johns84bird

I love my new combo but I have one question about the AFR heads that I have. They are very good quality and everything but they did not come with the the two coolant temp sensor bungs (one for the fan, and one for the gauge). I mounted the gauge sender in the water neck by the thermostat, which is fine but where do I put the switch for the fan to turn on. It is still driveable right now because I have a manual fan switch but it is getting annoying to turn it on and off all the time. I want to get one of those adjustable fan switches to replace the stock one because I have a 170* thermostat, but no place to mount either the stock or the new switch. Did anyone else have this problem or did I get a bad seed? The heads are on the car and I don't feel like taking them off to have any machine work done. Do I need to? Thanks,
John

------------------

• 84 Firebird w/ T/A ground effects
• 350 4bbl (quadrajet)
• Automatic Transmission
• Non-leaking T-Tops (new rubber all around)
• Working headlight motors (new parts)

Mods: A/C Delete, 14" K&N open element, 170* stat, ram-air hood, Accel cap & rotor, MSD Super Conductor Wires, 24mm solid rear & 36mm hollow front sway bar w/ PST polygraphite bushings & endlinks, Spohn SFCs, WS6 springs, SLP 1 3/4" Jet-hot coated headers, Hooker 3" cat-back, Catco high-flow cat, Comp Cams High Energy 268 cam, AFR 190 heads, Weiand Action+ intake, Comp Pro Magnum 1.6:1 Steel Roller Rockers, Summit 4130 steel pushrods (stock +.100"), Moroso Oil Pan with trap doors, windage tray and crankshaft scraper, poly graphite motor mounts, K&N oil filter and Mobil 1 synthetic.

http://www.homepagez.com/350thirdgen/

David 91RS/Z28

When you ordered the heads, you have to specify drilling for the sensors. This is an option which runs $25. Part # is 1561.



------------------
David Tuschhoff
1991 RS/Z28 Camaro
FI 355ci NA SBC V8 M5.
12.47 @ 110.7mph 1.80 60'
Best mph of 111.6.
My f-body page!

ski_dwn_it

John,
I am getting some 190 AFR's and can't wait. You have to pay a little extra for AFR to put the sensor holes in the heads. I think its like 55 bucks or something. Man I wish you would have known that ahead of time. It would have saved you this messing around. I'm not real sure how you could get around the switch issue. Ask around I'm sure there is a way.
Tell me about your setup. Did you see a noticable improvement with the AFR heads? I'm sure you did, but I need some more hype to get me even more excited about mine..hee hee.
Good luck and if I come across something I will be sure to let you know. Later.

------------------



http://www.corvetteforum.net/c4/ski_dwn_it/
67 Chevelle
509 Merlin Crate Engine
585 Hp 637 Ft/Lbs
*************************
1989 White coupe
Open air box, Modified mass air, TB bypass,160 Stat, manual fan switch and lower temp switch, MAT sensor relocated, Air foil, gutted cats, flowmaster mufflers.

Soon to have Roller rockers.

When I die, I want to die quietly in my sleep like my grandfather did,
not screaming in terror like his passengers

doc

Word of warning about my AFR heads. I have broken two rocker arm studs which came with the heads. On this board, it was suggested that I have a problem with my specific valvetrain. But I'm using the same push rods that I had with the Trick Flow heads and same 1.5 ratio roller tip rockers. The springs are good for 0.60" lift, I'm far short of that.

I think that I got a batch of bad rocker studs. I'll see in time if the new ARP studs hold up.


------------------
'87 L98 TPI IROCZ, AFR190 heads, 3.70 gears, ZZ9 cam, 3000 Art Carr TC, SLP 1 3/4" headers, SLP cat-back, no cat, no AC, no MAF screens, Accel manifold base & SuperRam, 24#/hr SVO injectors, Edelbrock double roller timing chain, MSD ext coil & distributor, trans cooler, 52mm TB with airfoil, TB coolant bypass, AFPR(56psi), K&N filters, Hotchkis lowering springs, my custom chip, Lay Ind. ram air kit, SS Brakes 1LE upgrade 12" rotors dual piston calipers, 265/45R16 Kumho V700 tires.
ET 12.97sec @ 105mph on MT ET Streets
'90 Eagle Talon AWD, no rust thru 9 winters
'99 Camaro SS, red, 6-spd, T-tops, Mcleod clutch, Pro 5.0 shifter, MAF processor, Direct Flow airlid, K&N filter, next mod: 4.10 rear gears
313.7Hp & 320.6ft-lbf, ET 13.55sec @ 105.1mph
more mods: MMS heads/cam, LS6 intake, FLP headers,
Best ET: 12.65sec @ 111.5mph @ Dragway42

Ringmaster72

Doc, I just broke a rocker arm stud about a month ago on my AFRs. I was not even getting on it, I was just driving normally. I think they must if had a weak batch also.

Tim

Guido

ive broken 4 of them before and bent them all at one point or another but it was because I had too long of pushrods.

I replaced them with the 190,000 psi ARP's and have not had a problem since. I also corrected my pushrod problem.

------------------
-86 IROC

-=ICON Motorsports=-

johns84bird

Anyone know if I could drill somewhere in my intake manifold or something? maybe get a new waterneck with 3 holes? would that be su fficient? about the rocker arm studs, I noticed that on one of them it was extremely hard to torque down the rocker arm, like the paint was too thick or something. We had to keep tightening the rocker arm with a lot of torque and then backing it off and repeating with some grease. The others were ok though. ski_dwn_it: these heads are sooooo sweet, but I need to change my gears to the 3.42 posi I have in my garage, get a tranny rebuild and a higher-stall TC, because I have a stock automatic that slips and a 2.73 open rear Once I get it into my power band it really screams. P.S. nice quote in your signature LOL.

craiger

I have heard a lot of the Ford guys having similar problems with the rocker studs and also, the helicoils that hold them in place. My cam is 210/222 with .505/.535 lift. Will I need longer pushrods or can i use the stock pushrods?

craiger

And you would think for the price of the AFR heads, they would be more specific on the little things such as snesor holes ect.... I think their customer service is clearly lacking. I had a probem with them and they were not very pleasent to deal with!

johns84bird

I needed longer pushrods with all the stuff in my signature at the top. Keep in mind my cam has only 218/218 dur and .454"/.454" plus more valve lift with the 1.6 rockers. You just have to check the length with an adjustable pushrod. as for the customer service, they asked me all these questions about how the car was going to be used and in combonation with what other parts. I told them mostly street use with occasional drag on weekends. You would have thought that they'd ask me about the stock sensors and such. I didn't see that in the catalog at all, or hear it from them. I figured it would come ready to be used in a "street" car. any suggestions about where to mount my fan sensor?

arthur

There's a threaded access into the water jacket in the middle of both sides of the block. There would be more of a temp diff than with irons, because of the thermal efficiency of the alum heads. But the water shouldn't differ too much in temp from block to heads. Just make sure the fans come on soon enough with the Al heads...Ofcourse. I heard that AFR was back ordered. Can anyone shed some light?

TheMysticWizard

iTrader: (1)

I just bought a set of AFR heads, my question is to everyone here talking about rocker arm studs... I have heard the regular ones that come with them suck, so I am planning on upgrading to ARP studs... now I also read that I can use 7/16" studs and rockers for more valve train stability... is that a good idea?

What length rocker arms do we need for our engines? 1.75 inch top and .800 inch bottom, correct?

88IROCs

Painless Performance makes fan control circuits that place a thermistor in the fins of your rad to detect fan on temps. This seems like the logical place to measure coolant temps rather than at the cylinder head. They have models that have fixed temps (185° ON/170° OFF) or adjustable models that use a rotary dial on a remote panel (could even be mounted in the dash).

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Had you noticed an improvment from trick flow to afr?

84305HO

Just got my 190's (used 1 hr) without the sensor holes drilled.
I guess I will drill/tap them myself, can't be that hard. Only
problem is location, hopefully AFR can supply the info.

tom3

Used several of the adjustable fan switches with the remove bulb sensor. I zip tie the bulb to the side tank next to the core and these switches work very well. Nice to be able to dial in the actual turn on temp.

Dragroc

I am about to buy a set of AFR 195's, and have talked to several of the techs at AFR. I asked about the sensor holes about 4 days ago, and the guy told me that the holes are already drilled/tapped on the 180's and 195's, but on anything else you have to get that option. I don't believe they make the 190's anymore.

doc

Tibo,

My Trick Flow heads had bad valve springs. I broke one or two of these springs. I went to Summit Racing, and bitchedddd nicely. They checked my numerous purchases over the previous couple years and gave me a new box of better springs. Problem solved. Since my issue with the valve springs, I believe that Trick Flow now have much improved springs.

I felt after awhile that these heads were not performing up to par (advertised HP increase over stock), so I bought the AFRs. The AFRs are definately better heads, however their rocker studs really suck, I dont think that they have gotten any better on this issue. But my problem with the rocker studs was several years ago. The ARP replacement studs have been great and no problems since I installed them. AFRs are the most expensive heads, so one would think that quality rocker studs would NOT be an issue. Go figure.

laiky

lost an AFR rocker stud, towed home. ruined new nose getting lowered car onto towtruck. bought ARP 30,000 miles no more failures

IROCZZ3

Hmm, I've yet to break a rocker stud on my AFR's.....still using the original 3/8" studs that came with them when I bought my AFRs almost 8 years ago. I have put about 80,000 miles and numerous 6200+ rpm shifts on my heads in those 8 years and have never had one fail.

My guess is they had to cut corners somewhere over the years when they realized the demand for their heads is really high. I also remember getting my heads in less than 2 weeks from the day I ordered them. Now it seems like everyone is on a 3 month waiting list.

laiky

the studs mine came with were cheap chinese crap, i only relized this after putting the old next to the new. I have pics somewhere. the AFR were very brittle

fb305svs

the only way to know is to get everything installed and use a pshrod size checker, then order the pushrods.

pushrod length can be effect by the cam grind, and the heads ect...

84305HO

What length pushrods are the majority of AFR owners using? I will upgrade both rocker studs and pushrods for my install.

wesilva

iTrader: (35)

I have the Painless Kit that uses a water temp sensor off the intake manifold. I have two intake manifold bungs on my Edelbrock Performer Rpm. Can you purchase a thermostat housing with a bung on top? Don't know if that could be an option for you.

camaro05

iTrader: (1)

I am thinking about purchasing a set of AFRs. what are you guys gaining with just throwing them on there with the stock cam? or what are they supposed to give you? thanks

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

I love my 220s I have had only one problem and it was a biggie !!! I was driving around town and all of a sudden coolant started pouring out of the tail pipes... After the teardown I found a very thin exhaust port had broken through and was dumping coolant out so I had it fixed and they have been great since.. I use 7/16 studs with a rocker girdle

TheMysticWizard

iTrader: (1)

Well I finally got my heads on today and mocked up a stock pushrod, little too short for me.

I did upgrade to APR 7/16" studs for my heads, just the threads made me believe the stock AFR studs are crap... the threads on the stock AFR didn't look clean and smooth, the ARP ones look beautiful. I am starting to feel like AFR heads are all about flow, and all the parts that come with them are sub standard, I hope I don't have trouble with my springs, or anything else.

I am going to find an adjustable pushrod tomorrow, so I can mock it up and figure out a good size for me, then I'm going to take it to the engine shop that built my engine and he said he'll measure it for me, so I can buy the right size. Just by looking at the stock length, I know I am going to need atleast a .100 long, maybe .150, they surprisingly look way short.

I will report back on my findings once I figure out what size I need... but the correct way to do it is just buy a Adjustable Pushrod, because every engine is a bit different.

One side note... my engine builder said he built a few engines with AFR heads and all of them needed a .100 long pushrod. So I am guessing a .100 long will do the job for me.

Isn't She Beautiful?

84305HO

Thanks Mystic, I will not be getting to my install for a couple more months so I will wait to see how you do. I am upgrading my valvetrain also: so far bought new ARP studs, and Comp Cams Pro Mag rocker arms, so the last piece will be some good chrome moly pushrods.
Nice looking motor !

1989GTATransAm

iTrader: (3)

The thread that refuses to die. Bwhahahahahaha.

Marc8090

I broke one of the stock AFR rocker arm studs after 1,200 easy miles. Went to 3/8" ARP studs and have had no problems since. As far as I know, there are no narrow body full roller rockers that will fit under centerbolt valve covers with 7/16 studs. The narrow rockers are only made for 3/8 studs. I would NEVER use the stock studs again because when it broke the lifter shot up out of its bore, bent the "spider" retainer, allowing the lifter to turn and chew up the cam. So a broken rocker stud required a cam change. Major pain in the butt.

10 SECONDS