Aluminum Intake and Heads

[dq409]

Had a talk with Rich today about his heads and intake.
Got to see the intake that was reworked to run on the stock and not so stock (small stroker) engines and I must say it looks impressive !@!!

The design is the same as his Z11 intake with the straight short runner but he has filled in the plenum and narrowed the runners.
This was done by Tony Shaffer on his flow bench so you know they will end up being a super HP manifold !!

There also is an added plenum divider that can be used for the street with the dual carb top plate or with the single carb top plate that is being added to the list of parts available.

Rich said the intake should be out by March or so if all goes well,, with the heads done by late spring,, May or June !

He wishes he could get them out earlier but like everyone else he does have to work for a living and uses his extra time doing the alum parts.

But when you think about it the first heads took him almost two years to do.
Rich is pushing hard to get these done at a record pace. Three months on his end.

You have to remember that after Rich has the patterns done it`s off to the caster to be cast , then all you have is a raw head.
From there they go to the machinist for the final machining and assembling.
This all takes time.

AND you have to figure all the others that have talked about building these parts and never got off the ground.

Rich is walking the talk !!

He does have the two new timing covers done and on the market.

AND,,,, new main bearing caps !!!

He has some other great stuff in the line up that he is working on that will blow your mind !!
I`d tell you about it ,,,, but then I would have to kill you !!
Under the hat stuff I promised not to tell !!

All in all in a very short time we will all have the after market heads and intake we`ve wanted,,,, and VERY HIGH QUALITY !!!!! ,,,dq

 

[jim_ss409]

This is good news! bang bang I can see it all now 10 second 409's on dragstrips all across the country.

 

[threeimpalas]

He does have the two new timing covers done and on the market.

Got any info on pricing, vendors, and pictures for these?

 

[09pwrd55]

Aluminum Heads

DQ!! Can you elaborate a little on the heads?? I,m guessing there going to be patterned after a 583!!! and will be compatable with stock intake and exhaust!!

Thanks' 09PWR

 

[JokersBel]

Now, i'll have to go and get a 409. Hmmm, i must've missed who "Rich" is, and I apologize, but i remember reading a while back about someone looking into Al heads. The intake too. I have seen Hitman posting recently, and should go buy his 425 as he's only a 15 minute drive from my house!

Jim

 

[dq409]

O9PWR, Yes these are patterned after the 583 heads but have the runners redesigned for a bunch more power !!!
They will work with any stock high HP manifold and exhaust but why?
When you can add his new manifold and take advantage of the better flow.
I think it would be counter productive to use these new heads with the inadequate stock intakes.
I can post a photo of the intake that he has resized for the stock cranked 09`s
This is a shot before the resizing but you can see how straight the runners are compared to the stock intakes :eek: ,,,dq

 

[09pwrd55]

Why?????

dq; Rich,s intake is cool but really thinking I need a set of those heads sitting under my MICKEY, Just was trying to decide weather it was time to save my nichols and dimes to ad these to my 409.
The second thing is paint them orange with stock intake and stroked bottom,then show the boys what that old truck motor will really do.

Not trying to start a war, but if you were wanting to buy the complete top end package ,It would be nuts not to use Rich,s Z11 stuff. But for some of us on a budget we may have to compromise what parts we install now and add the others later if desired. 09PWR

 

[No409]

how much Hp is the Walder intake worth over a stock 63 4bbl?
i have the walden intake for 690`s

 

[Mr Goodwrench]

besides everything else I like the top plate drilled for a square flange carb, can finally get away from those worthless AFB's without running an adpt plate.

 

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Gee DQ, I wonder if NHRA/IHRA would notice that under the hood of my Belair.
Maybe Rich should cast some with a "GM part number" on them

ooooh man.... would I like to try that thing out

 

[dq409]

09PWR,, I see your point and a good one it is !!!


Mr GoodW,,,,How about two sideways Holley`s ???



No409, As to your answer about HP increase over a stock single,,, I would say a bunch !!
Not avoiding a number but it all depends on so many varities that giving a number would only be a guess-ta-mate,,

Also ,,,your intake IS NOT a Walden !!! Once again,,,, THERE IS NO SUCH THING !!!

All the aluminum parts, heads, intakes, timing covers, etc. are Rich`s !!!

The CRW, is Rich`s logo
Lamar buys them from Rich then does his own machining to the heads.

The lastest new heads and the Z11 heads will be machined elsewhere and sold through Rich, Vince, Day Automotive , anyone else that buys and resells them and Lamar if he chooses to.

Lets get this right and give the credit where it is due !! That would be Rich Rojeski ,,,dq


.

 

[Mr Goodwrench]

it would be 2 holleys for me DQ!!! guess I should not critisize other carbs based on my own personal experiances

 

[No409]

Sorry DQ, i didnt know that.
il give credit where credit is due, to Rich. the intake i have is a beautiful piece. I also have a alum w/p with his logo on my 09

sorry for the confusion

 

[dq409]

No problem,,, ,,,dq

 

[Rockfish39]

Who is Rich????

WAIT WAIT WAIT.......Jim, who is Rich??? Does Rich own his own company??? I take it that there is no affiliation between Rich and LAMAR WALDEN, right???

I NEED PRICING for those aluminum heads and who to contact if I can afford to snap up a pair of them...

 

[threeimpalas]

WAIT WAIT WAIT.......Jim, who is Rich??? Does Rich own his own company??? I take it that there is no affiliation between Rich and LAMAR WALDEN, right???

Rich does the patterns and casting stuff. Lamar buys those parts from Rich, does his own machining on them, and then sells them to the end consumer.

 

[dq409]

WAIT WAIT WAIT.......Jim, who is Rich??? Does Rich own his own company??? I take it that there is no affiliation between Rich and LAMAR WALDEN, right???

Rich does the patterns and casting stuff. Lamar buys those parts from Rich, does his own machining on them, and then sells them to the end consumer.

Rockfish,ThreeImpalas,,, Rich Rojeski is partners in Portland Pattern here in Portland.

Rich does all the pattern work, has them cast and owns the patterns .
With Vince on board now, I believe he is now a partner with Rich, there is a broader experience base with more contacts to get things done.

It was to be a partnership between Rich and Lamar at first but Lamar just wanted to do the machining and build engines.

Lamar was also to do the marketing but IMO never got it right and tried to keep it to himself and you could only get the parts through his shop.
And he was very reluctant to sell you the parts if you didn`t have him (Lamar) build your complete engine.

This was counterproductive to what Rich wanted ,IMO.

Rich wants these parts to avaliable to anyone who wants them. ,,dq

BTW, Anyone who has been in contact with Rich or has lost contact with him should email him. He lost all his email and contact info when his computer died,,,


.

 

[SS425HP]

email

Jim, what is Rich's email address?????????

 

[dq409]

Fred, You have a PM,,,,,

I just talked to Rich again and I`m pushing him to step up to the new millennium and join the forum.

We`ll get together soon and i`ll give him a few lessons on how to post on a forum.

For anyone else that would like to contact him personally you can find his email address on my website on bottom of the "Engines" page Engines Page

The good news is the new heads will be price around $3500 !
Not bad considering that a used set of 690`s goes for two grand or more these days, if you can find them.
And these will out flow the 609`s !!!

He will let me know the flow numbers on the manifold and heads as soon as he gets them ,,, dq

 

[tmracing62]

I'm aware of the issues regarding Rich and Lamar. First I want to say that Rich is very professional and a gentleman and never once bad-mouthed Lamar to me. Lamar did what I wanted and did it well. He never said anything bad about Rich either. He has done a good job with the heads he sells as they have developed. Some have complained that Lamar buys parts way under fair market and sells them at market. It makes sense because he is in business and has to make a profit. Remember, he can take mismatched and parts in poor condition, repair and mix them with his inventory and they become useful instead of orphans. My opinion on how their business deal has evolved is not relevant here.

There have been a couple of posts recently about aluminum heads and parts. If you go with the aluminum heads Lamar sells, lots of other things - cam, manifold, headers, compression and more - have to change too. My engine as most of you know is one of those, with the only part in the engine that is stock being the block which has also been modified with four bolt mains, BBC crankshaft and a few more things. It was expensive, but worth it because it runs great on the street and will be competitive at the track and is hanging together without a single problem so far.

Rich is filling the gap between stock/slightly modified and Lamar's all out bank account shop vac. It depends on what you want. Neither is wrong or better. From the looks of it, you can use Rich's new heads and get the benefits without more major work. Then add the manifold and continue to build what you want a piece at a time as money becomes available. Or do it all at once. Whatever.

For those of you on the fence - while my engine with dual AVS carbs is easy to drive on the street, it has a higher, rough idle and needs 105 octane mixed half and half with pump premium to avoid detonation at higher street rpm. At the track, 110 octane is prudent. This, the level of required modifications and the cost are really good reasons for Rich to offer what he is. I do know that his work is pure working art and for him to be able to create these parts and keep the cost even distantly obtainable is a master stroke. It's not like he's got a huge market like the SB and BB Chevy for instance.

One last thing that may start a food fight - you can get a lot of hp and torque out of the stock bore and stroke with the parts he is building without going to machining the journals of a BBC crankshaft to get more cubic inches. And DQ mentioned something about main caps which makes me think he may be headed for 4 bolt mains and the possibility of using a BBC crank by machining the crank bearing bore size without machining the crank journals themselves. While opinions vary, this would be a definite plus IMO.