Pro Comp Heads

[Trim'd Up]

Anybody ever use the Pro-Comp aluminum rectangle port heads? I know their not the best out there but my buddy bought a motor that supposedly had Pro-Topline's and they are Pro-comp's. Just wondering if they are worth keeping or not for a budget 496 stroker.

[DAREDEVIL]

I heard they are not.

[Chris]

Pro Topline is gone. Pro Comp is cheap Chinese junk that has iffy quality control and won't give you any better flows than an 088 head with a good valve job.

if you get a good set, you can do enough work to them to get decent performance. But you'll have AFR/Dart money in them.

[Trim'd Up]

I know Pro-Topline is RHS now, and are a descent head. The castings on these pro-comps look descent and he already has them. They look about like the edelbrock heads which aren't in the same ballpark as AFR/Darts either, but I figure they are a little better than a stock head. Anybody ever have a set on a flow-bench?

[DAREDEVIL]

The casting sucks ,,material wise. They will rot even in fresh water faster then anything !!

The flow # suck bad, worse then a 088 .

[Chris]

The RHS head doesn't do what the old PT's did and time doesn't stand still. The new heads are way better than they were 5 years ago. I've seen the bench results on the Pro Comps- that's what the 088 comment is based on. That's what they flow.

I'm not saying don't use them. But I'm saying don't expect alot. Being aluminum you get that advantage- maybe 30 hp. But I wouldn't use anything other than a Cometic gasket- the decks are thin and you need all the help you can get.

[Raylar]

Most times there is a reason parts are real cheap! Its because they are!
Brings back the old addage "You usually get what you paid for!"
Sell them and buy some good heads!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

[HaxbySpeed]

They run a .250 longer intake valve and .100 exh. The geometry isn't great or consistent, you need adjustable guide plates. The ports aren't exactly in the stock location, etc etc. I did a set for a customer because he had them, with a little work they flowed well and made good power. In the end it would have been cheaper to buy a set of Brodix or Dart's off the shelf, made more power and have a head that can be repaired and rebuilt multiple times. Pro Comp's are disposible.. You get what you pay for, and sometimes you pay for what you get!

[Trim'd Up]

They run a .250 longer intake valve and .100 exh. The geometry isn't great or consistent, you need adjustable guide plates. The ports aren't exactly in the stock location, etc etc. I did a set for a customer because he had them, with a little work they flowed well and made good power. In the end it would have been cheaper to buy a set of Brodix or Dart's off the shelf, made more power and have a head that can be repaired and rebuilt multiple times. Pro Comp's are disposible.. You get what you pay for, and sometimes you pay for what you get!

I noticed the geometry was off. This motor doesen't have adjustable guide plates and some of the roller rockers are barely on the valve stem. There are alot of other issues with the motor as well, mix and match parts, chit push rods, etc. etc. I can't believe someone would put a motor together like this. This motor was supposedly built by MC racing in Overland Park, KS and ready to run. After seeing the assembly work on this POS I wouldn't let them build a lawnmower engine.

[CarBiz]

Anybody ever use the Pro-Comp aluminum rectangle port heads? I know their not the best out there but my buddy bought a motor that supposedly had Pro-Topline's and they are Pro-comp's. Just wondering if they are worth keeping or not for a budget 496 stroker.

i almost went this way when i had to buy new heads last year. I did a TON research on them and like Haxby said with some work they will flow but also was told the casting where the valve seat is is not very good and are prone to cracking and losing the seat.

I ended up buying the Summit BBC steel heads for like 1300 a pair ASSEMBLED. Had Precision Power check them out and he thought the valves and springs were fine to run. The heads are basically Dart 308;s in fact the inside of the head is stamped Iron Eagle BUT the outside says Summit

These heads with a AirGap intake,Comp cam xm-270h cam, and an HP 500 holley made 454 hp and 514 tq on my 454's 35 hrs of prop testing on them and no issues.

I wiould sell them and get some better casting heads JMHO

[TxHawk]

I have personally seen a valve spring Seat break into the intake runner on a set of Pro Comp heads. We had a rep. that was considering the Pro Comp brand and asked to test a set on a 572 test short block we had. This happened on the first pull.

I would take them off any engine for the fact that they will end up tearing something else up.

[mdgperf]

I tried a set of them a year ago(traded someone for some parts)got the bare castings,needed bowl blending and valve job way too narrow for me,installed manley valves machined the seats,installed them on a 502,world intake,sm exhaust,hr camshaft made around 530hp,did the same engine using afr castings(cnc chamber only)made close to 590 hp with all the same parts as the other engine.I did have to use adjustable guid plates,the guy has run the boat 1 season no problems,i did have them coated for corrosion.You get what you pay for,I like running the afr castings have held up great and have had zero failures with the castings

[Rookie]

They run a .250 longer intake valve and .100 exh. The geometry isn't great or consistent, you need adjustable guide plates. The ports aren't exactly in the stock location, etc etc. I did a set for a customer because he had them, with a little work they flowed well and made good power. In the end it would have been cheaper to buy a set of Brodix or Dart's off the shelf, made more power and have a head that can be repaired and rebuilt multiple times. Pro Comp's are disposible.. You get what you pay for, and sometimes you pay for what you get!

What are these adjustable guide plates you are speaking of? any link??

[Trim'd Up]

What are these adjustable guide plates you are speaking of? any link??

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DRT-27001230/

[Rookie]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DRT-27001230/

Thanks. Not to get off topic on your thread, but why do they have to be linked together? couldn't you just cut regular ones in half?

[Chris]

They would rotate.

You're better off to cut them and TIG them in the right spot. There are enough things already that you have to worry about going wrong. That little bolt coming out just adds to the list.

[wayne272]

What was done to the bottom end other than a cam change? Also what kind of exhaust are you running

i almost went this way when i had to buy new heads last year. I did a TON research on them and like Haxby said with some work they will flow but also was told the casting where the valve seat is is not very good and are prone to cracking and losing the seat.

I ended up buying the Summit BBC steel heads for like 1300 a pair ASSEMBLED. Had Precision Power check them out and he thought the valves and springs were fine to run. The heads are basically Dart 308;s in fact the inside of the head is stamped Iron Eagle BUT the outside says Summit

These heads with a AirGap intake,Comp cam xm-270h cam, and an HP 500 holley made 454 hp and 514 tq on my 454's 35 hrs of prop testing on them and no issues.

I wiould sell them and get some better casting heads JMHO

What was done to the bottom end other than a cam change? Also what kind of exhaust are you running? My motors are fairly new ( 150 hrs.) 454 mags, but would like to get some more power from them without tearing the shortblock apart. I had also read in a forum about summits own brand BBC head being tha dart iron eagle 308's. Do they have inconel valves also? I am running gil exhaust with the short riser/silent choice in a cigarette bullet. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Chris]

Get rid of the short risers. The Gils are the worst aftermarket manifold for reversion- the center ports are siamesed. You need to get whatever water all the way to the tip of the tails to prevent reversion- or run any sort of cam that will make power.

[HaxbySpeed]

They would rotate.

You're better off to cut them and TIG them in the right spot. There are enough things already that you have to worry about going wrong. That little bolt coming out just adds to the list.

I have never tried the little bolt. I always weld the adjustable ones. It doesn't seem right having that many potential disasters sittin in the top of your engine.

[Raylar]

Adjustable guide plates are needed because the valve locations, angles and rocker stud locations are not where they are supposed to be with just good cnc machining. This tells you what kind of heads they are and what lack of even fairly close accuracy means in fitment on a head.
Our Raylar 496 BigPower aluminum heads for example, cast and machined in the GOOD OLD USA! With USA Job dollars! have fixed guide plates that lock in spot on on every head and our plus or minus accuracy for valve locations and rocker stud locations is +or- .001", the stainless roller tip rockers fall right over the centerline of each valve tip as they should. You won't ever see that on a cheap Chinese head!
Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy, its really important in performance engines!
I Would never take a chance with a nice base block of capping it off with a cheap set of heads which could spell disaster for the engine!

Here I go ranting again! Sorry! Just my passion for excellence!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar