Eight-Budget-SBC-Head-Shootout - Car Craft Magazine

Ccrp 1209 Eight Budget Sbc Head Shootout 13

For all the tests apart from that of the iron heads, we used a set of Harland Sharp 1.6:1 roller rockers. We also used 1.6:1 rockers on the Vortec heads but with a narrower rocker to clear the center-bolt valve covers. The stock iron-head valvesprings did not allow using taller ratio rockers, so 1.5:1 ratio rockers were used on those heads.

For all the tests apart from that of the iron heads, we used a set of Harland Sharp 1.6:1

Peak torque saw the Jegs head take top honors with 421 lb-ft of torque besting both the Dart and Patriot heads’ 417 lb-ft achievement that was only one better than Summit’s 416 peak twist. All the aftermarket heads managed to crank out more than 400 lb-ft of torque (the stock iron castings achieved the least at 379 lb-ft). The number in parenthesis in the torque column is each head’s peak torque ranking. The differential between the top four heads is a mere 4 lb-ft, which would be nearly impossible to evaluate in the car.

This led us to one more evaluation that should shed far more light on the question of which head is the best. While peak horsepower is interesting, it can be deceiving, as our test engine in a typical street car with a 3.55 rear gear and a three-speed automatic only experiences 6,000 rpm (or more) twice in a typical quarter-mile pass, hitting this rpm at the top of First and Second gear. Few street cars hit peak horsepower rpm in the quarter-mile in high gear. On the other hand, a typical street engine will spend 70 percent or more of its time in between peak-torque and peak-horsepower engine speeds. That means the average power between peak torque and peak horsepower tells a much more accurate story of the potential benefit to improving acceleration than do peak numbers. So we decided to average the horsepower of each test between 3,600 and 6,000 rpm. After the numbers were crunched, you could throw a blanket over the top four heads (Patriot, Dart, Jegs, and Summit) with a mere 6 average horsepower difference between them and less than 3 hp between the top three. So, what does this comparison tell us? It tells us that if your decision came down to overall power, you could choose any one of these top four and make a really good decision.

Horsepower Chart

RPM	Stock	Vortec	Edelbrock	Summit	Speedway	Jegs	Dart	Patriot
3,600	270	270	264	268	270	275	272	275
3,800	270	289	285	287	289	296	295	292
4,000	288	307	308	311	309	317	315	314
4,200	303	325	327	331	327	336	333	333
4,400	317	341	341	348	340	351	347	348
4,600	329	351	354	361	352	362	362	362
4,800	336	362	366	374	362	374	374	376
5,000	343	371	375	384	370	383	384	387
5,200	350	376	382	392	378	391	395	398
5,400	354	378	386	399	381	399	406	406
5,600	356	376	390	402	380	403	411	412
5,800	358	370	394	405	380	407	413	418
6,000	355	360	395	403	381	408	419	420
6,200	--	--	--	--	--	--	417	--
Avg.	325.5	345.7	352.3	359.7	348.5	362.7	364.4	365.4
Peak	358	378	395	405	381	408	419	420

Horsepower Graph

Overall graphs often do not show enough detail to give you a clear picture of the results. Rather than create a graph of the entire power curve, we decided to produce just the curve from 4,500 rpm up through peak horsepower. Here you can see how each cylinder head performed from roughly peak torque through peak horsepower.

Peak Torque and Horsepower

Cylinder Head	Peak Horsepower	Peak Torque
Patriot	420 at 5,900 rpm	417 at 4,300 rpm (2)
Dart	419 at 6,200 rpm	417 at 4,200 rpm (2)
Jeg’s	408 at 5,900 rpm	421 at 4,300 rpm (1)
Summit	405 at 5,900 rpm	416 at 4,400 rpm (4)
Edelbrock	395 at 5,900 rpm	409 at 4,200 rpm (5)
Speedway	381 at 5,400 rpm	409 at 4,200 rpm (5)
Vortec	378 at 5,300 rpm	408 at 4,300 rpm (7)
Stock Iron	358 at 5,800 rpm	379 at 4,300 rpm (8)

Horsepower Per Dollar

While torque and horsepower numbers are certainly alluring, there’s yet a third very powerful equalizer: cost. It doesn’t really matter if a set of heads makes great power if its cost is out of reach. The point of this evaluation was to test all heads costing less than $1,000, which made it much more competitive even before the first test started. One way to look at this test is by average horsepower per dollar. The equation is simple: Divide the price of the heads by the average horsepower number. The Speedway head won mainly on the strength of its very low price. The Patriot came in a close Second based on a combination of good power and price, with the iron Vortec Third and the Dart aluminum 200 heads Fourth. It’s important to note that within these rankings that there is a very small differential between these heads. Within the top three heads, the difference is barely more than a dime per horsepower. That’s hardly worth worrying about. We must also include a caveat about this dollar-per-average horsepower evaluation. If we take the stock iron heads value at $150 (which is roughly what they’re worth) and divide it by 325.5 average horsepower, you get a ridiculously low $0.46/average horsepower, which is far less than any of the other heads—so the cheapest isn’t always the best choice.

Average Horsepower Per Dollar
Speedway	$2.12 / Avg. HP
Patriot	$2.23 / Avg. HP
Vortec iron	$2.25 / Avg. HP
Dart SHP	$2.55 / Avg. HP
Edelbrock	$2.58 / Avg. HP
Jeg’s
Summit

Conclusion

Ccrp 1209 Eight Budget Sbc Head Shootout 15

The hidden heroes for this story were our pals at Federal-Mogul, who supplied all the gaskets required to seal up eight complete head swaps. We'd also like to give a shout out to Permatex and that wonderful Right Stuff Grey RTF that sealed up the china wall, cutting our swap time significantly. Of course, we also have to acknowledge Westech's Steve Brule for his ninja-like valve lash speed.

The hidden heroes for this story were our pals at Federal-Mogul, who supplied all the gask

If the sheer number of comparisons has made the decision-making process a bit more challenging, then we’ve done our job. We are attempting to show that simplistic peak-horsepower-head-banger conclusions are rarely the most accurate. While the Patriot head did perform well in most of our objective categories, keep in mind that it did so by the barest of margins. While the power differences are clear, the ultimate evaluation is in the car. Evaluating the whole field, we have four really good heads here, and, realistically, all the heads (except the stockers) are good choices. Perhaps the most meaningful comparison is the average horsepower test, in which the spread between the top four heads was a mere 5.7 hp. That would be difficult to measure in a quarter-mile test. Frankly, you could choose any of these heads and know that you made a wise decision. Most of the other heads are cast overseas but machined and assembled in the U.S. So now that you have all the information, the only decision left is which company to call first. And don’t let us catch you playing eenie, meenie, miney, mo. End

Parts List
Description	PN	Source	Price
Dart SHP head	127322	Jeg’s	$931.98
Jeg’s head	514000	Jeg’s	959.98
Summit head	162109	Summit Racing	995.95
Vortec iron (mod)	SD8060A2	Scoggin-Dickey	779.90
Edelbrock E-Street	5089	Scoggin-Dickey	909.95
Speedway (Flo-Tek)	7222200	Speedway Motors	739.98
Patriot	2168	Summit Racing	815.00
Harland Sharp 1.6:1 roller rockers	S-1002	Summit Racing	239.00
ARP head studs	234-4401	Summit Racing	190.93
Fel-Pro head gaskets	1010	Summit Racing	41.95
Fel-Pro intake gaskets	1205	Summit Racing	14.75
Fel-Pro header gaskets	1444	Summit Racing	17.95
Comp Cams 10w30 muscle car oil	1594	Summit Racing	39.75 (5)