aluminum cylinder head for a 4.0

[opie5150]

Has any one put a aluminum cylinder head in a 4.0 ? What would be the advantige or disadvantige of this? thanks for the help

 

[gradon]

Visit the Hesco forum and ask.

 

[5-90]

Advantage of an aluminum head is that you can run higher compression with ping (aluminum conducts heat better than iron,) and it's about 30-40 pounds lighter (if weight is a factor for you.)

Disadvantage? You almost have to run a higher compression ratio, and aluminum expands twice as much as iron due to heat (I'm surprised there hasn't been any complaint about "scrubbing out" head gaskets yet - but they probably designed a new one along with the cylinder head. The OEM and replacement gaskets are designed for iron/iron, not iron/aluminum.)

Also, since they get it as a raw casting, they can CNC it for consistency in the ports and chambers, and you can probably get larger valves (if that's important to you - but it's not a huge deal unless you're going all-out with forced induction and the like.)

A huge disadvantage is cost - both Patriot Performance and HESCO want somewhere north of a thousand dollars for the thing.

I've not been on the HESCO fori for a little while, I'll have to go back there and see what's new.

 

[opie5150]

thanks for the info. Alabama cylinder head ( www.acheinc.com ) has one complete for 495. I am in the process of rebuilding my motor and thought that might be a little cheaper then a stroker kit for some more power.

 

[Kittrell]

I see a Ford 4.0 and a "Coming Soon" for the Jeep 4.0, and a bare assembly as well. Hesco's is around $1200 IIRC

 

[opie5150]

I called today and they said they have one for the jeep