[64speed]

Which one are you using and why? The complete 455 I got has the low compression 4X heads so I am gonna buy one or the other. Cam will either be old faithful or stump puller I haven't decided yet.

[grivera]

I bought the JBP Edelbrock d-ports mainly out of convenience since their turnaround time and customer service/responsiveness is awesome. Of course, JBP doesn't sell the KRE's - seems one of the best shops to buy those prepped is SD. While they (SD) are also known for great CS, getting Dave on the phone or even email can be quite a challenge. After shipping, the e-heads may be a bit less if buying ported. I suppose you also have the option of buying the KRE's directly from Kauffman but I haven't seen where anyone here mentions them. If you are considering right "out of the box" your options are expanded.

All of what I've written above was based on d-ports (since you said KRE). The e-round ports are a no-brainer if you are considering round ports.

[Formulajones]

Dad bought the Edelbrock round ports from Kauffman, CNC ported. That was several years back before the Kauffman heads were offered. Like Grivera mentioned, I too had trouble getting a hold of Dave when I was looking at some options. No longer in California and back in Canada, I went a different direction. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the head choices out there. Depends on what you want to deal with. Pick your poison.

[Lee]

If the money plopped into my lap right now, I'd order the KRE's from Dave @ SD Performance.

From reading tuning details from various people, the KRE's typically require less tuning. In my experiences, that indicates a more efficient chamber design, and more performance. I've dealt with Dave numerous times over the last.... geez, maybe 15 years now? He has always been a pleasure for me to deal with, and I've never had a problem with anything he has done for me.

I'll design my own camshaft, though :-)

[nas t eh]

Originally Posted by 64speed

Which one are you using and why? The complete 455 I got has the low compression 4X heads so I am gonna buy one or the other. Cam will either be old faithful or stump puller I haven't decided yet.

Do you already have the headers or exhaust manifolds you will use or are they going to purchased at the same time?

If you are buying them too, then I would get ported round port E heads and use one of the recommended suppliers everyone here always mention, like SD, Butler and the others. All will recommend a cam and the rest of the parts that will work with their porting and set up.

One thing I think I would change if doing it over, These new heads flow so well on the exhaust side that I would lean towards a non split pattern cam or even a reverse split with more intake duration.
I bought from Butler and got lots of help with picking out everything, I had the headers already so I have d-ports. They have the heat cross over that round ports do not, but I will only use the car in the Summer anyway so not really needed.

[lust4speed]

I want to start off by saying my friends and I send a lot of business to both Kaufman and Butler for stroker kits and other parts, and really appreciate them both -- but when it comes to heads Dave gets the nod. Materials and workmanship are always top notch from Dave. I usually end up doing minor cleanup on the other's heads, and Dave's have always been ready to bolt on out of the box.

I haven't had any problems at all contacting Dave by email, and I can't really blame him for not taking the time to answer the phone. A one-man shop can either be chatting or working, and I know what I would choose. His email replies to me are usually time stamped pretty late at night, and that tells me he comes in after a full day in the shop and then hits the computer to catch up on inquiries.

[JLMounce]

I have as cast KRE d ports on my 455 straight from Kauffman. I looked at the edelbrocks as well and their slightly larger chamber and valvetrain setup for common flat tapper cams didn't mesh with my goals and they were about $150.00 more before any changes.

Going directly with KRE I was able to get the heads setup for the parts I was using and the turnaround time was quick.

I wanted SD prepped heads but I wasn't in a position that I could really wait.

Jeff Kauffman was great to work with, provided me a set of heads that I didn't have to touch and did everythi g he said he was going to, when he said he was going to do it.

[Navy Horn 16]

Both. E-Heads worked by KRE.

[Will]

if you're going to buy one of Dave's cams, why not run his heads too?

[Formula8]

KRE's by SD here. Absolutely nothing wrong with them but after seeing the most recent Edelbrock D-port casting quality, I believe that Edelbrock makes a better quality head and I would have went with them had their new combustion chamber been out when I ordered by KREs. Truth be told, if I had it all over to do again from scratch, I would have went with the Edelbrock round port with the new chambers.

[64speed]

How limited are my options for exhaust with the round port heads? Car is a 64 Tempest

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by lust4speed

I want to start off by saying my friends and I send a lot of business to both Kaufman and Butler for stroker kits and other parts, and really appreciate them both -- . I usually end up doing minor cleanup on the other's heads, and Dave's have always been ready to bolt on out of the box.

.

The old Edelbrock round ports done by Kauffman were CNC'd to flow 330 cfm and worked well right out of the box. However when they were sent to Bischoff he saw areas that could be improved. He did some work on them and they flowed 360 cfm. The large bathtub chambers turned out to be a blessing since these heads found their way onto a 571. Tony ended up opening them up more to keep it pump gas friendly. Even still it ended up at 10.84:1 with a zero decked flat top in it. Couldn't run a new modern chamber on this engine unless they made a big one in the 90+ cc range, lol.

[FrankieT/A]

I went with round ports primarily because my car originally came with round ports. All these heads offer excellent performance gains. I could have saved a ton of money by going with D ports.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Formula8

KRE's by SD here. Absolutely nothing wrong with them but after seeing the most recent Edelbrock D-port casting quality, I believe that Edelbrock makes a better quality head and I would have went with them had their new combustion chamber been out when I ordered by KREs. Truth be told, if I had it all over to do again from scratch, I would have went with the Edelbrock round port with the new chambers.

One reason I've been adverse to the Edelbrocks, was their past casting quality. Danny Reegan (former member "Goathead" on here) had a set on his old '65 GTO. A huge hunk of the chamber broke off from one of his chambers and tore up the motor. It was a fairly mild pump gas motor, and no nitrous ever. Edelbrock wasn't interested in looking at it, seeing pictures or anything. They basically said "stuff happens" and that was it.

I've not heard of anyone else having that happen to them, but I still remember looking at that head when it came off!

I'd love to see a direct comparison between the KRE and E D-ports.

[Formulajones]

When my father built his first 455, the Edelbrock round ports were the "go to" head at the time. There weren't any other choices, lol.

Today we almost have too many choices. The determining factor for me now just depends on the car, and which header or manifold I'm going to run before I decide on the type of exhaust port configuration.

In my mind I like the round port stuff because that has always been synonymous with Pontiac performance. But can pose a problem in some applications.

[ponyakr]

"...d-ports. They have the heat cross over that round ports do not, but I will only use the car in the Summer anyway so not really needed..."


If you want or need to use the exhaust heat crossover, the Edelbrock D-ports are the only choice.

[Navy Horn 16]

Originally Posted by 64speed

How limited are my options for exhaust with the round port heads? Car is a 64 Tempest

This is pretty much everything that is available in the industry. I have their page bookmarked. It's a lot easier than having other people look things up for you.

http://butlerperformance.com/c-12348...manifolds.html

[ponjohn]

Originally Posted by Lee

One reason I've been adverse to the Edelbrocks, was their past casting quality. Danny Reegan (former member "Goathead" on here) had a set on his old '65 GTO. A huge hunk of the chamber broke off from one of his chambers and tore up the motor. It was a fairly mild pump gas motor, and no nitrous ever. Edelbrock wasn't interested in looking at it, seeing pictures or anything. They basically said "stuff happens" and that was it.

I've not heard of anyone else having that happen to them, but I still remember looking at that head when it came off!

I'd love to see a direct comparison between the KRE and E D-ports.

Lee- In comparison of Ed D to KRE there have been very few ED-D results posted here.

With that said, the few I have seen required more timing.

I agree from the above statement that the new CNC chamber round ports would be an interesting head to use unported or just port matched.

[leeklm]

Have not run Edelbrock, but have had a set of 295 and 305cfm KRE dport from Dave. Delivery may take time, but worth the wait imo. Dave seems to like the kre d port for more flexibility, and I would have to assume he might have a little better profit margin with the kre.


Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[torqhead]

I went with KRE's D ports, 310 CFM ported by Kauffman. Customer service was incredible, I had a problem with one of the heads and they picked the pair up, ported a new one and ensured it matched the remaining good one and sent me all the gaskets required to put it back together on their dime. This was almost 2 years after I originally bought them and had run them on my motor for over a year.