Pro comp heads UK - good value??

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 1:53 pm

Hi guys!
Have purchased a set of brand new 220cc allumnium pro-comp bare cylinders heads from a "vendor" in the UK. These have valve guides - seats uncut and not a great deal else. With a little negotiation I got him down to 250 pounds.

So I purchased a set of Ferrea 5000 series as valves (2.08 inlet and 1.6 exhaust)at 150 pounds delivered (for 16) to go in them. I will look for springs and retainers later.

Now I can to a clean up job on the castings - give them a light machine skim on the faces and cut and blend the valve seats for little money, so in my mind they represent a bargain? But there is mixed opinion on these heads, and although I now know that a great deal of what has been talked about these heads online is not absolutely trustworthy ( thanks mike:-)) - still wanted to put it to the forum for an opinion.

These are for a 383 stroker that I am building as an eventual replacement/second engine for the Landy.

The ports are a little large- but will take steps to. Minimise the adverse effect of this.

Cylinder heads by dart are available for about 600-700 pounds from the US- but after shipping and tax??? These seemed convenient as they are in th UK etc.

Opinions?? Any novel ideas as to set up? Anybody ever used these?

Cheers

Dave

kev_the_mole · Post by **kev_the_mole** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 10:21 am

Dave,

My 383 has Pro Comp heads and apart from a very expensive casting inclusion problem, that led to water p1ss1ng in one bore, they do what it says on the tin powerwise.

Cheers,

Ian

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 11:17 am

Perhaps I should pressure test the water ways then?

Ian Anderson · Post by **Ian Anderson** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:06 pm

Been a short discussion over at GT40s
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tech-en ... heads.html

Seems some good some terrible

Ian

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 5:52 pm

Have received the heads. The castings look bright and crisp - will post some pics later - don't really like the way the valve train bolt threads enter the jet port (therefore sealed when the bolt is inserted!) - is this a usual situation?? But no obvious cracks holes or pours etc. their weight is identical. The seats are already cut - but as they were not matched to a specific valve I will have them re-cut to my valves. And this is the main purpose of the post. The valve seats are the maximum you can put in without offset guides. I doubt these will be able to accommodate the 2.08 inch valves I have ordered. And can't really do with the hassle of major work. Questions

Has anybody else got away with 2.08 valves on the pro-comp/dart seats?? (Castings look identical!)

If not I will exchange them for a set of 2.02 inch valves. What are the best all round 2.02 inch iets and 1.6 exhaust for a roller cam 383 stroker (4.030 bore)??

Aiming for a individual throttle body setup - so I can run a hotter cam and tame it for the Landy. Also the ports are 220cc so a bit big, hence the one runner per cylinder setup to minimise the low end losses!

The castings can do with a clean up. Will polish the bowls - blend in the seats and throats and skinny and smooth the guide bosses.

Once I have valves and springs etc I will calculate the maximum lift ability.

Hoping for 500+ horse power. With the 48-50mm throttle body setup (jenvey or equivalent - these heads and a 11.5:1 approx compression ratio, roller cam?? Do you think this is a reasonable forecast???

Cheers

Dave

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:44 pm

What do you think?

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:46 pm

Looking through the books they look very similar to the dart platinum pro (wet flow developed heads????) - what do you guys reckon??

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:10 pm

They came in a plain cardboard container - no brand name at all - no name on them what so ever.

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:57 am

Guys, been looking at the layout of these heads - don't think they are by pro- comp! They seem to be the same pattern as the dart platinum pro??? The triangle-esque water ways on the face, straight stripe style exhaust face?? Valve guide boss shape. There is no clue as to the make on the boxes. The advert originally advertised them as "patriot". But the pictures I have been reviewing don't seem to support this?? Any ideas as to the model/design ?? Would more pics help?? Certainly 250 pounds seems attractive for these.

mgbv8 · Post by **mgbv8** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:20 pm

DaviesDJ wrote:Guys, been looking at the layout of these heads - don't think they are by pro- comp! They seem to be the same pattern as the dart platinum pro??? The triangle-esque water ways on the face, straight stripe style exhaust face?? Valve guide boss shape. There is no clue as to the make on the boxes. The advert originally advertised them as "patriot". But the pictures I have been reviewing don't seem to support this?? Any ideas as to the model/design ?? Would more pics help?? Certainly 250 pounds seems attractive for these.

Are you ordering these from Pro Comp Dave?

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 7:40 pm

Hi pel! No - I have taken delivery of them for a gent in London with a very thick Asian accent who's name I cannot remember - 250 quid as you see above - they have no obvious marks or brand on the box or the heads - castings look fine - and pleasingly similar to dart pro. They are in the hall at the moment annoying the missis! Plan is for farrea valves (ordered) and basic porting. Being a rover man usually I have never purchased a cylinder head that was not covered in oxide;-). Just very interested in their identity

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:37 pm

Hi
Are those exhaust ports raised as for as they look? If you get a minute can you stick them on a flat surface and measure how far up the bottom of the exhaust ports are.
best regards
Mike

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:33 pm

They are 62mm up vertically (90 degrees to surface) or 66.5 mm up the surface of the head.

DaviesDJ · Post by **DaviesDJ** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:20 pm

Heads are porting up quite nicely - all inlet dimensions are the same to within a mm each way as they came but the inner two exhaust ports are marginally smaller by about 2mm in each dimension throughout - is this normal in chevy heads?? I will give them a very gentle open only to match the other two - I put a shine finish on exhaust usually for heat absorption, all I am doing with the inlets is cleaning and blending - they are already 220cc.

The real question I wanted to ask is what valve springs and retainers should I use with my 2.08 and 1.6 valves - with individual throttle bodies I am going for an aggressive cam, so want high lift (about .60 - 0.65 approx) this is also to make the most of my ports, with an LCA of about 106 - roller cam. So thinking either a performance beehive or double etc. can't find a beehive that supports the lift. The valve stems are 5.01 inches long.

Cheers

Dave