had mine for 13k very, very hard miles. Been across the country (Hot Rod Power Tour) and alot of after hours racing also. Stage 2 6.0 liters (59cc) crane duals. 428rwhp and 405 rwtq right now. Moderate 224 cam, no cats, x pipe, ported throttle body, underdrive pulley, and catback.

 

Their products have been the subject of alot of controversy. Mostly because they put a product on the market that sold for alot less than some of the more popular names (GTP-Craig Gallant, TEA Total Engine Air Flow, MTI, etc) The rest of the controversy resulted from some of the early offerings that had weak springs, valve seals that weren't up to par and some low horse power numbers/flow numbers) There were some roomers that the port designs were copied from one of the above companies too..... I will say that many applaud their customer service. I had mediocre service from them. Then again, if you've got to pull a set of heads to send them back to be reworked then maybe good customer service isn't really a factor. That would pretty much suck. Terry, the owner of Patriot performance buys various castings in mass and then removes the casting numbers and doesn't require you to send him your cores in exchange. He also has the LS6 style setup where he takes a 6.0 litre truck head which is very similar to an LS6 casting except the combustion chamber is 72cc's so in order to duplicate the LS6 casting he welds in material and then reshapes the cumbustion chamber. This allows him to offer a 59cc chamber as opposed to a 64cc chamber that comes on the LS6 casting. The 59cc chamber allows for a bump in compression without decking the surface of the head.

Patriot has somehow stayed in buisiness despite this controversy by improving on the parts that we the consumer have tested and shown to fail. He has additionally gained a contract to sell heads through Summit......

I personally won't buy another set. However, I do think that the bugs are worked out on these heads and it may be safe to buy. You might want to ask this quetion over on LS1 tech and see what kind of responses you get. Terry Wilkes the owner of Patriot Performance is an active member of that site........

 

You get what you pay for, I had a bad experience and will never look back

 

Actually, he is at Race Tech. He was the brach/division manager for Patriot at one time.

 

I think they have solved all of the bugs they had on earlier heads (eg. valve seats dropping etc...). If I was on a really tight budget and had a Camaro, I would probably buy a set from them.

However, I own a Corvette and have the cash to buy the best for my car... waiting for a LS7 crate motor from GM to be released.

 

I installed my heads about the same time as Joey (same setup except for cam), and have had similar good luck with mine.. I'll be honest and say that I beat the hell out of my car whenever it is driven and haven't had any issues.

I've also installed PP heads on two other local vettes and they've been happy with them too. I don't regret my purchase at all.

 

Thank you guys I appreciate the feed back and advise. I do own a 99 Z28 and a 2001 C5 Coupe. Believe it or not, both in stock form the Z ran a 14.2 vs the vette's 14.6 1/4 mile. I want to prep one of them really good but I do not know which one. What should I buy with a budget of let say... $10,000? Head & Cam, valve train and SC for the Z. Or do the Head & Cam, valve train to the vette and re-install the twin turbo kit. Thanks in advance.....

 

I have their Gold dual springs. Excellent springs from what Ive researched. so far so good!