thinking about buy a used set of afr 185's...please read

[dragstang86]

There is a guy locally selling a set of afr 185's that have less than 500 miles on them. I have a couple questions..

1. With the combo in my sig do you think i am going to see substancial gains going to this head or is a 185 going to flow too much air for my engine?

2. Once i install these heads will i be able to get away with using 19lb injectors until i get the money to upgrade?

3. With the combo in my sig i have gone a 13.03 @ 103.5 mph with a stock maf. With the addition of these heads and a 76mm maf what kind of e.t's can i expect? Of course im going to port match my intake to the heads.

4. Will i be able to use the same headers on these heads that i am using on my gt-40 iron heads? (they are NOT "p" heads)

thanks alot for your help

[ultraflo]

1. I believe you will see a gain with the head swap... you can always grow into these heads as they offer more hp potential than the GT40's

2. You should be fine... you've got an adj fuel press. regulator right? Yeah, some 24lbers. would be great, but you can get by with the 19's for a while.

3. I would think a 12.80's would be attainable with a MAF and injector swap to go with the heads.... depends on your tuning and driving abilities, ultimately.

4. Yep. The 185's don't have raised exhaust ports and are a bolt-on cylinder head.

I'd snag them puppies up real quick... AFR makes a nice set of heads, IMHO. Much nicer than the GT40 irons

[fiveohpatrol]

IMO it depends on how much you are getting them for. Under $1000 I'd say go for it

They are a little too large for a 302, but will still be better than the GT40's you have, and will be nice if you ever decide on a stroker or a blower (or both)

You're headers should be fine as well. Which ones do you have?

I think Ultraflo is being awful conservative in the ET guess he gave ya. I'd guess with a bigger mass air sensor and injectors, that you could cut atleast 4 tenths from your previous best, taking into account comparable weather and traction
good luck,
-drew

[Mustang_GT_90]

Grab em if they're a good deal, they go for around $1250 new. You'll need to definatly check your piston to valve clearance though. Those heads use the bigger valve and I know that they're interfere with the stock piston cuts but I don't know about what kind of pistons you're using.
I've seen carbed cars with those heads go 11.80s on motor with a stock shortblock, they're bad heads.

[dragstang86]

i thought you could bolt on afr heads to a stock bottom. Im not sure what pistons are used because i bought this car as is. I know it has 9:1 compression with gt-40 irons.

[Mustang_GT_90]

You can with, the 165s. The 185s have bigger valves and don't line up with the notches right. You have to fly cut the pistons if you get much of a cam. With a TFS cam and .510 lift they were telling me I was going to have to flycut my stock pistons.

[dragstang86]

i didnt realize that...thanks alot for the help, i would of been stuck with some heads that i couldnt use....its my daily driver so i cant have it down long enought to pull the engine apart. I guess ill just find me a set of 165's or some TW's.

thanks for the help

[Mustang_GT_90]

Well man you have to look at it this way, I don't know how much you're paying for those heads but say the new ones are 1250-1300. If you can get them for say 1000 and they're good then lots of places have the tool to cut the pistons in the block. It's a few hour job, the tool is made by Moser that I've seen.
So you could get those heads, pay for them pistons to be cut, and still probably come out on top.

[fiveohpatrol]

one thing I forgot to mention before is that the 185's have head bolt holes for the 351 which are larger than the 302's. You would have to buy sleeves to take up the slack in the holes. No big deal, but not something you would want to overlook.

-drew

[Mustang_GT_90]

Another good point 5ohpatrol. ARP makes special bolts for those heads that when my friend bought a set of them about 2 months ago they were 75 bucks. The shaft is bigger and it has smaller threads at the bottom. Anything I was putting a performance head on though I'd put a good set of ARP head bolts though but those things will cost you about twice as much.