LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
There wasn't any directions when I got my heads.
440 stealth heads
- Thread starter Moose440
- Start date
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Agree, what was done here is the same as buying a set of swap meet heads that someone cleaned up really nice, and are laying in the dirt and grass, holding the night time tarp down. Taking them home and bolting them onto a engine with nothing more than a wipedown. Who would do that?
There is a expectation that being new there should be no issues, but you know what they say about assumptions.
twostick
Senior Member
My machinist has a saying "if it comes out of a box, it's fkd up" and yes I had my RPM's checked and corrected. Valve job OOTB was terrible.
As for the Stealth heads, doubtful the valves were different lengths. Valve heights might have been all over the place but that's set during the valve job which is junk on just about all aftermarket heads.
Valve keepers don't fall out. They can however come out if you don't check your retainer clearance and the rocker shoves the retainer down instead of the valve or if you messed up the camshaft timing by degreeing it wrong or not checking it at all and the cam was ground wrong and a piston hits a valve. Of course checking piston to valve clearance might have caught either of those two...
Kevin
stubs300
Senior Member
Well then you obvisoly didn't read everything 440source has to say about warranty and installation!
QUOTE!
Warranty:
We warranty all items to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 45 Days from your invoice date.. Should you find a defective item, we will replace it with another same or similar item as long as it is within the warranty period. Just call us up and explain the problem. We might want to have you email us pictures or compare measurements of the defective area to confirm the defect before you return the part to us for warranty. Please note, you must check over all part(s) to your complete satisfaction before they are used. Many of our parts are intended for high performance and/or racing applications, and as such they ARE NOT WARRANTED against breakage or failure during usage. It is the responsibility of the installer to ensure proper component.
-440 Source
They can't be any more clearer on the subject!!!!!!!
Your barkin up the same tree I am!!!!
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
I like that, and I agree.
Really you so not have to spend money at a machinist to do some simple checks. You do have to disassemble them. You have to mock everything up and check for problems.
Even if you did not fix the out of round valve job, or the uneven valve tips those will only make the head wear faster. Most reused valve, valve jobs will have uneven heights. These are taken up by the hydraulic valve train or the adjustment to mechanical rocker gear. That's why the have adjustments built into their design from the factory.
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
That's nice, but you can interpret that many ways. Swapping the heads in my driveway and being on a shoestring budget, I looked them over and made sure there wasn't any loose material from machining. They worked fine until the connecting rod broke, and the piston bounced off the valves. I will check out the next set of heads I get, and I'll rebuild the set I currently have.
stubs300
Senior Member
You are aware that they use 7* retainer locks and that they recommend anything over a 510" lift cam to use 10* locks don't you? I'd really hate to see you screw up things even more than they are now because your not paying attention!! Good Luck
Read about it here on both intake & exhaust vale locks.
Stealth Aluminum Cylinder Head - COMPLETE - SINGLE HEAD-440 Source
Read about it here on both intake & exhaust vale locks.
Stealth Aluminum Cylinder Head - COMPLETE - SINGLE HEAD-440 Source
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Well there is your problem.
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Already have the 10° retainers in the shelf.
has2bmopar
Senior Member
I bought 2 pair of these heads from them and the pushrods did have to be clearanced. Also replaced the springs, retainers and locks for the guy that I sold one pair to. Supposedly the valves were decent, but I have heard some people had issues where the valves would break off at the lock grooves. I sold mine before I used them on anything of my own.
What pushed me to the point of not wanting the heads on anything of mine was the douchebag at 440 Source. I also bought a water pump and a water pump housing from them. The water pump housing was a complete piece of $hit. The outside of the casting was fine, but the ports on one side were horribly restricted and would MAYbe flow 35-40%. The inside of the casting was terrible. I took pictures of it compared to a Mopar housing and also sent pictures of it with the gaskets laying on it.
He told me to port it out, but it was heavily restricted around the corners where there was no way of getting in there to open anything up. I told him I wanted to send it back and he fought it big time. I had to pay the shipping both ways and he would only give me store credit and no refund. I had to buy some overpriced Manley or ARP head bolts to get anything back. I told him he needs to inform his source of the housings to fix their casting, or many people not noticing the really bad restriction would be burning up one side of their engine and the temp gauge wouldn't show an issue.
You know what their remedy was?.... To shrink wrap the housings to a piece of cardboard, so people can't see the ports before they own the pile of $hit. Mopar housings aren't packaged so you can't inspect them. The guy I dealt with was a complete $hitbag. I wouldn't put 440 Source anything on anyone's vehicle after dealing with them. He can keep his Chinese crap and overpriced name-brand parts. I took a hit and sold the Stealth crap.
By the time you replace the parts they admit are limited quality, you are about the price of Edelbrock heads; then when you replace the valves you are likely over the price difference and still don't have helicoiled bolt holes. They may have made some changes, but I don't care. They already made their reputation very clear to me.
What pushed me to the point of not wanting the heads on anything of mine was the douchebag at 440 Source. I also bought a water pump and a water pump housing from them. The water pump housing was a complete piece of $hit. The outside of the casting was fine, but the ports on one side were horribly restricted and would MAYbe flow 35-40%. The inside of the casting was terrible. I took pictures of it compared to a Mopar housing and also sent pictures of it with the gaskets laying on it.
He told me to port it out, but it was heavily restricted around the corners where there was no way of getting in there to open anything up. I told him I wanted to send it back and he fought it big time. I had to pay the shipping both ways and he would only give me store credit and no refund. I had to buy some overpriced Manley or ARP head bolts to get anything back. I told him he needs to inform his source of the housings to fix their casting, or many people not noticing the really bad restriction would be burning up one side of their engine and the temp gauge wouldn't show an issue.
You know what their remedy was?.... To shrink wrap the housings to a piece of cardboard, so people can't see the ports before they own the pile of $hit. Mopar housings aren't packaged so you can't inspect them. The guy I dealt with was a complete $hitbag. I wouldn't put 440 Source anything on anyone's vehicle after dealing with them. He can keep his Chinese crap and overpriced name-brand parts. I took a hit and sold the Stealth crap.
By the time you replace the parts they admit are limited quality, you are about the price of Edelbrock heads; then when you replace the valves you are likely over the price difference and still don't have helicoiled bolt holes. They may have made some changes, but I don't care. They already made their reputation very clear to me.
Stock stealth heads. Right out of the box. Mid 12's after a 80 mile drive in 90 degree heat.
Later i had them CNC'd, LOW 12's @109mph this is the stock valves, i did put in the appropriate springs for the cam
I have been running these for 8-ish years. I beat on them probably more than 90% of the folks here, no one should have any reservations about running them.
Later i had them CNC'd, LOW 12's @109mph this is the stock valves, i did put in the appropriate springs for the cam
I have been running these for 8-ish years. I beat on them probably more than 90% of the folks here, no one should have any reservations about running them.
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When you say checked, what is being checked, what needs to be checked?
I was hoping that new, off the shelf goods were bolt and play
twostick
Senior Member
No such thing.
For cylinder heads at the very least check valve guide clearance and do a real valve job including valve heights and spring installed heights.
Kevin
I bought a set of Stealth heads for my engine build. Very reasonable price and many people have had good results from them. I had them sent directly to my engine designer at Porter Racing Heads. He went through them completely ,but the basic work to make them correct was between 500 to 600 dollars. Parts he changed out I had to pay for of course. The work he did included
Disassemble and check guides
Machine and finish grind seats
Reface valves
Blend bowls and flow test
Relieve push rod tunnels
Flat mill min
Rinse and assemble 6.6 hours
He also changed out springs ,locks and retainers as he had a custom roller grind made for my application.
He said they are rarely perfect out of the box [any brand] .
I would say any new /used head would be a good candidate for a head proctologist!!!
Very impressive that MEV ran out of the box Stealths but when he had his heads CNC'd I'm sure he had them gone through and checked over.
Disassemble and check guides
Machine and finish grind seats
Reface valves
Blend bowls and flow test
Relieve push rod tunnels
Flat mill min
Rinse and assemble 6.6 hours
He also changed out springs ,locks and retainers as he had a custom roller grind made for my application.
He said they are rarely perfect out of the box [any brand] .
I would say any new /used head would be a good candidate for a head proctologist!!!
Very impressive that MEV ran out of the box Stealths but when he had his heads CNC'd I'm sure he had them gone through and checked over.
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I will also say Stealths look very stock when painted. Hence the name perhaps?
Another trivia fact I have read many times are Stealth Heads out of the box will flow more than any ported cast iron production Mopar head. As I am sure is the case with other brands.
Another trivia fact I have read many times are Stealth Heads out of the box will flow more than any ported cast iron production Mopar head. As I am sure is the case with other brands.
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70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
There is a you tube video, probably a bunch, were a machinist looks at different heads BBC, from some big names and does run-out checks of all the valve seats. They all had more run-out than he likes, it's a mass production thing. If you can buy the heads with no valves and springs, retainers ,locks that is the way to do it.
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