RAMBOW

After a year of reading reviews and comments- and going back and forth (and stupidly selling a perfect set of E heads that only needed new valves) I decided to drop the hammer and ordered a set of Complete Procomp aluminum heads from Jegs. $1095 to my door. (thats only $100 more than the bare heads, so i figured it was worth a shot for the complete)

I have yet to see any comments of people actually running these yet, but i have seen the flow tests, and comments from reputable builders who've said they are impressed with these heads as they appear out of the box.

My application is basically ~400-425hp nothing radical, so these with the included valves & components should be ok for my needs.

I'll have them torn down and inspected prior to use of course.

Note on Jeg's site said they would ship by 12/21, so should have them a week or so after that i'd hope.

nonhog

How cool! Good going, excited for you.
Maybe this summer we will see some 1/4 mile time with the pro-comps?

coppercutlass

Let me know what you think. I have a 455 that I might want to do the pro comps on.

L69

Looking forward to seeing what you think. I have debated trying these heads since Bernard first advertised them. Def cant beat the price...

joepenoso

I too have been asking around and want to see how they are
joepenoso

442Chris

I have a set; bought them bare. I had my machinist assemble them to make sure the parts were decent quality, and everything was right. Don't have the engine running yet, but if I can get things together over my time off the next few weeks, I will soon.

Generally, he was very complimentary of the quality of the workmanship on them. They needed to be surfaced, of course, but in his experience so do Edelbrocks. The guides needed to be honed, also, but again, from what I was told, the Edelbrock guides tend to be very tight and need the same.

Mine came out at 83 ccs on the chambers, initially, but not with Procomp valves. Ended up cutting them pretty good to get to 10:1 on my setup.

My application should also be in a similar 425ish hp neighborhood, so these should make a nice upgrade. With what it would have taken to get my stock heads back where they needed to be, it was tough to justify the cost, and easy to say might as well to these.

The_Jeremiah

it would be nice to see a set cnc'd and see what they flow vs stock cast heads, and ported cast heads

815Cutlass1972

I will be taking a plunge on a pair soon myself for my current build. I'm going to order Bernard Mondello's assembled version. B.Mo also sells the version assembled by pro-comp for $999.00. I glad more options are coming for Oldsmobile. I figure why not give em a shot if they are willing to give Olds a chance! I have to order my roller cam first, but these are next in line on my list.

815Cutlass1972

Cnc'd does sound nice!

citcapp

Ben,

Let me know when you get them. I would like to stop by and take a look


Pat

coppercutlass

Rocket racing also sell these heads. They had them advertised on their site.

RAMBOW

Will do Pat!

RAMBOW

Christmas came early....




Pat give me a call, I've got them at my office in kirkland if you'd like to stop by and take a look. they'll be going up to my guy in arlington this next weekend.

442rocketdave

Those look great!!!!! Man I wish I had put those on my Santa's wish list, I never heard of them? I know about the Edelbrocks and Batton heads and the rocket racing heads. I like the way those look, I am curious to the measurements on the exhaust side, Also what are the chambers ccing at? For 999.00 for a set is that with the valves,springs and all? If so I am definitely looking at those heads!!! Great pics by the way!!

442rocketdave

Rambow are the valves stainless steel and what size? It looks like you have a bag of 7/16 studs did they also come with the heads? This is what we need! to bring the high price of aluminum heads down a notch.

ziff396

I havn't seen the Olds heads from ProComp yet or how they work out. Myself I have Edelbrocks on the 455. The Ford 460 forums that i visit don't care for them. They say that they need alot of work out of the box to flow correctly and the valves are to tight like has been said. The only difference from iron heads is the weight savings and alot of money spent to upgrade them. Just added information.

RAMBOW

i'm sure this is posted elsewhere on the net, but here is the description:

MFG Procomp Electric
PN PC3080C


Specifications

• Intake Valve Size: 2.072"

• Exhaust Valve Size: 1.680"
• 77CC Combustion Chamber

• Intake Runner: 188CC
• For Hydraulic or Flat Tappet Camshafts up to 0.600 Lift


Features

• Advanced Port Design for Greater Flow
• Dual Quench Areas for more efficient burn and outstanding horsepower and torque
• 1 Piece Stainless Steel Swirl Polished Undercut Valves

• High Performance Valve Springs (Single with Dampner)
• Chrome-Moly Retainers

• Hardened 10° Valve Locks
• Hardened Intake & Exhaust Valve Seats
• Bronze Valve Guides
• Viton Valve Seals
• Fully Machined Valve Cover Rails for a More Consistent Gasket Seal
• Includes Rocker Arm Studs & Guide Plates
• Upgraded Valvetrain from factory pedestal mount to 7/16" Screw In Stud & 3/85" Pushrod Slot Guideplate
• Heads drilled for 7/16" Head Bolts, but can easily be modified for 1/2" Bolts by drilling with 1/2" Counterbore
• Aftermarket 7/16" Stud Rocker Arms and 3/8" Hardened Pushrods Required
• Factory Holes for your Brackets & Accessories



All Procomp alloy Cylinder Heads are made using a superior "Gravity Die" cast process. These heads are flow tested on a Superflow SF600 at 28" with 1/2" radius intake plate and short stack exhaust tube. These offer improved power throughout the RPM range for greater throttle response and top-end horsepower. These are the perfect upgrade from your stock Cylinder Heads for more performance and lighter.

cutlassefi

That's the problem with the net, too much bad info.

I flowed the Procomps and Edelbrocks out of the box and after a bowl blend, do a search on here to find the post.
And the Edelbrocks needed the guides done in order to accept the valves, not the Procomps.

442rocketdave

Thanks Rambow, I called Jegs and they did not have that information but they let me know the part# PC3080 is 412.99 each thats bare, the complete is PC3080C they are currently 542.99 each. If the guides are too tight just ream them out until you get your desired clearance. I was told they have the spark plugs at a better angle also. It doesnt look hard to tweak these heads a little and have them outflowing the edelbrocks.

RAMBOW

I have done a lot of research over the last year on these, this is not a spur of the moment decision.

I honestly beleive that there is a ton of word of mouth issues such as
"i head that..." or
"i knew a guy who..."
"I read on some website"

That may or may not have any basis in reality. I did some reading on the ford websites and a lot of the complaints trace back to one guy many years back- if you dig in these threads eventually you get to guys (racers a lot of them) running the heads with no complaints.

For the olds heads... Several known "olds" shops have blue printed & flowed these vs edelbrocks and they all have nice things to say about them.

I have a mostly stockish build that these will go on. 400-425hp- won't be going above 5500rpm, 90% street driven with occasional TNT days at the track.

These are desireable to me because i had no heads to start with. Even with a set of Ga cores i got for free, they need EVERYTHING and the cost was nearly more than these cost to buy new.

I have a local guy who will be disassembling and inspecting these for me.
I expect that they will need to have the guides re-honed to the seats (no big deal and i would likely do the same if i bought edelbrocks) and possibly may need to be resurfaced (although they look pretty good to me). From everything else i've read i doubt they will need anything else for my purposes.

I will cc them before they go to my friend, they are supposed to be 77cc same as the edelbrocks.

The purpose of this thread is to put some REAL LIFE experience to these heads- a stark contrast to all the "i heard" and "i read" posts that have been around in the past.

I am on a tight budget and am likely still 6 months away from having this in the car and running, but i will keep this thread up as i go as things progress.

442rocketdave

Thanks Cutlassefi, I had a gut feeling these heads might be OK, they sure look good and they look like they have plenty of room to open them up for all out racing. How did they stack up against the edelbrocks on the flow bench?

442rocketdave

Rambow I am like you on a strict budget and I dont have money to take a chance on IF it works, I appreciate the real comparisons of these heads and also from cutlassefi, this information really helps out our fellow Olds enthusiast, Like most we have families and bills and finding out what really works and what doesnt helps, this is over 800 dollars cheaper that edelbrocks, thats the money for my Rollmaster timing chain and my driveshaft and antiroll bar. Thats alot!! Again thanks for a great post.

coppercutlass

Im thinking on buying these heads for the 11 to 1 455 that came in my 77 cutlass. anyone know what a set of A heads go for ?

RAMBOW

Thanks for adding your info Mark- Your results were exactly what i was referring to- Real world info.

815Cutlass1972

Rambow,

Any updates on the heads? Did your local guy have to do anything more to them? I'm about to order Bernard Mondello's version of these heads in the next week or so.

RAMBOW

Unfortunately no updates. THey are likely still sitting in their boxes up at his house.

He does the machine work & engine stuff as a hobby- and works rediculously cheap for friends- but slow. I expect him to suddenly knock them out in the next few weeks.

If you are going for bernards versions with his upgrades and finish work, then I wouldn't hesitate.

MX442

For comparison, this summer I worked over a set of iron heads. I filled the crossovers, and spent about 60 hours with a die grinder. The machine shop bill for new steel valves, cut the seats, new guides, and surface was $450. If I added stainless valves, springs, guide plates, and studs puts me at $800 total, and a lot of my time. These look like they are ready to run for barely any more $$$, will support higher compression, have hardened seats, and likely flow better, right out of the box.

RAMBOW

kapow!




My machinist finished these up a couple weeks ago, but only got up to his place today to pick them up. His comments were very similar to what the other professionals that have seen these in person have already said about these.
Overall he was impressed with them out of the box- He did a light hone on the guides- but felt they likely would have been fine without it. Said the seats were concentric to the guides and didn't need any touch up.
Head to block surface was straight an good. Only potential issue he saw was the supplied springs were a little soft and recommended stepping up there- I have the open and closed pressures he reported written down in the garage, i can post them later on. So I'll run these for break in, then change them out. He also said that there was a lot of "junk" trapped inside the valve springs. Nothing inside the chamber, but just inside the valve springs- so would definitely recommend not just bolting them on and running.

Anyway, should start coming together now!
I think i'm going to paint them the same bronze color as the block. Might mask off the ends and the exhaust face, but will give a little bit of a stock look.

442garage

Ben,

Do you know if these heads will accomodate a robmc mechanical fuel pump and stock brackets?

Les

cutlassefi

s.
These are exactly the same as the 2nd version Edelbrocks. So if those will then these will. If those won't then these won't.

DeltaPace77

When I built my 455 in the mid 90's, got Dave Smith SS iron heads. Chambers are polished, ported, and cc'd. With TRW forged pistons, figures to 10.5:1 compression. Also got Daves adjustible valvetrain kit, so sets up like a SB Chevy. Car's running a rear mounted electric fuel pump, so really didn't have to worry about an engine mounted mechanical pump.

442garage

Thank you for the info. I know first generation won't. Not sure about second generation, will have to research further.

RAMBOW

Do you have one? Give me a call and bring it over, we can test fit it and answer for sure.

Engine is on a stand in my garage- it doesn't get much easier than that.

i was at a friends house yesterday looking at his 66 442, he has a 425 w/ 2nd design edelbrock heads on it and he has a holley mechanical pump and it clears his heads fine- he had no idea there was an issue getting mechanical pumps to clear aluminum heads- he just bought it and bolted it on. he needed it to feed the dual quads he's running.

citcapp

I can tell by looking at the overhang of the head at the front of the block in you picture that the robmc fuel pump wont fit. Looks just like the edelbrocks. The robmc is much larger then a Holley. See link


http://www.robbmcperformance.com/products/olds550.html

442garage

Thanks Ben, was considering a robmc fuel pump, already had a holley and an airtex, didn't want to do an electric fuel pump on this build.

442garage

Good eye, Pat. I wish Rob could change his housing to fit more aftermarket heads. Cost is probably too prohibitive.

RAMBOW

I've had several people pm me over the last couple months asking for updates on these...

Engine was fired up a month ago, and I've now got about 500 miles on it.
Impression? It absolutely rocks!

I've had it up to 5500 quite a few times(ok... pretty much every time i drive it) running through the gears, and no valve train issues (i bought the out of the box ones, using the as-provided valves & spring hardware.

I would highly recommend these for anyone with a stock or mildly modified motor. Very good value.

droptopron

How was the quality of the castings compared to Edelbrocks in your opinion?

RAMBOW

The top outside isn't as pretty as the edelbrocks. The inside & machining all looked great.

My machinist was quite impressed overall. He had been considering their BBC heads for one of his own projects, and after going through these for me, he ordered a set.
I felt that was a pretty good statement of confidence.

oldcutlass

And where are the under hood pic's?