So I decided that it was time to try the heads from 440 source. I got them and honestly didnt expect much, and i wasnt disappointed. Yes it it a great idea to inspect anything you buy for any engine build. well, these heads have the cheapest retainers, Locks, spring cups, and valves. I took them to my machinist, hes doing a fresh valve job, gonna install new valves from hughes, springs matched to my cam spec, and touch up the horrible job of cutting the seats in, hone the guides, quite tight out of the box, install a better quality seal, and balance the new springs.

I will say the castings are vastly improved over the last set of Source heads I messed with. WAY cleaner, and way more professional looking.

I Will say this, for a grand, they are way worth the coin over sticking cash into a set of iron heads....

You left out I should have just bought the Trick Flows instead !

Did you miss the part where he said he spent a grand?

Did you miss the part where he replaced the valves, springs, seals and had the seats, guides and valve job worked on.
He either has a lot more than a grand in these heads or a machinist that works for free and supplies free parts. Wish I had one of those.

Did you miss the part where he said new valves , springs , retainers , seals , valve job etc. ?

Some people like the look of a stock head.

Better than a stock head, yet not as good as the Trickflows.

Some people like quality.

I know guys, I know..

its a street car, nothing hot, but i do like the stock look, i do like the affordability part, and im doing everything but the valve job, and spring balancing myself. i have 450 ish in parts, and machinist quoted me 275 for his stuff.

i hate the squared off look of the trick flows or eddys, and the last set of eddys I had to basically do the same thing, valves were tight, springs didnt work for the cam, and i wanted things checked over.

100% only reason for this head was originality look under the hood. hell im running manifolds, so that tells you the build isnt too aggressive.

I’ll offer this counterpoint to the OP.......

Imo, The parts supplied with the heads are perfectly adequate for the primary buyer these were targeted at.

Used with a .500 lift or less hyd camshaft in an application that won’t need to exceed 5500rpm....... I see no need to replace anything.
I just went through another set last week that are going on a very mild street 440 that will be getting the small summit cam, stock 4bbl intake, stock rockers, stock ex manifolds.
They were less $$ than refurbishing the worn out factory heads.

EXACTLY where Im at, My 434 is a lil warmer then a stock 383. 440 crank, diamond pistons, decent set of rods from Hughes, and a Hughes cam. Im running Isky ductile iron rockers, and everything on this build is very very budget minded but I splurged on pistons, and rods.

My application is somewhat more radical than OP's engine but still only .652 lift and I won't be going over 6800 rpm. I started with a pair of bare Speedmasters that cost only $502... sent them to Dwayne and he corrected the Chinese valve job, did some bowl blending (Stage 1), and sold me decent valves.

Now I have heads that flow 293 cfm for significantly less than Trick Flows which would also have to be at least "looked at". Reusing my low-use Comp springs.
I wouldn't put ANY head on OOTB without at least checking guide clearance and installed height, and inspecting the valve seats

I’ll offer this counterpoint to the OP.......

Imo, The parts supplied with the heads are perfectly adequate for the primary buyer these were targeted at.

Used with a .500 lift or less hyd camshaft in an application that won’t need to exceed 5500rpm....... I see no need to replace anything.
I just went through another set last week that are going on a very mild street 440 that will be getting the small summit cam, stock 4bbl intake, stock rockers, stock ex manifolds.
They were less $$ than refurbishing the worn out factory heads.

They have worked out perfectly for the past 4 years on my 68 Charger motor which is very similar to the above post.
Mike

Did your machinist say what was wrong with the springs, retainers, or valves? The retainers were comp stuff for a long time, thats what came on mine, although I did switch them out for 10 degree stuff because I had the retainers. The springs that came on mine I’m 99% sure are Comp 911s.

My OOTB stealths made 479 RWHP and 492 RWTQ on pump gas, pretty good for a $1000 set of heads I thought.

The only problem I’ve seen out of the stealth heads is the deck need some work. My shop refused to install ANY alum heads without checking the deck for straighteness. He had a set of stealths start to leak compression and loose power on the dyno. It took .004 cut the straighten them out. Sure enough when he cut mine, it took .004 to fix the problem on both heads. The were both low in between the two middle chambers. He always cuts ANY brand of alum head. He’s just seen issues with alum heads for some reason. I cleaned up the bowls and lapped the valves in mine and they looked fine. Guides were fine as well.

I agree with the OP regarding looking "original". I love that about the Stealths. I put a set of the CNC version on my '69RR street/strip car. With a baby, .575 solid roller, at full weight, it's gone 11.0's. I drive it everywhere, and when the liftoff hood is removed, only the savvy Mopar guru notices the difference. That was a big reason for the Stealths in my build. As a side question, does 440 Source still offer the CNC version? Heard they ran out and don't offer them that way any longer.

Moparnut426 said: "i hate the squared off look of the trick flows or eddys, and the last set of eddys".
Exactly! All other aluminum aftermarket heads machine the ends flat, machine in their logo and polish. The OEM look to many is desired plus its just stealthy and neat.

I bought a set back in 2008/09. At the time I was using a Mopar Performance .533 hydraulic cam, but later switch to a .590 solid flat tappet. I replaced the 7 degree locks with 10 degree and bolted them on my engine. Engine was a drag only and shifted at 6000, went thru the traps at 6400. Ran them up until 2016 when I needed to freshen the motor. Did end up having 2 broken inner springs. After putting new rings and bearings in the shortblock and having the heads hand ported, new valve springs and valve job the car picked up .05 in the 1/4. 3150lb car ran 10.80-11.00s. I have since bought a set of Trick Flow 240 and picked up solid 2 tenths (I actually went to a smaller cam and smaller header) so they may be even worth more E.T. The 440 source heads are perfect for stock looking and street or mild street/strip cars. Very good buy for the buck and I'd definitely wouldn't mess with steel heads for the price of a stealth head.

Pretty hard to be-itch about a set of 1000.00 heads that flow 260cfm out of the box. Are most of these cheap aftermarket heads ready out of the box? No. They need checked over, maybe the valve job corrected (that will only lead to better flow and more horsepower) like others said I bought myself a good straightedge many years ago that I check decks, valves I trust but update retainers and keepers, and in any Head I check the valve guides. A little porting work they can easily go 300, and although I never pushed a set know they can go over 320cfm. Sure better than playing with 50 year old cast iron heads.

these are definitely not comp retainers, and as or the springs, i just put the springs that Hughes speced out or the cam. they are PAC springs, and I had to call them to get the 10 degree locks and retainers. I hate calling in to hughes, they always get snotty with me as to why I want to change something in their "package" deals. I Just hate 7 degree chit!! period!

I plan on running a rocker stand stud cause I've heard stories of the cast pedestals breaking off and the studs use full thread engagement. The spring cups, non swirl super cheap valves, roughness of the seats, and the retainers and locks just needed to be changed so I wouldn't cringe every time i gave her the onions...

They must have downgraded the hardware again, when I bought mine they had stickers on the boxes that said the locks and retainers were comp. Good to know.

And yeah, all of the Mopar specific places all seem to get a bit snotty about stuff...