Edelbrock RPM aluminum heads for 360LA.. opinions

[Scooter]

Looking to replace my stock cast heads for... reasons. The Edelbrock RPM's are readily available for my mild 360 and are on TTI's list as working with their headers which I already have installed. Problem is the reviews are all over the map for the last 5 years or so on build quality. I'd like to be able to just bolt em on with a new set of gaskets and be done with it. Anyone have recent experience with them?

[ledphoot]

I am running them on my 416 stroker, my engine builder had them stripped down, cleaned up and replaced the springs, retainers and seals. He said they looked pretty good out of the box but the improvement was worth the time and money.  It didn't cost THAT much to do in the grand scheme of things, my engine puts out 500hp 520 lbs of torque and revs up fast / smooth.

What's the rest of your build like? What compression / cam?

[Scooter]

Long run I'll probably end up stoking mine as well. But the 360 is pretty low miles (likely less than 15k.) and I'm not ready to yank it yet.

Motor was rebuilt before I purchased so I don't know compression, assume it's on the stock side. I do know it's .030 over with a Comp Hydraulic Flat Tappet with less than 1/2 lift intake and exhaust. I'm planning to reuse the stamped (1.5)rockers, shafts and pushrods.  Has a Weiand Action plus aluminum intake (have a RPM Air Gap on the shelf I might install) with a 625 Holley Demon vaccum sec sitting on top. Probably looking in the 300Hp neighborhood all done well under 5k rpm.

[ledphoot]

Long run I'll probably end up stoking mine as well. But the 360 is pretty low miles (likely less than 15k.) and I'm not ready to yank it yet.

Motor was rebuilt before I purchased so I don't know compression, assume it's on the stock side. I do know it's .030 over with a Comp Hydraulic Flat Tappet with less than 1/2 lift intake and exhaust. I'm planning to reuse the stamped (1.5)rockers, shafts and pushrods.  Has a Weiand Action plus aluminum intake (have a RPM Air Gap on the shelf I might install) with a 625 Holley Demon vaccum sec sitting on top. Probably looking in the 300Hp neighborhood all done well under 5k rpm.

They should work fine out of the box for that motor. When you build the stroker have them gone through, get the ports opened up, port the rpm-air gap etc and you will have a schweet small block stroker. It's easy to build a 450-500hp stroker with those heads.

[Scooter]

Long run I'll probably end up stoking mine as well. But the 360 is pretty low miles (likely less than 15k.) and I'm not ready to yank it yet.

Motor was rebuilt before I purchased so I don't know compression, assume it's on the stock side. I do know it's .030 over with a Comp Hydraulic Flat Tappet with less than 1/2 lift intake and exhaust. I'm planning to reuse the stamped (1.5)rockers, shafts and pushrods.  Has a Weiand Action plus aluminum intake (have a RPM Air Gap on the shelf I might install) with a 625 Holley Demon vaccum sec sitting on top. Probably looking in the 300Hp neighborhood all done well under 5k rpm.

They should work fine out of the box for that motor. When you build the stroker have them gone through, get the ports opened up, port the rpm-air gap etc and you will have a schweet small block stroker. It's easy to build a 450-500hp stroker with those heads.

^^ This is what I am hoping for. Thanks for the recent feedback!

[7212Mopar]

Trickflow SB heads work with 360 Magnum or LA 360 out of the box but require the Harland Sharp roller rockers and pushrods. Factory CNC ported and outflow Eldelbrocks.

[Scooter]

Trickflow SB heads work with 360 Magnum or LA 360 out of the box but require the Harland Sharp roller rockers and pushrods. Factory CNC ported and outflow Eldelbrocks.

Agree Trickflow CNC units do flow better... but at a premium and they are out of stock everywhere as of this post.

[7212Mopar]

I see Summit also don't have them either. Looking at pictures of the heads, the two outboard exhaust ports look more rectangular and might not work with the TTI headers. Best to call TTI to confirm if going with Trickflow.

[Chryco Psycho]

One word "junk" don't waste your $$
Bad core shift , we looked at 5 sets of heads my friend picked the best set but still had to port them to get them lined up .
They will reduce weight not much else .
As 7212 said you can out flow them with stock ported heads especially 308 castings .
SO what are you gaining ?
If you are going to spend the hard earned $$ move up not sideways 

[340Challman]

I'm not a fan, but I can't compare against other heads to know if it is the norm or not, but their cc's were all over the place and no where near what they advertised. I got the open chamber heads for stock 340 pistons. Were supposed to be 65cc's. The lowest one was 69. After sending the heads back to them and not getting any satisfaction, I ended up with 72cc's just to make them all the same. That sucks! Blew my planned compression ratio out the window. If I ever buy them again, I will order my pistons after I have thoroughly gone through their heads and know where I'm at. Just my 

[Chryco Psycho]

Not to mention the heat loss moving from Iron to Alum , typically 1 point of compression !

[7212Mopar]

Good flowing heads are just as important to make good power on a stroker build, not just the high rpm stock stroke motors. I got that from my engine builder. I was asking him to use CNC ported Edelbrock RPM heads from Hughes Engines but he talked me out to save $. Instead, he recommended the foreign made ProComp CNC bare heads as a starting point and did more porting and finishing. Looking from the exhaust ports, l saw mostly cleaning up the bowls and valve guides. He then finished and installed the valves, guides, retainers and springs, not using the junk from ProComp. I gasket matched the exhaust ports with the TTI headers by smoothing the header port flange radius. My engine was built before Trickflow heads is available. I think he since been building a few with Trickflow heads and the HP output is higher than mine.

[ledphoot]

I'm not a fan, but I can't compare against other heads to know if it is the norm or not, but their cc's were all over the place and no where near what they advertised. I got the open chamber heads for stock 340 pistons. Were supposed to be 65cc's. The lowest one was 69. After sending the heads back to them and not getting any satisfaction, I ended up with 72cc's just to make them all the same. That sucks! Blew my planned compression ratio out the window. If I ever buy them again, I will order my pistons after I have thoroughly gone through their heads and know where I'm at. Just my 

That's interesting. I have to dig out the blueprint for my motor and see how they measured out of box, I don't recall the variance being that high. I paid $600 to have the heads gone through and if I recall correctly they were flowing >270 CFM at .500" lift. He did order custom JE pistons AFTER the heads were finished though. Hmmmm. 


I am not familiar with Trick Flow, when we did the stroker it was either ported X-Heads, W2's or edelbrocks. I guess there are more options now. To be honest I'd be using a modern hemi crate motor if I was starting today.

[gzig5]

Everyone that I trust that have worked with the Edelbrock SBM heads says that the quality has slipped significantly in recent years.  Poor casting and finish machining.  Cruddy valve jobs and occasionally a sticky valve. 
If you do go with the Edelbrock, they will work, but you would be smart to have a good shop go through them.  Will add a couple hundred to the cost.

Other options for aluminum:
Speedmaster heads. As cast or CNC, bare or completely assembled.  Pretty good casting that flows well.  Least expensive solution but you would be wise to have them gone through and probably a new valve job.

ProMaxx 171.  I have a set and they are nice.  Excellent casting and machine finish, good parts and no issues out of the box.  Cast offshore but machined and assembled in the USA.  Reasonable mid-range pricing IMO.

TrickFlow. Probably the best out there and the easy button, but quality comes at a price.

[Shane Kelley]

I have personally had good luck with them. I like the fact that everything is new, they save weight and tolerate a little more compression. One set running stock out of the box on my 340 Road Runner and a ported set on my Cuda. The flow numbers are low compared to the TFS's. Here's the true numbers on mine before and after porting. I have several sets of factory heads but it cost a small fortune to redo them these days. You have to figure they need everything.