Heads...

[Kev]

Anyone know anything about Brothers heads?  Great price wondering if you all know anything about the brand.

[CatBox]

Which heads are you specifically looking for/at?

What level do you want to reach?

I just went through this for the last few months....so much research I have done.

Brothers has a great reputation over on the samba with most of the reviews positive.

I am going to assume you are after a stage one type of head, yes, with 40x35.5 valves, 3 angle valve job, and some porting work.

You are already looking at the Brothers option. There is also the Los Panchito from CB, the Steve Tims stage one head (i am kinda partial to this builder), AJ sims of Low Bugget has some, and the DRD L3's.  I am sure there are more out there but these are the most available. 

Check the reviews of all of these people/businesses on the samba in the feedback section.  The last two builders seem to have some time frame issues that do not look at all like fun to wait for.  The Tims heads that I ordered last tuesday should be here in two weeks, not bad for a custom ported head, we shall see just how close they come to the ETA as I have heard it is good.

These are all options in the $600 range and will give a swell bump in performance over the stock option.
 

[Kev]

Yes... well 600 a head is way out of my range.  I'm looking at the 40 x 35.5's that they have at DIP.  Also there is a Samba add for Brothers for only 210 a head or so...  I'm going to build a 1968cc like I had before, but with better heads. Should be awesome.

[CatBox]

$600 a set.  $600 per one would be the price for a signature style racehead...

I paid $785 for my Stage 2's.  They have the 42x37. valves and bigger oval ports....

These ($600) will be in the same price range as the ones they sell at DIP, only ported to your liking for more power.
 

[CatBox]

Tims heads
http://performance-workshop.com/aboutus.aspx

Brothers heads
http://www.brothersvwmachineshop.com/

CB Los Panchitos
http://www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=1794

AJ Sims
http://www.lowbugget.com/main_page.html

DRD heads
http://www.drdracingheads.com/heads/heads_L3.php

Some reading material for you....

Dont make a hasty choice only because it is there in front of you, you will leave power on the table.  That would be why I saved all my pennies and ended up with the cool stuff I did...

If you buy from the Tims you can send them your intake manifolds for free intake match porting to the heads new shape.

[Kev]

Wow thanks Peter!  Great info.  I may go with the Tim's if I can get em for 600 a set.  The thick wall set sounds interesting... but not sure I want to cut the case again. I might be tempted to go for a bigger stroke than 74 then!

[CatBox]

The thick wall 92's I believe can be bought with the bottom register cut sown to the actual 90.5/92 case hole opening.  That way you then just need to buy the heads with the 94mm size in the head.  No extra cuts needed.

I am building up a little 142with cubic incher....with roughly an estimated 150-175 daily drivable horsepower.  Think of it as a big block for my VW,  loads of low end grunt.

That will be alot better than the paper bag tearing amount of torque I have now.....

[CatBox]

I think the stage one tims heads are actually $590......

What kinda power are you on the hunt for?

What cam?

[Kev]

Well I am not sure just how much power I am after. Not as much as you but maybe a bit more than my old 1968cc motor gave me. That one had stock heads.  I have a Scat cam in it nothing radical. Drivability is important.

[Kev]

The thick walled 92's sound like a good idea.  I would like to get into the 110 to 120 hp range if possible. Considering 1.25 rockers.  With HPMX 40's and a sweet set of heads should be do-able.  Either the Pocket-Port from Simms or the Panchito look pretty good to me.  Not sure about the extra cost for porting, if it is needed at this level.  The Bandito or HP Big Valve from Sims would save me a chunk of change.  I will still need to get carbs.

[CatBox]

Read Read Read....

Power is in the heads.
The better the head the easier the power will come for any sized engine, even stock.

Call each shop you are interested in and discuss your proposed combo with them and they should be able to help you with cam selection and compression ratio.  They like to know what vehicle it is going into, what your driving style is, and what level of power you want.  How do you want the power to come on?  Pull like a tractor at the bottom, peaky high strung racer boy style high rpm power, or like my combo an all around stomper with a flat torque curve for pulling off the line and enough top end to scare me into lifting.

Review the feed back for each of the companies that you are interested in doing business with as well...

AJ Sims
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=174119

DRD Racing Heads
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=219319

AA performance dealer (92 thickwalls)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=60388

Brothers VW
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=244593&highlight=brothers

CB Performance
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=156828&highlight=performance

Steve Tims
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=444388&highlight=steve+tims

Oh and here is one I forgot MoFoCo
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=224339&highlight=mofoco

Some of these threads have been started some time ago so you will have to invest some time in reading through them.  I would also say that you need to actually call and talk with somebody on the phone at the shops that you are interested in to get a feel how they treat you over the phone.

The MoFoCo thread starts out with a bad review but all that I have read lately is shining reviews as they have continually made the efforts to upgrade their products.  They are also made in the usa.
 

[Kev]

Well I will never have anything to do with AJ Simms or his shop Low Budget.  Yikes.

[CatBox]

Yeah Mark has some first hand experience with that one.

I was told about two weeks for my heads to be at my door, from what I have read this is actually a close depiction of the actual process.  We shall see when it happens, but I have good faith in who I have chooses to spend my hardearned cash with.

[Kev]

I am leaning towards going with him as well. Still not sure about ported or not. Probably will go for them though.  Don't have manifolds to send him to match up anyways.

[Kev]

Sent an e-mail off to Steve Tims tonight.  Still wondering if the extra price of the stage 1 ported heads vs. the big valves is worth the extra money on a relatively small motor like a 1968cc.  I expect to make plenty of power, as the 1968cc I had in the blue bug was awesome with stock heads.  Brothers Machine has big valve heads for only 205.00 each, but there ported ones look to be at least 700 for the set.