AFR 165's on Blown 331

88GTsocal

New Member
Oct 30, 2004
23
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Las Vegas, NV
I have plans to put some AFR 165's on my 5.0 in the very near future. i also plan on stroking the 5.0 to 331 ci and installing a vortech s-trim in the distant future. this car is my daily driver. i know the 165's are ok for right now, but when i stroke it and supercharge it, i have a feeling that the heads will be too small then. is this true? i think 185cc heads would be better for that application. would 185cc be too big for a stock 5.0? any thoughts? should i just get the 185cc heads now? thanks.
 
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I'll take a different road - the blower and the 165's on a 331 will be just fine for a daily driver.

There are bunches of folks out there running blowers on otherwise stock 5.0's - stock heads, cam, intake, etc. that put down 300-350 rwhp with no problems at all. The 165's flow MUCH better than the stock 5.0 heads -- I think you could build a very stout (powerwise) and very streetable daily driver with the 165's and the stroker/blower combo. In my opinion there's no need to go to the 185's - the extra flow capacity isn't worth it on a blown set up in my opinion; and the bigger intake valve reduces your p to v clearance with may limit camshaft options.
 
Unless you're dead set on AFR's, you could always bolt on a set of Trick Flow TW heads.

They will flow enough for your mild 302, and you can port them to flow in the 300 cfm range when your combo grows.

I have friends that all have AFR heads, 165, 185's, and one psychopath that has 225's, and they are all incredible performing machines. I might be the lone guy looking at Trick Flow heads, and the reason being, I want to do a HCI swap on my stock shortblock, and when when it takes a dump, go to a 331 or 347...and I plan on staying NA. The TF heads seem to be the best at 'growing' with your combo, from what I have seen.

I am not by any means ripping the AFR heads...they are incredible products.

Hax
 
I have the 165s on my 302 with a turbo. Plenty of power. I make at least 469RWHP and 511RWTQ. That was on a hot sticky day with low airflow to the intercooler(the fan they had blowing on it sucked balls). I know on another dyno it will make even more. 500+
 
True but more power with 185's.Friend has stock block and cam but has S-trim with (afr165's edlebrock intake and 1.7 rr) made 465 rwhp.I had a friend of mine 331 afr(165) fti cam and edlebrock intake dynoed it.Then he sold his AFR(165) and bought AFR(185) made 40 more horses on the dynoed.
 
Sir Hacksalot said:
Unless you're dead set on AFR's, you could always bolt on a set of Trick Flow TW heads.

They will flow enough for your mild 302, and you can port them to flow in the 300 cfm range when your combo grows.

I have friends that all have AFR heads, 165, 185's, and one psychopath that has 225's, and they are all incredible performing machines. I might be the lone guy looking at Trick Flow heads, and the reason being, I want to do a HCI swap on my stock shortblock, and when when it takes a dump, go to a 331 or 347...and I plan on staying NA.

:stupid:

About 3 times now I've seen identically mod'd cars come into the shop I go to. Only difference in the cars was the heads. AFR 165/185 vs TFS TW. All 3 times what happened? The trickflow cars made more power. This does 2 things, it eliminates **** dumb luck, and says that its not the calibration of the dyno. So then you say it must mean the guy is getting a buck in his pocket for selling people on trickflow heads :shrug: His personal car has some Brodix concoctions on them lol I say go with the TrickFlow heads and don't look back.
 
NotchRocket92 said:
:stupid:

About 3 times now I've seen identically mod'd cars come into the shop I go to. Only difference in the cars was the heads. AFR 165/185 vs TFS TW. All 3 times what happened? The trickflow cars made more power. This does 2 things, it eliminates **** dumb luck, and says that its not the calibration of the dyno. So then you say it must mean the guy is getting a buck in his pocket for selling people on trickflow heads :shrug: His personal car has some Brodix concoctions on them lol I say go with the TrickFlow heads and don't look back.

There is a lot more factors than just the heads they have on the cars to determine the power...the 185's outflow the box-stock TW's...

Engine condition, other power accesories (MAF, what exhaust setup, intake, cam specs, etc...etc...etc..., tune...etc...