NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
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Car: 89 Firebird
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NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Ive been seeing these cyl heads come up on ebay and other websites and at $600 range they seem like a great deal especially for the lighter weight and they claim to flow better than Vortec iron heads. Im a lil cautious on something that seems to be too good to be true and would like to hear if any of you guys have run them. Would they be a good head for a mild 300-350 hp build?
#2
Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
I just put a set on my rat rod, so far so good, just bolted them on out of the box, only issue I had is the valve covers will be 1/2 in higher, I went from a stock 283 to 350 with these heads, valve covers hit the firewall, at first I was like WTH cant get the engine in
ended up trimming on my firewall (this is a 38 ford truck) I don't think a 3rd gen will have an issue, just double check
ended up trimming on my firewall (this is a 38 ford truck) I don't think a 3rd gen will have an issue, just double check
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Car: 87' Firebird Formula
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Yeah, i'm interested in these heads as well for my 383. Bracket rs, how are they performing for you so far?
#5
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
You may want to check out youtube Headbytes porting videos. He makes an interesting point about the NKB, ProComp and other low price aluminum heads - he likes them bare about $450, but not complete at $600 like you said. That $150 for valves, springs retainers is too cheap and you get junk, he says get the heads bare, blueprint them, and get decent hardware. FWIW.
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Who knows, typical Chinese "brand", might not even exist anymore.
If ya got em and they work good for ya, then ... they work good for ya. The question then would be, WHAT IF you had taken your 600 bones and added a few more, and bought Dart or AFR or TF or whatever; how much MORE tins of rubber might you burn? The answer to some questions cannot be known.
If ya got em and they work good for ya, then ... they work good for ya. The question then would be, WHAT IF you had taken your 600 bones and added a few more, and bought Dart or AFR or TF or whatever; how much MORE tins of rubber might you burn? The answer to some questions cannot be known.
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#8
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Speed Talk is constantly reviewing the latest greatest imported heads. Some good. Some bad. Haven't seen the NKB heads discussed though. Might be worth an inquiry. But there ARE genuine bargains to be had. Ones that don't take hours of labour to fix all the stuff that's wrong with them.
Last edited by skinny z; 07-30-2020 at 09:44 PM.
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Car: 84 TA orig. 305 LG4 "H" E4ME
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Here is Skip White's selection. He writes giant reviews a with suggested supporting parts recommendations. Believe what you will and at your own risk. https://www.skipwhiteperformance.com...bc-heads_7559/
#10
Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Who knows, typical Chinese "brand", might not even exist anymore.
If ya got em and they work good for ya, then ... they work good for ya. The question then would be, WHAT IF you had taken your 600 bones and added a few more, and bought Dart or AFR or TF or whatever; how much MORE tins of rubber might you burn? The answer to some questions cannot be known.
If ya got em and they work good for ya, then ... they work good for ya. The question then would be, WHAT IF you had taken your 600 bones and added a few more, and bought Dart or AFR or TF or whatever; how much MORE tins of rubber might you burn? The answer to some questions cannot be known.
#11
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Alot of the latest import castings arent terrible. Its just the cheap springs valves and machining they do on assembled heads is what i would be scared about
i would buy them bare and have a good shop do the proper machining on and install good quality valves and springs for your cam.
you can have a good performing package that way for relatively less than other out the box assembled heads that still arent custom to your application lol
however afr is awesome when it comes to light weight 8mm valves and proper hyd roller cam springs. But they have been over priced for some time now. What are they 1600-1700 now?? Yikes. Used to get them for 1300 10 yrs ago. Same **** slowly inflated. Ofcourse most parts have gone up
i would buy them bare and have a good shop do the proper machining on and install good quality valves and springs for your cam.
you can have a good performing package that way for relatively less than other out the box assembled heads that still arent custom to your application lol
however afr is awesome when it comes to light weight 8mm valves and proper hyd roller cam springs. But they have been over priced for some time now. What are they 1600-1700 now?? Yikes. Used to get them for 1300 10 yrs ago. Same **** slowly inflated. Ofcourse most parts have gone up
#12
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Anyone have experience with the AFR Enforcer heads? I’m considering them.
https://www.airflowresearch.com/195c...cylinder-head/
https://www.airflowresearch.com/195c...cylinder-head/
#13
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Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
Anyone have experience with the AFR Enforcer heads? I’m considering them.
https://www.airflowresearch.com/195c...cylinder-head/
https://www.airflowresearch.com/195c...cylinder-head/
You may find some useful information here.
https://www.speed-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=60873
#14
Re: NKB Aluminum SBC Heads?
it all depends we’re these heads were made. No offense but I would never use anything in my engines from China. With that said, I personally believe the engines that are built in today’s world need to have aluminum heads in order to compete and is a great idea to have just for a daily car. You really can’t go wrong as long as you do your due dillegence and make sure all the nuts and bolts get torqued, and all the is are dotted and the ts are crossed. I don’t know how I ended up here but I only build Chevy racing engines. I’m currently tuning a 2014 zo6 upgrade supercharger and a personal boat of mine with a high performance 305. I won’t get into the details cuz it would take forever but hey good luck man
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