Yeah, hi. I'm currently building a 350 for my car, and every now and then I will be asking for input. So here's the first. I found a pair of Trick Flow heads for $800. Now I've heard they're great but dont last long. Is this true? If this is in fact the truth, then what heads should I buy? And how much will I be paying for them? And also, what would you do if you were building a 350? What things would you make sure and do? Forged pistons? You know, good performance tips. Tell me what you know. That'd be greeeeeaaaaat.

 

I had Trick Flows on my 383. They were great. They saved me a bunch so I could spend even more on the next rebuild.

I found that the pushrods had worn the guideplates after a couple of years. When I tried to replace the guideplates, I noticed that my #4 had a broken valve spring. Fixed all that and left it be for a bit. Went to shop class and tried to take the heads off to get them freshened up. Wow! I could see the compression ring in the #4 piston. Took it to a machine shop and traded the heads in on machine work. Found that all the valves were wobbling on one side. Guess which side!

I will say this, they make poor boat anchors because of their lack of weight but they are a hell of a doorstop. This is just my opinion. Use it as you will/

I now have AFR190 heads and love them.

 

I was worried when I bought my Trickflows because of Aklim's experience too... I had already made the purchase, tho and had no choice but to press on. They have been on my car several months now without a hitch.

Since I am planning to return the car to stock in preparation for sale in the next couple months, I'll let you know if my opinion changes.

If you have the coin, spring for a set of AFR's or GM fastburn heads to be safe...they both have a better rep than Trickflow.

As far as building a SBC, there are lots of tricks/tips out there. BE sure to use the search button here and on thirdgen.org. This will prevent a bunch of flamethrowers being pointed in your general direction.

 

According to an article I just read, the fact that their aluminum and the efficient chamber design. they were able to extract 400 horses with 2-4* less ignition lead in timing and on 87 octane!
I've been eyeing them from day one, but my budget doesn't allow for them yet, hence the ported #083's...
(Test was with the TFS 23* chevy's 2.02/1.6 valves, 64cc chambers, and a deck height of .005" with a .028" compressed thickness head gasket, and a Comp 268 stick. )

 

I got the G1's and they are great. def. improvement over ported (by me) camel hump heads. how about .5 the first time back to the track at same track about same temp. too! I know theres still more in the setup too. I got mine for $400, which is dirt cheap ofcourse but I will have to eventually replace the valve guide's. the G1's had the bad rap cause of the guides being cast iron and not bronze. so theyd wear out pretty quickly w/high lift cams and big springs. but mine were ok still so I just put them on for now, and will check them again this winter.
if the ones you are looking at are G2's or 23* heads, then your ok cause they have fixed the problem and installed bronze valve guides to fix the problem. so you need to get the number off the exh. port side and call trick flow to see which heads they are. another thing to think about, is the fact that since the intake valve angle is slightly diff. then most heads, you are kinda limited to how much lift you can use. cause the valve wont line up perfectly w/the notch in the piston unless you get the trick flow pistons. w/the G1s I have, I have .510 lift and no clearance issues. but I cant install a big roller cam w/ these heads cause there isnt enogh clearance left.

but, If I was buying new, Id get the afrs.

as far as things to consider, if you can afford it, get forged rotating assembly so you can spray it later if you want, plus it will hold up to any abuse you throw at it. and a roller cam is worth about 30 hp over same cam w/flat tappets. check out my sig. for my combo that goes 12.86 @109mph. I know it will go faster when I get back to the track next time. (esp. cause of the cold air )
chris