3 years ago when I was in the planning stages of my sbc engine build I was recommended a set of heads by my local performance shop; some Edelbrock E-street heads. Not knowing any better I of course ordered a set complete with valves, springs, guide plates etc. Well now 3 years later I'm finally trying to get my motor ready to fire up for the first time (exciting times) and I've found a few issues that seem to be common occurrence with these heads.
1:The guide plates didn't have enough adjustment to get my rockers straight over the valves and the push rods were almost contacting the wall of the push rod clearance holes in the heads. No big deal, I got a set of adjustable guide plates to try and remedy these issues. Well the rockers line up, but turns out that the clearance holes are drilled in the wrong places and the pushrods still come way to close for comfort, Edelbrock basically tells me 5" or .005" clearance is clearance.
2: There are steps and even a shoulder or 2 in most of the ports. Sent Edelbrock some photos and got a "looks fine to me" from the tech and his "Manager".
3: Not surprisingly the valves don't seal worth a damn. They all leak like sives, a lot more then they should even though they aren't broken in. Pretty sure at least one or two of the valve seats isn't aligned with the valve guide. Tech says it's normal for them to leak as the seats are cut and not ground (what a bs excuse). Edelbrock says everything is vacuum tested before leaving the factory so they're obviously "with in spec".
4: to top it off, I guess just to piss me off since I'm a machinist, the heads aren't even completely deburred.
The best they could do was tell me to ship them back to them via UPS at my own expense (from Canada to Cali. and back) and they'll check them out and repair them if need be. Guess I learned my lesson; you get what you pay for.
Next time I'll buy some better quality heads bare and have them assembled at a proper performance shop.
1:The guide plates didn't have enough adjustment to get my rockers straight over the valves and the push rods were almost contacting the wall of the push rod clearance holes in the heads. No big deal, I got a set of adjustable guide plates to try and remedy these issues. Well the rockers line up, but turns out that the clearance holes are drilled in the wrong places and the pushrods still come way to close for comfort, Edelbrock basically tells me 5" or .005" clearance is clearance.
2: There are steps and even a shoulder or 2 in most of the ports. Sent Edelbrock some photos and got a "looks fine to me" from the tech and his "Manager".
3: Not surprisingly the valves don't seal worth a damn. They all leak like sives, a lot more then they should even though they aren't broken in. Pretty sure at least one or two of the valve seats isn't aligned with the valve guide. Tech says it's normal for them to leak as the seats are cut and not ground (what a bs excuse). Edelbrock says everything is vacuum tested before leaving the factory so they're obviously "with in spec".
4: to top it off, I guess just to piss me off since I'm a machinist, the heads aren't even completely deburred.
The best they could do was tell me to ship them back to them via UPS at my own expense (from Canada to Cali. and back) and they'll check them out and repair them if need be. Guess I learned my lesson; you get what you pay for.
Next time I'll buy some better quality heads bare and have them assembled at a proper performance shop.