Found a set of AFR 165 heads with 10k miles on them locally....the guy wanted $850 and i got him down to $700.00......What are your thoughts about the price.....These are going on a 289 with a cam and about 10.5-1 compresssion that'll be street driven only...I'm more concerned with losing weight than making big power
Ditto. I sold my 165's with a set of chromoly pushrods and aluminum roller rockers for $750 a couple years back. It is a decision I have regretted ever since. When I asked once, what kind of porting I could do to them for improvement, the machinist responded, "Don't touch 'em. They come from the factory better than we could ever get them here." This was from the lead machinist at Pete Kelley's Machine Shop, a respected name here among many. Jump on that!!!
What size chambers are they ? You don't want 64 cc chambers on a 289. Unless you're building a blower motor.
Most aftermaket heads come in two chamber sizes: 58 or 64, that's the reason I asked. A small change in chamber size makes an even bigger difference in the compression ratio in both the 289 and 302, but even more so in the 289. Smaller chambers equals a higher comp ratio, higher comp ratios equals more HP. You want to make sure you keep the ratio the same or higher when doing a head swap for a naturally aspirated motor.
