Speedmaster Small Block Mopar Cylinder Heads | Disassembly and First Impressions

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Күн бұрын

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@craigcontofalsky4387 6 ай бұрын

I raced a Super Stock Duster 340 back in the 70s. It ran 11.20s to 11.50s, and I used factory 273 adjustable rockers on a Cam Dynamics roller cam. No problems whatsoever. I believe my installed height was 1.75" with titanium retainers. Not much to choose from back then, but my Duster was the National Record holder.

@edsmachine93 7 ай бұрын

Fair honest review of the Speedmaster heads. I purchased a set of the small block and Big Block heads on Cyber Monday. I have not had a chance to work with them in the shop yet. I will do a full review and build series from a Machine Shop perspective. I just subscribed to your channel. Have a good evening. 👍

@hpbunker 7 ай бұрын

Hi Ed, thanks for the kind words and for subscribing. I think I've seen you on Just Mopar Joes channel? Looking forward to seeing what you think of the speedmaster heads from an experienced machinist perspective. Subscribed as well!

@edsmachine93 7 ай бұрын

@@hpbunker Thank you for the subscription. Have a good evening.

@cjespers 7 ай бұрын

Ive had good luck with speedmaster stuff. But after the c4 valve body incident i will not use their products. Thanks for the video.

@hpbunker 7 ай бұрын

I filmed this about a week before that valve body stuff all surfaced, and really debated if I should post it as I considered I would get flack from those enraged by the valve body incident. Figured I would post it anyways, more to provide info to those who maybe like me bought these on a budget, or maybe bought a used engine with them, or maybe are just curious about the products. In no way am I condoning how people should or shouldn't feel about Speedmaster products, and like I mentioned, I would never have purchased these even a few years ago...but I did hear a lot of good about these heads in specific, and when weighing my options vs. budget, they seemed to be a good choice. Time will tell if they are or not. Thanks for the comment and view.

@vincevalenti84 7 ай бұрын

I was going to buy those rocker arms.....but after the broader performance video, I am not buying speedmaster stuff

@bbivens8263 7 ай бұрын

Speedmaster stuff is made in China by the lowest bidder. A guy brought me a set of aluminum Chevy BB heads where the rocker arm stud holes had pulled out the threads. Because he had already had all the stud holes welded up, I had no reference as to where to accurately locate the holes, drill, tap for heilcoils, and install helicoils. The aluminum was very soft. He admitted they were made in China. Which amazed me because he is a multi-millionaire businessman,...

@hpbunker 7 ай бұрын

What you are saying sounds very familiar to me, and is why I mentioned in the video, 5 years ago I would have never bought these. But I see countless people discuss how good the actual castings are (at least with these heads specifically) compared to even some of the comparable American brands, so it was somewhat what led me to purchasing a set. This is a very low buck build, and time will tell how they hold up, but worst comes to worst its not a high dollar short block, so if its hurt hopefully it wouldn't be bad. Now I'm gonna knock on some wood and hope I didn't jinx myself. Thanks for the comment and view.

@aaronbarnes8938 5 ай бұрын

Simple fix for the rockers is run a modern Beehive spring That is what I have done on my sets.

@hpbunker 5 ай бұрын

Definitely one way to do it. But I didn't want to have change hardware, plus I have not had good luck with beehives in the past and feel more comfortable with a double spring setup.

@andretorben9995 7 ай бұрын

Having bought those heads I can tell you first hand whats wrong with them. Because they were so cheap I bought 3 heads and cut one up to see what could be done with porting. 1/ Valve throat area is at the upper limit for the 2.02 valve size. I can only assume they do this to try and get some high lift numbers but its not good for low to medium lift cams. I ended up going a bigger valve to fix this to an extent. 2/ They are usually undercut behind the valve seats. This creates big step where the valve seat sits and it cannot be ground away because if anything material needs to be added. Why they do this and not just leave it alone is beyond me. 3/ They were notorious for valve seats coming loose. Apparently those heads with the narrow or low depth valve seat inserts were the problem ones but they did change to deeper, wide inserts which apparently fixed the problem. 4/ The exhaust ports have this weird taper at the head face where the first 1/4 inch into the port is tapered inwards. Just a very strange setup but at least material can be removed to fix it. 5/ Inside the combustion chamber they leave a very large step at the top valve seat cut (where the valve seat meets the head), terrible for flow but again at least this can be fixed with a burr. 6/ Check your valve spring pressures. These heads are notorious for having low spring tension and variation. As are all speedmaster valve springs. 7/ These heads come with 3 angle valve job on exhaust and intake. But it really is a basic rebuild grade of valve seat, certainly not a performance valve job. I suppose this depends on what your trying to achieve. For performance it needs to be redone properly. 8/The valve guides are of very soft material. Thats OK if you only drive occasionally but for a regular driver they are going to wear out very quickly. Thats not all of it as I spent a LOT of time working on mine to get them somewhat good. But you really cannot take anything for granted and everything must be checked or it will bite you in the buttock down the track.

@hpbunker 7 ай бұрын

I appreciate the input. I filmed this video a few weeks ago but only just got around to posting it. The heads are currently getting inspected by a cylinder head guru who specializes in Mopar heads, just for peace of mind. This whole build is super budget, and I'm sure these will make more power then factory iron while saving some weight in the process. Maybe in a future iteration for this engine they will come off for some port work to help maximize them. Thanks for the comment and the view.

@TheBobdesigns4262 7 ай бұрын

I must applaud you for your effort and you provided helpful advice both parts wise and money wise. Speedmaster is a company and a company for profit. There is nothing that can prove that they use only the lowest bidder. The 1 to 16 ratio rocker arms designs have been around for over 40 year, so manufacturing a private label set, is not earth shattering news. All of these products have roots in products that were made here. Let's get some 800lb gorilla out of the room first. None of these products were just made offshore by companies just because they wanted to. They were sourced by outside designers and businesses that were looking to make a business contract. The Chinese companies have no interest in building high power LS motors, but there's companies that do. Owning a casting foundries and finishing machines, is not always in the realm of many companies that design products but cannot afford a manufacturing base. In many cases, cylinder heads are casted alongside many OEM parts. Does this is make this wrong or right? It's plain and simple business. Do you have a CNC machine? Do you have a foundry? Making parts is a real global industry. Making a country out to be the bad guy, is really missing the bigger picture. We have to understand the social and political implications of what we buy, if we are going to criticize how a business operates. They are in it to make money, just like you would if you were a manufacturer. Personally, I feel Speedmaster provided the trans body to the manufacturer in China and they duplicated the part complete with the logo as a design element. As long as corrupt companies try to make money off the backs of legitimate business, we will always have to do our homework on our own purchases. Prejudice is a non factor in informed buying. Question your purchases with your buying power.

@hpbunker 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for the comment and appreciation. I was trying to be transparent here. I will say this, in no way am I a huge fan of overseas production, nor am I a hater of it. I understand it as a direct function of free market capitalism, and that in any industry, constant R&D and product enhancement in either performance or price is the only way to either stay on top or be an industry leader...Therefore, it doesn't make me mad as it does for some others that a company like Speedmaster exists, and where or how the products are produced. I think as the buyer, one needs to make as informed a decision as possible for themselves, and decide what is important for them when spending their money. I really just wanted to provide a short, up close lens on these heads and first impressions for those who are considering them or have them to use and are maybe on the fence. Keeping all of that in mind, and not thinking these are going to be on par with far nicer cylinder head offerings for the LA platform, will hopefully help those watching in making decisions for their own situation.

@TheBobdesigns4262 7 ай бұрын

@hpbunker thanks for understanding my reply. I also respect your opinion and what your intentions were of the heads. When I started in parts 40 years ago, Japan and even Taiwan were starting to make cheaper versions of mostly decorative parts for hot rods. Valve covers, dress up kits, etc. Sometimes, build specs were sketchy, but as the years went by, the quality became first rate. Many a American company used them for budget parts. Then, for their class a and b parts. It was always going to be a Chinese industrial boom to take advantage of cheap labor and materials. The same manufacturers that bought from Taiwan and Japan now use Chinese products. I remember when manufacturers started using Chinese rotors and drums; we were assured the product was as good as American made items, because we had American inspectors watching over the production lines. It was true, however when we demanded even lower costs, that also went away. Slowly I learned of the geopolitical implications of manufacturing of everything we buy. We were taught in school that many countries have high unemployment and the lack of work,creates friction within countries with weak governments. Even today, there is so much unrest because the corruption and lack of work, among the bottom classes. Since most of the bigger companies sub out materials and labor, we can never be sure of what or where our raw materials come from. So many cry out about imports, but yet, still vote with their dollars on imported products. Fact is, building performance cars is run off discretionary income, so rightly so, prices can drive people to buy imports. Yes, we can agree, it's not a perfect world, but if you want champagne parts at diet coke prices, choose wisely and vote with your dollars

@doublerrated6735 6 ай бұрын

What? 😨

@smilsmff 3 ай бұрын

Mancini racing sells rocker shaft shims

@hpbunker 3 ай бұрын

@@smilsmff I had lots of shims left from one of my old engines that used Hughes rockers, but these needed a LOT of shim. All figured out now though

@itseithergonnaworkoritaint7852 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the review, are there any flow numbers for those?😎👍

@hpbunker 6 ай бұрын

As far as I am aware they don't advertise any, but I believe on many benches they are somewhere in the 250cfm range on the intake, and i dont recall the exhaust peak now. But nonetheless, to bolt on as a replacement for stock factory iron, they are definitely going to provide a felt difference in power. Thanks for the comment and view!

@itseithergonnaworkoritaint7852 6 ай бұрын

@@hpbunker Two fiddy max intake CFM, ok that will help make some power. Posting a video with flow numbers of those heads should help you get lots of views. Do a short saying what the heads are and ask if anyone ever wondered how much they flow. Then say to subscribe to find out. Put the video out in a week or so or after the short gets a bunch of views. You might be able to find someone else's video with that info you could splice the flow numbers into your video? If not you might have to find a local shop with a flow bench to have your head tested? In the video with the numbers, list the parts and other specs your engine will have and ask people to write down how much HP your engine will have in the comments. This should help your channel grow quicker because people are interacting with you. Maybe by the time you have the engine assembled you will be monetized to have it dynoed? Make sure when you remind people to subscribe to also tell the to share so you can get to where you can pay for stuff like dyno testing. Good luck, with your channel, subscribed.😎👍

@hpbunker 6 ай бұрын

@@itseithergonnaworkoritaint7852 thanks for the tips and subscribing!

@itseithergonnaworkoritaint7852 6 ай бұрын

@@hpbunker You're welcome, just a couple ideas I was going to use with my channel before my back was broken. Not paralyzed but still to much pain to play in the garage.😎👍