Pro-Comp Heads. Educate me.

Discussion in 'General Maverick/Comet' started by silver70, Apr 16, 2014.

  1. silver70

    silver70 Eric

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    Alright, alright... :rolleyes:

    Point, firmly, established. The pistons I have are .200 domed and I experienced clearance problems with the offset intake valve.

    I got back from the heads what I had into them, money-wise. I just had the pistons put on the rods, recently, and I wrapped them in, brand new, Total Seal rings. I designed my motor build for my old AFR's, hoping to get a new set to replace my old ones. The TF's just, kind of, fell into my lap in the form of a really good deal.

    Unfortunately, life happened, and I'm in a tight spot to get the car up and running again for a daily driver, mid-restoration process (interior completely gutted, no wheels/tires, much of the paint removed, and drive-train/suspension half-disassembled). This means plans have to be changed and I have to skimp on the good stuff. My compression's gonna be dicey, so, I still want an aluminum head for pump gas. Especially, with our 115* summers, here, in Phoenix.

    I was gonna go with the Edelbrock E-Street heads, in the interest of skimping, but, ran across the Pro-Comp's and thought I'd do some "market research" to see if they were okay. Wasn't expecting rave reviews, but, had a glimmer of hope.

    Looks like it's gonna be the Edelbrocks.

    Thanks for the honesty to all,
    Eric
     
  2. groberts101

    groberts101 Member

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    I wouldn't even sweat selling off the TW's since it's not like you gave up 40 horses over another decent casting. Figure more like 20-25 and even though you surely gave up some better "average power" numbers(TW's have considerably higher mid-lift flow).. the e-streets are next gen heads and are nicely designed. That domed/higher SCR setup will make some steam all over the place. If you want to run pump gas?.. the overall tune will need to be more conservative.
     
  3. bmcdaniel

    bmcdaniel Senile Member

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    Pro Comp

    I try to buy all of my engine parts from a Chinese electronics manufacturer...
     
  4. Rick

    Rick G8I operations

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    I think the Chinese stuff I have is limited to my Electric fans, ProForm Water pump, MSD box, MSD coil, ProForm Shift light, Acell spark plug wires, Autolite plugs, fuzzy dice, floor matts, window tint, could be more I don't know about.
     
  5. bmcdaniel

    bmcdaniel Senile Member

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    I do have a Chinese air cleaner lid, even that took some work to make it right, LOL. My point was Pro Comp was a long time electronics company that decided they could profit by jumping into making American engine parts. Totally different industry. I did buy a set of Pro Comp pulleys once. They didn't work out so I sold them on eBay. But now they're making cylinder heads, blocks, rocker arms, rods, etc. And the horror stories keep piling up.
     
  6. rotorr22

    rotorr22 Member

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    Nice thing about the E Streets is the flow potential when the time comes to step up to a stroker or just build a more powerful 5.0 engine. Ron Robart at Fox Lake Racing uses E Streets as the basis of his budget CNC offerings and they flow exceptionally well. There is a good YouTube vid showing a set of E Street castings going through the Fox Lake process.
     
  7. silver70

    silver70 Eric

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    Pro-Comp has two foundries for their heads, to my understanding. One in California and the other in Australia. I know there are Chinese knock-offs, but, I don't think Pro-Comp, actually, has their heads cast/built there. I might be wrong, though.

    Besides, Ford builds a lot of their stuff in Mexico. There's a step up. :rolleyes: I work manufacturing/industrial. I am very familiar with "Mexican engineering" and I don't give a damn what anyone says about the QC over there. The attitude of the worker is what determines the quality of the product, not the company they work for. No offense intended to anyone, of course.

    The heads I get for the Maverick, now, are just going to be temporary, for about a couple of years. After I get my other project finished for a DD, the Maverick's going back up on blocks to finish the build properly.

    My cousin will get better use from the TF's because he is building his engine around them. As for me, they were a mistake. I took a gamble and it didn't work out. Oh, well...

    Eric
     
  8. groberts101

    groberts101 Member

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    When you boil it all right down.. chunks of aluminum are comparatively cheap. It's the machining and parts that quickly drives the cost up and some companies are greedier than others when it comes to profit margin requirements. Regardless of price point.. there have been problems with ALL of them at one time or another. The big difference is what the company will do to make things right with the customer to maintain their credibility. Unfortunately from a money savings standpoint.. that also gets rolled into the profit margin "law of averages" as well.

    The biggest issue I have with companies like Procomp is their outright blatent in your face theft of other companies IP and the fact that our government allows it to take place without incident by turning a blind eye to it. But then they'll turn around and allow American companies like Canfield to be kicked in the cajones.

    I personally don't care what.. or how well(which is THE issue to be concerned with).. they can copy something. I'll never give them one cent of my cash and will never recommend them to anyone. I'll work on fixing their inherent flaws if someone pays me enough to do it.. but I won't be proudly displaying the results no matter how much flow they pick up from as-cast form. End rant.
     
  9. tody

    tody Member

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    i believe you are mistaken. of course the heads are made in china, where else? it all boils down to cost of labor, an china is where it's cheapest.
    i have first hand experience with these heads, and the boxes clearly said 'made in china'. that they're either made in australia or in california can be read all over the internet, but none of this is true.
    my experience with these heads showed poor quality - with the casting, but also with the threaded holes around the exhaust manifolds. didn't put the car on the dyno, but the engine feels a lot better with a pair of afr heads.
    i fell for the bargain price as well, but wouldn't do it again. buy a pair of name brand heads, and you're good.
     
  10. silver70

    silver70 Eric

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    I stand corrected, yet again. LOL... boy, my legs are getting tired!

    What does "IP" stand for?

    Eric
     
  11. lm14

    lm14 Member

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    Why waste money now on a truly inferior piece of junk? I've seen 2 sets that would not run for 5 minutes, let alone 2 years.

    Spend the money on a good casting with decent valves. Then when you go for your upgrades, spend money on these nicer castings and further improve them with better springs, valves, etc. to match your new combination.

    Pro Comp are Chinese, no mistaking it. The valves are not concentric, the springs and retainers are junk and the machining and castings are garbage. Why would you even consider a set after everyone here has told you what a pile they are? One of those cheap valves breaks or pulls thru a Chinese retainer and drops to a piston, how much have you saved now?

    Buy some AFR, Edelbrock, Brodix or any other real head so you don't waste money.

    SPark
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2014
  12. rotorr22

    rotorr22 Member

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    Intellectual Property.
     
  13. daydreamer

    daydreamer Mavmenace

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    Well I must be real lucky. I have advertised ProComp 190/60 cc heads . Built with all CompCams valve parts. P C castings only. Heads built in Mich. 7/16 screw in studs,custom springs that were required for the cam specs,200 closed, 600# open. After receiving heads I had a cc check done. Were not 60cc, but were 64. Had flow cked twice by 2 reputable engine shops, and neither could get the advertised flows. I phone Ca. they said the 60 cc heads had a different part number than the 64s. My head builder used the wrong heads.I conntacted him and he said they (being Pro Comp) sent the wrong heads.Builder trusted his supplier.So after 2 yrs of 6500/7000 shifts on the strip, the heads are still fine. BUT next time it will be AFR or a other brand.These procomp just plain DONT work like other brands. I saved $800 compared to AFR but aint makin the same power. I learned my lesson.:cry:
     
  14. silver70

    silver70 Eric

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    I am. See post #16. :)

    Eric
     
  15. mighty76

    mighty76 Member

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    WHERE are they manufactured, would be my first question,like it was said, you get what you pay for, dont put good money after bad,
     

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