[Red Dragon]

Anyone have experience with aftermarket heads for the 2.6L engine. Any recommendations?

 

[MarkB.NV]

Search terms would be Clearwater or AMC.
And welcome newbie! ccasion5:

 

[chuffer]

Search terms would be Clearwater or AMC. The AMC heads are more expensive and located in Washington area, but have established a good reputation.

And welcome newbie! ccasion5:

[Nitpick] As far as I can tell AMC heads are manufactured in Spain. Aluminum Head Rebuilders is a distributor of AMC heads in Portland OR. [/Nitpick]

As to the OP's question, an AMC head with valves is $625 if you have a core. So far I only have 3k miles on mine, so I really cant say much besides so far so good...

 

[caveman]

I'm running the clearwater head. So far so... well, parked due to high gas prices! But its definitly thicker, check my build thread under members ride for pictures.

 

[Metal88]

theres also king cylinder head as well which is what im running in my 88

 

[maxwell417]

Clearwater head in my 89RS about 9.000 miles so far and all is well.

http://cylinder-heads.com/

 

[Gen1Trooper]

I have about 1500 miles on an AMC but it was installed before I got the Trooper by the previous owner..I would guess it wasnt on for long before he parked the Trooper for other problems..so far seems fine..

 

[Red Dragon]

Well, here is what I've found out so far. I called Aluminum Head Rebuilders and AMC heads are pretty much unavailable. Chinese heads are what he can get. Clearwater also uses Chinese heads (w/ valves/seats and springs for $325) with a 5yr guarantee.

The person I talked to at Clearwater said that the OEM heads were a bad design corrected with the aftermarket casting. But the person I talked to at Aluminum Head Rebuilders said that the OEM casting was fine and the problem was the how the valve seats were ground. Too close to the edge which caused localized high heat which lead to cracks or burnt valves.

Sheeze, who's right???

 

[chuffer]

Well, here is what I've found out so far. I called Aluminum Head Rebuilders and AMC heads are pretty much unavailable. Chinese heads are what he can get. Clearwater also uses Chinese heads (w/ valves/seats and springs for $325) with a 5yr guarantee.

The person I talked to at Clearwater said that the OEM heads were a bad design corrected with the aftermarket casting. But the person I talked to at Aluminum Head Rebuilders said that the OEM casting was fine and the problem was the how the valve seats were ground. Too close to the edge which caused localized high heat which lead to cracks or burnt valves.

Sheeze, who's right???

Huh. I just got my AMC head from AHR a couple of months ago. Strange that they can't get them now.

I think the truth about the heads lies somewhere in the middle of all of the different urban legends and wives tales. If you search here long enough, you will find a thread in which JLEMOND gives some history on the OEM castings, valve seats and associated issues. I think his word is about as close to unadulterated fact as it gets as far as OEM Isuzu tech goes.

Anything that a sales guy at distributor that sells parts for hundreds of different makes says about a design defect on a specific part from a single manufacturer is suspect at best.

In the end, a new casting, regardless of source, installed correctly with a good cooling system should work well for a long time - perhaps longer than the life of the vehicle at this stage...

EDIT: as if I hadn't said enough already. :roll: I would avoid a used head no matter what.

 

[Red Dragon]

Thanks for the tip on posts from JLEMOND. His post help clear things up a bunch for me!

 

[isuzufool]

I am running a TopLine new cylinder head on the trooper with no issues so far. It seemed to be a nice part to me, and got it for the right price from a fellow member here that needed to get rid of it!