I was looking in "Speedway motors" and came accross some flo tek heads. I like the price and I wanted some input on em.
Bottom end product in the same playing field as procomp stuff. From a performance stand point the ports are poorly designed as well as flow restrictions on the short side of radius due to humps, and sharp castings around the valve guide. I have no idea as the quality of parts used in the heads but would guess its also low end. For a few bucks more you can find a better head with better parts. I'm not an expert when it comes to the metal make up of aluminum but I do remember that flo-tek and procomp actually use a different type of aluminum than compared to traditional performance heads on the market. Just thought it would be worth mentioning since it may or may not have different cooling effects and or strength properties.
Thanx for the input. Think I will stay clear of any s!@# like that. They claim to add 30 hp over any stock heads ford produced
Only 30? Well, AFR 185s made a dyno proven 90 HP increase over stock on a 306 with a mild roller cam in a head comparison shootout a few years back. You fork out more money but if you're going to fork it out. Heads! That's where to fork it...
Based on that camshaft 165's and 185's are going to be real close to the same numbers. For the street 165's are a great choice as its going to have real good velocity in the ports. If your looking for something in between those two heads, most people do not realize that AFR makes a 170 head with 55cc combustion chambers, which in my opinion is perfect for the street and guys looking to pick up a little higher compression. Its been some time but I believe the part number is 139 or 149.
it really is probably the luck of the draw on the Flo-Tek or ProComp heads...I personally bought the AFR 185's, and love them...but a friend of mine at the track got a set of the ProComps and has had real good luck with them. He has a Mustang, and confirmed around a 75 hp pickup on a chassis dyno with them. I've also heard the stories of guys not being able to get the head gaskets to seal, and other stuff...but he has had no issues with his...
He had good enough results with them, that I plan on purchasing a set sometime...just to compare the results to the 185's... Was going to put them on a mild motor and see how they did...for the price...I couldn't have a set of the factory heads done.
They tested the 306 with AFR 165s... The test started on an engine dyno with a 306 short block and good Comp roller cam (262 Hyd roller I think) and around 10:1 compression and with stock heads, Air Gap intake and 650 Holley, the motor made 306 HP 1 per cube. All they did was switch them for the 165s and it went up to 396 HP. It was in Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords several years ago. They had an ultimate head shootout and the AFRs won. A set of 185s fully done up cost me about $1450 with all the up grades. The heads were not the cheapest per horsepower though. I think Trick Flow or Edlebrock won the most HP per dollar spent award. Oh so to answer your question. Close to 400 HP depending on your combo...
From what I have read, the ProComps are good flowing heads (comparible to their competitors). The issue that comes up is when they are built with cheap parts. ... Then there is the gasket seal issue, which I was told about by my uncle. On the plus side, he is running 10.85 N/A with procomps in a '92 coupe, and 9.8 with some silly gas.
I think your best best is to buy them bare. Then use quality valvetrain. You can also measure to see if they are true. If not mill them down.
Doesnt anyone find it interesting that pro-comp's are the only heads on e-bay that never show photos of inside the ports.
I'm guessing that if someone is that concerned about inside the ports, or the design...they're looking at AFR's, or Trick Flows, Or Edelbrock Victors, or any number of other higher end aluminum heads. But...for the average enthusiast, who is just looking for a set of aluminum heads that is far better than anything offered by the factory at a reasonable price...I'm thinking they're probably fine. But, hey...it's your money, spend it however you want...i saved my pennies and went with the AFR's...but, like I said...my friend got roughly 75 more hp on his Mustang with a set of the ProComps. He took it too the chassis dyno one weekend and ran his car...saw the heads on one of the Mustang boards, got em, put them on his car and went back to the chassis dyno the next week just to see...and they were used, and he got them for very little. The improvement was definitely worth the money he paid for them.
That sounds like a good # to me. I'm hoping to get around 350 from the one I'm doing now with 9.67:1 comp. xe274 and prob edelbrok performer rpm. Mostly driven on the street.
