best 12v head castings

[Fnschlaud4620]

I am preparing my wallet to purchase a 7mm head to have on hand for when I pop my head gasket.

I have been calling around this is what I have found.

PowerPartsEngineering says $1300 for their best cast head that is least likley to crack under extreme pulling conditions, unported, fireringed.

They also have a $900.00 dollar head that they call 90% as good as their best head, unported, fireringed, probably china casting Im guessing

So I called Piers,

I Was told on the phone that all of their heads are china castings and 900.00 for an unported, o-ringed head.

So my question is, Is a new china casting like piers sells better than a used 2nd gen dodge head. I have been told that even these dodge 7mm heads are prone to crack between the injector and valve.

does anyone know the best casting to use?

Does anyone know what PPE might be selling as their better head? They told me on the phone that it was avaliable through cummins aftermarket.
so what does that mean? where do I purchase stuff through cummins aftermarket? does he mean Cummins itself?

It will probably be a few months before I can purchase what I need, I Dont want to call and hassle people about things and not be ready to buy.
I was just wondering what your opinions were.

I think I will more than likely find a good used dodge head reasonable and have it fireringed, enless you guys give me rteason not to.

Thanks alot
Fnschlaud4620

[JLeonard]

I can't answer your question, but I have seen new 12 V marine heads that are supposedly Cummins for $700 on several occasions. Complete with valves, etc.
I don't think there is a difference in a marine to a automotive.
Anyone?

[KTA]

Cummins has such a thing as a premium material cast head. It is not specific to marine nor are all marine heads premium.

[bgilbert]

www.tristatecylinderhead.com sells new Brazil castings for much cheaper than that. Although not ringed. Who is PPE?

[Fnschlaud4620]

WOW! that price is awesome!

Do you think that these brazil castings are good, better, worse, than the chinas? or a good used 2nd gen dodge head. I think that these are my only 3 options, I am not paying 1300.00 for a head.

Does anyone have expirence with these?

PPE is powerpartsengineering, located in Glenford, OH

I bought my injectors from them, Terry Shaffer is the owner, He really takes the time to Help me with all of my questions, and does not blow me off, that means alot to me. I have called Enterprise and Piers and gotten blown off before so I did not do business with them, although it probably depends on who you talk to because I have had good expirences over the phone with piers recently.

check them out http://www.powerpartsengineering.com

[bgilbert]

WOW! that price is awesome!

Does anyone have expirence with these?

I bought one from them when they were $800 complete . It is on my 89, no issues. I didn't have any work done to it, just got the block fire-ringed and bolted it down. I'd love to get some port work and get the valves worked where you have both valves the same size, I think it's exhaust swapped for intakes .

Tristate's packaging or it could've been UPS's service wasn't the best. The crate the new head came in was banged up a bit.

[Begle1]

I've always heard that the Brazil castings are the best available. That was germane to engine blocks way back when everybody was in a furor over the 53 blocks though, so I don't know if it applies to today's heads.


I didn't think that you could get a brand new for the $358 that Tri-State is asking. I'll definitely have to remember those guys.

How much would it cost to get one of those baby's tapped for the 14's, ported and O-ringed? Probably twice as much as the cost of the head itself?

[bgilbert]

How much would it cost to get one of those baby's tapped for the 14's, ported and O-ringed? Probably twice as much as the cost of the head itself?

It's $100 extra for a complete head, valves, springs. Bare head is the $358 shown price.

Get the 14mm head stud idea out of your head, you have to pull the entire engine to drill and tap the block for them. Then ream the head. Not sure about price for porting and o-rings.

[Begle1]

Get the 14mm head stud idea out of your head, you have to pull the entire engine to drill and tap the block for them. Then ream the head. Not sure about price for porting and o-rings.

Err, 12's... Yes, I mean't 12mm...

The 14's probably make stuff more prone to cracking too, don't they?

[bgilbert]

12's don't require any mods, just cleaning of the threads in the block with a bottom tap. Some say 14's are bad, but others say they are fine. If I were building an engine, I'd go with them.