Thoughts on Edelbrock RPM Heads, RB

What do you all think about the RPM heads? I am in a raised block group on FB and they just trash them for the most part, especially out of the box. I know you can spend a whole lot more money to get better flowing, but for my goal (450 hp, 500 lb/ft give or take) I believe the RPM's will be fine.

At that power level, the Edelbrocks, or Stealths, will do just fine, and have some room for growth too!

i think the set i'm running is over rated but they will meet your performance goals. iron could meet your goals. the edelbrocks do bolt on without issue but mine had crummy castings, and needed custom push rods that adds a couple hundred to the cost. in fairness there aren't many aftermarket parts that don't need work and meet their advertised hype.

I’d look at the E streets and have Dwayne porter true them up. Should do what you want and be a nice package. Straight plugs too. He can clean up the little things like tight valves and it doesn’t cost all that much. Was going to do a similar build myself until I decided the project took more time overall than I had to invest. I talked to him about it that was the direction I was going to go.

I've seen a lot of builds with Edelbrock heads over the years and they have all worked just fine. I've run Edelbrock heads on multiple engines including 500+ inch strokers. They work just fine and make decent power. Trick Flow heads are a better deal if you want to make more than 600 hp, but for a street car there is nothing wrong with Edelbrock heads.

Some standard stroke 440's I've built or been involved with using Eddy RPMs out if the box. 12-1 single plane , 850 Holley, .590 Mopar cam, 4.56, 68 GTX, 10.8@123. 10-1 Wieind low rise, 2 Eddy 600, .557 Mopar cam, 4.10, 65 Belvedere, 11.3@117. Stock motor home style 440, .484 Mopar cam, pistons WAY in the hole. Eddy RPM intake, Eddy 600, 3.91, 65 Belvedere, 11.9@110. All these were factory weight full interior cars.
Doug

I have them on my 451, I think they work OK.
ET in signature, it's not the best, it's not the worst.

Here is a less than perfect 1/8 mile pass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDsPTMzmFNI

I had the valve guides honed to loosen them up slightly, I removed the ridges right behind
the cnc gasket match, I had a 30 degree backcut put on the
intake valves for more flow, and that was it. The seats on the heads
still have Edelbrock's valve job on them. Maybe their machine work
has slipped, I don't know, but mine were okay. I just wanted to tweak them.

These forums are way better for a fella looking for advice than any of the Facebook groups,
and the RB only group is in my humble opinion probably one of the worst offenders for horrible advice.
Call out an incorrect statement, nobody sees it.

You don't actually need aftermarket heads at all for that power level, reworked iron heads will do that all day long
but aftermarket heads will make it easier to get there and will save some weight. It also might cost nearly
the same. E street or RPM heads would be fine for what you want to do, and will allow a little
bit of growth.

Years ago I bought a set and bolted them on out-of-the-box to my very worn, warmed-up 440. Picked up .2 in the 1/8 with no other changes. The next year, I built a 500" engine and had Modern port the Eddies for it. The primarily street car would run 6.8s in the 1/8 like that. I still have that engine.

What's not to like?

We install a lot of Edelbrock heads and other brands on customers cars. They make good parts but the quality is going downhill since the company sold. Their tech guys are very good when you call and they are working on bringing quality back up.

Most cylinder heads companys are now owned by conglomerates or hedge funds.
We find problems with nearly All of the aftermarket heads so we immediately check them over, make sure both castings look the same and then disassemble everything. You will need to replace the valve seals because removal usually damages them. If the porting needs touch up(often) then we fix that and then lap the valves to make sure they seal. Remember these heads are NOT prepped in pairs like a small shop would do. These are Production built by many people. We also find nicked valves, inconsistent springs and deck surfaces damaged or not flat! Add a back cut on the valves, it improves low lift flow and doesn't cost much.

Have a good shop check them out before you install. A few hundred dollars here is money well spent because after install, diagnosing the problems is difficult and you gotta take it back apart and spend the money anyhow.

Re-ringed 446, flat tops, 227@.050 hyd roller, Torker II(owner already had it), Sniper EFI, 1-7/8 headers, E streets with guides honed, seats touched up, decks skimmed(no porting or blending).
525tq/483hp

Similar 446 re-ring type job with used RPM heads, with seats recut, back cut valves, stage 1 blending, SD intake, 850 Holley, 232@.050 HR.
535tq/515hp

I have no problems calling them out there but their excuse is always "I've been doing it like this for 50 years!" or they just don't respond at all.

I'm about ready to unsubcribe from every Mopar Facebook group because all they do is raise my blood pressure.

I have had many different sets of heads in my racing years, no problems with Eddy RPM heads yet and I don't know anyone out here west of the rockies that have had problems with them either
What I have learn from the internet is there are more want to be racers and "engine experts" nay sayers, haters, than there are those that do use them with no problems, no matter what the product is

Facebook group ?

Agreed, It's pretty ridiculous at times. Like I mentioned about ballast resistors! On Facebook, the ballast resistor seems to be the reason
for everything that ever happens to a vehicle.

At some point I'd like to think there would be a backlash and a return to the forums, but it seems this old format is, for the most part, only preferred by old people.

My 10.5 to 1 440 w/mild hydraulic Comp cam made 425hp. Just literally swapped to the Edelbrock Performer RPM's made 485hp, that's 60hp that fast.
Not sure if this is typical or not. They are as cast, not really nice for sure. But the numbers made me a believer.
See ya, Ken

Thanks for all the input guys. The angled plugs and header fitment are gonna keep me from getting the RPM heads. Yes iron heads can easily get the numbers I am looking for but there just isn't any market here in Wichita. The motor is a 74 forged crank motor home 440. I pulled the pistons with the six pack rods and installed .030 over cast flat tops on LY rods, Hughes Whiplash cam, Performer intake and Holley 750. It runs decent but I know the 213 heads are killing it. The E Streets might be the way to go.