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Jegs cylinder heads??

26K views 33 replies 14 participants last post by  TuBaDuB 
#1 ·
Im gonna be in the market here soon for a decent set of heads. Im looking for what most of us are...budget friendly yet reliable and decent performing heads.

ive done a lot of forum browsing on the web and havent come up with much on the Jegs brand heads. I haven't found any bad reviews on them either. Just kinda wanted to see if anyone here has used them or can give me any info related to them. Ive heard they were profiler castings. Ive heard they were Canfield castings. But i havent been able to find any first hand reviews on them other then the review they had in the Sept. issue of car craft.

This may not be an apples to apples camparison, but if the flow charts are any indication or even accurate for that matter, it seems the Jegs head is a strong runner up. Seem it really comes down to quality of the hardware.

Keep in mind that for now this is a 355cid engine with a small popup piston, around 9.8:1 with the 76cc GM iron heads(hoping to bump this up with 64cc chambers), and a Comp MTH cam .489/.476 lift 287/305 adv. dur.

What I know:

*Flow charts*

AFR 195 Street $1531.98 shipped

http://www.jegs.com/i/AFR-Airflow-Research/033/1034/10002/-1


Jegs 195 $1013.97 shipped

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/514022/10002/-1


I know AFR makes a great product and fills them with good hardware. I also know that Jegs is a company proud of there products and would imagine they're not filling their heads with cheap chinese parts.

I know there is a few other heads, profiler, patriot, rhs ect. too

What your opinions? anybody here have any experience with them??
 
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#5 ·
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_1209_eight_budget_sbc_head_shootout/viewall.html

Jegs




We were pleasantly surprised with how well the Jegs heads worked. Finishing Third in peak horsepower, First in peak torque, and Third in average power, the Jegs head is certainly a dark-horse candidate for best overall performer, especially when you consider its strong showing in torque and the small difference in average power among the top three heads in that category. Plus, the Jegs head also rounded out a great, three-way, mail-order-catalog shootout between Jegs, Speedway Motors, and Summit Racing.

Jeg’s 180cc PN 5140000, $959.98
Peak HP 408 at 5,900
Peak TQ 421 at 4,300
Valve Sizes 2.02/1.60
Intake Port 180cc
Chamber 64cc
Valvesprings 1.250-inch single spring
 
#6 ·
personally i went with summit vortec heads on my build. im using a jegs 350 trans tho. I know the summit heads i used were shipped to my door 700 bucks for the pair including shipping, have screw in studs and are good to 550 lift in the springs. yes i had to spend extra money for my intake manifold, but its all worth it. Ill be posting mpgs soon on my build but mildly warmed up vortecs are really nice and you do not need a mega cam to make nice street power. my motor is a 350 punched .040 over with everything forged and balanced and running 10-1 compression. purrs like a kitten and runs like a raped ape.
 
#12 ·
I hope to see a good gain over what i have now which are stock GM iron #3770126 that were 1.94/1.50's and we had em' opened up to 2.02/1.60s. Not sure on chamber size.The machinst said they did some slight bowl blending under the valves and that with the pistons (they have about a .125 dome) id be around 10:1cr but that is really all i know about em.

I know when i had it in my 84' camaro i was running a comp 292h magnum, holley 750 vs, RPM intake, TH350 and 3.73 rear on a 295/55R15 tire and it would go 12.70's @ 107 -108 foot braking it. Drove it to school every day of the week:yes:
 
#14 ·
JEGS response to my questions regarding the hardware used in their heads...


The components used are name brand products, no need to worry about the quality of this. We are not able to disclose the manufactures name due to the agreement with the manufactures. We back this product with the Jegs brand and stand behind such products.

Bob G.,
Technical Sales Representative
pretty much what i figured but makes me feel better hearing it right from them.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Jegs/Pro-Filer 195's








Ignore the filth in the car

http://youtu.be/qzlUSrMBX_M?t=43s


What ever you do make sure you verify the springs are correct. Mine came with the wrong springs. I am glad I checked. Jegs made it right by sending me the actual comp cams springs our cam called for for FREE! I bought the installed height tool and 3 different sizes of shims and installed the springs myself. Has been running great for over a year now.
 
#21 ·
Thanks for the tips Chad! I've been on your web page and seen some of your stuff. All I can say is WOW! :yes: I wanted give you a call too and get your opinion on what I should run on my engine and probably get a price from you on a set of pro-filers with a little Speier magic worked on them.


Tubbed63, thanks for the heads up. Im glad to hear they fixed you up. I did call and confirm with them that the 1.250 spring package would work with my cam specs and the tech assured me that they were comparable to the recomended comp springs. If not I was gonna do what you did and order the springs seperate and swap em'.
 
#23 ·
I had 882's punched out to 2.02 and 1.6 valves screw in studs, plates and springs. I didn't like them so we pulled them off and I bought bare E-Street heads and switched everything over. I changed to a roller cam and it came off the dyno at 404hp and 423ft/lbs of torque. We will see in the spring how the Nova likes it. This was built as a street motor. In hindsight I should have made it a 383. Good luck with your heads.



Later
Pat
 
#25 ·
Finally ordered my heads today :bounce:

Now, my question is whats the best head gasket to run?? I was looking at felpro's 1010 gasket since its got the copper ring and designed to not brinell the heads. But i've also seen guys running the 1003's. What's the better choice?? As far as what compressed thickness, Im not 100% sure on how far the pistons are in the hole. Engine was put together 8yrs ago. I think its .005 or .010. I know the block was decked for sure.

Im gonna pull it apart at my dads since he's got a garage and plenty of tools (mine are all at work :( )and i want to have all the parts there and ready to go. Otherwise i'd tear it down and check deck clearance.

Also, what about pushrod length?? Im running mutha' thumper hyd. cam and comp pro magnum rockers. I know its recommended to check the length but i dont have the tool. Whats the likely hood that i will need a longer pushrod?

thanks
 
#26 ·
Measure the deck height if you can before you order head gaskets. Shoot for .037 to .044 quench.

I used .015 Fel-Pro 1094's with my deck height of .022/.023 for .037/.038 quench.

A pushrod length checking tool is $25. Just order it and do it right the first time. I have Profilers on both my SBC's and I needed 7.2" pushrods in both cases with a retro-roller cam.
 
#28 ·
Thanks for the tips man. I ordered a pushrod length checking tool today. I agree, better to do it right the first time. Im gonna bite the bullet and just do it here under the car port. I'll round up some tools from work and have at it. I hope the weather breaks soon. This will allow me time to do it the way I know it should be done and not rush to get it out of pop's garage. I will pull heads as soon as its warm enough so I can get deck height and get the right gasket thickness so I can get as close as possible to that preferred quench.

Any opinion on what head gasket to use?
 
#29 ·
Well here they are...

195cc runner, 72cc chamber











Checked all my clearances and should be good to go. Pistons are .026-.028 in the hole. Nope, wasnt decked as i thought. I guess maybe we had them just trued up the deck. I dont remember. It was a long time ago and i was only 15yrs old. I decided to use the felpro 1094 (.015 compressed) head gasket which should give me around .042 quench. I stole some of the kids playdough and checked piston dome to chamber clearance and piston to valve clearance. I installed the head with a few snugged, not torqued, head bolts and NO gasket. Screwed in a spark plug, dropped in a solid lifter and push rod length tool and first checked exhaust. Turned it over about 4 times then moved to the Intake and did the same. Pulled head.

Thankfully there is no impression from the spark plug or chamber in the playdough :D (i was concerned about the older dome and new heart shaped chamber and relocated spark plug hole) and to make it even better i've got atleast .100 piston to valve without a head gasket installed. Based on the rocker/valve tip pattern I'm gonna need a .050 longer pushrod. But I figured on that.
 
#30 ·
Before you install the heads with that gasket make sure the blocks deck is VERY flat and true and also it would not hurt to check the heads deck surface either. Last thing you want is a leaking head gasket and those shim gaskets are famous for leaking because most peoples deck surface is not very flat.

One thing you can do to help is to spray those gaskets with copper coat. That will help make sure they seal up.
 
#31 ·
Yea, I read that on a bunch of different sites. These have a rubberized coating but i will probably coat them with some copper koat. I've read so many different opinions on what to or what not to do. Some guys swear by them others swear they leak. I guess we'll see. I cant find anything else to keep me within good quench numbers.
 
#34 ·
Use copper coat and don't forget to use assembly lube for the head bolts and washers.
Remember GM used steel shim head gaskets back in the day.:D
I just installed my AFR heads using the1094's, I too was paranoid about them leaking as well. I even spoke with AFR on using them. No problem and no leaks:D
 
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