Well higher compression nets better gas mileage, but if the iron heads are retaining heat that would normally be lost through the heads, then I would think the iron heads would be overall more themrally efficient. I would still like to hear a good explanation of why one type of head would be more fuel efficient than the other.

 

By the time you buy a set of heads through a retailer, you're paying for the materials, R&D, machining, shipping, labor, retailer markup, taxes, and probably a few things I can't think of right now.

Smaller port heads usually net better fuel economy because they usually make more torque at slower speeds.

 

hm... this thread runs a little off topic lol.. anyways feel free to continue to discuss detonation and porting heads lol however i need 3 things answered based on this premis: both sets of heads flow the same, have the same combustion chamber size valve size and are identical in every way except the ovbious difference of one being aluminum and one iron.


1. I am going to beat the **** out of this car and drag race it daily with 600+hp at the crank. That being said which head will end up being more DURABLE and MAINTENANCE FREE.

2.If i have to raise the compresion ratio on aluminum heads to get the same amount of power, wont that mean that i can cram more boost through them?

3.Do i have to worry about one set of heads warping or cracking under boost more than the other?

 

All three of those questions have been answered in this thread, I know I touched on all of them in my post alone.

1. I am going to beat the **** out of this car and drag race it daily with 600+hp at the crank. That being said which head will end up being more DURABLE and MAINTENANCE FREE.
I don't think you can beat the **** out of a car with 600+ hp daily and have it be maintenance free, but cast iron is the more durable material.

2.If i have to raise the compresion ratio on aluminum heads to get the same amount of power, wont that mean that i can cram more boost through them?
Possibly, you could run more psi due to the fact that the aluminum will bleed off more heat, but that is only if the heads have the same size combustion chamber as you stated, in this case that won't apply because LT1 Iron heads have a larger combustion chamber than aluminum.

3.Do i have to worry about one set of heads warping or cracking under boost more than the other?
The aluminum would be more susceptible to warping and cracking than the irons.

I would trade up for a set or TFS or AFR heads, but as far as LT castings, I would chose the cast iron version.

 

I just realized that this is not for an LT1 , apparently it's for the 87 firebird in your sig. In your case you have many more options as far as heads go and almost all would have the larger combustion chamber. With both combustion chambers being the same size, and considering the fact that your heads will have a thicker deck than the LT heads I would go with aluminum.

 

I realize that nothing will be maintainence free just want as few problems as possible

basically i get the impression that the only reason i would spend an extra 400 is to lose weight off the front end with alum being more prone to crack and warp?

 

The aluminum isn't going to crack or warp unless you run it without water.