Brodix CNC Ported Cylinder Heads Install - Project ProCharged - A Head Above The Rest

Sealing the timing cover back up may just be one of the hardest parts of this installation thanks to the design of the cover itself. Here, Hedenburg has scraped the block to provide a good seal. He then used Permatex gasket maker instead of the cork material that comes in your typical timing cover gasket set.

We used Fel Pro 1011-2 head gaskets and 1250 intake gaskets for the installation. LaRocca recommends using Fel Pro's 9333pt1 graphite gaskets whenever possible, but with our truncated timetable we used what we had. Richard Holdener supplied us with just about everything we needed to make the swap, which helped greatly with our situation.

Be sure to put the head gaskets on correctly, otherwise the engine may overheat. Here, you can see that the gasket is marked front for the front of the motor. This ensures that all of the coolant holes are lined up properly.

Here's the Pro Magnum 1.6 roller rocker and a soft spring that we used to check piston-to-valve clearance with the E303 cam that Holdener sent us. With just .018-inch clearance, we had to put the stock cam back in. The fact that it makes the power it does with just .444-inch lift is remarkable.

We used ARP studs and bolts to secure the cylinder heads. The studs simply install with an Allen wrench and should be coated with a thread sealer or Permatex gasket maker.

Hedenburg put on the new timing chain and reinstalled the cover and water pump. The heads were then torqued down to 80 ft-lb in increments of 35, 55, 65 and 80.

The roller rockers were adjusted to zero lash. Even though the exhaust ports are raised .500-inch with the Brodix heads, we experienced no problems with the Bassani long-tube headers.

The new cylinder heads started making power down around 3,400 rpm. We expected a slight decrease in boost from our normal 10 psi due to the larger runner volumes, but LaRocca noted that the flat spot in the curve at the top of the rpm range is indicative of belt slippage. We saw 8 psi of boost, but were unable to tighten the belt further as the tensioner has become tweaked a little too much. We'll try again at a later date with a new tensioner and belt to see if we can't get that 2 psi back. Otherwise, we'll just pulley up.

Want to know what 473 rwhp can do for you? Check the left front wheel.