I see Edelbrock's Quality had not Changed

425/409ER

Well Known Member
Since I had to get the POS intake that was defective fixed years ago. Very sad to see, learned my leason buying anything form them anymore.

I found this on another board,

05-24-20 12:56 PM -
In response to 1965C-10

1965c-10'

I personally encountered the problem that Grumpy describes of dirty heads from Edelbrock, new in the box.

I ordered a pair of Edelbrock sbc heads, PN 60739, from Summit Racing.These are the only aftermarket heads I've ever bought and one of them was perfect and the other was full of aluminum chips from the machining processes. But the 50% defective rate was not what surprised me because anyone can make a mistake. What really shocked me were the responses I got from Summit and Edelbrock.

I first called Edelbrock because I honestly thought they would want to know. The guy who took my call was in total denial about what happened. He offered to sell me another head and told me to send in the dirty one to him at my expense. He then told me he would "look at it" and decide if I was telling the truth. He then went on to tell me that if his inspection failed to confirm my statements I would "be stuck with 3 heads". Obviously I declined that offer.

My next call was to Summit where the response was totally different. The Summit representative apologized profusely for the defective head. He then told me he was sending me a replacement head and a UPS "call tag" to pay for returning the defective head to Summit. The very next day a UPS driver showed up with the replacement head and the call tag!

So in my very limited experience:
1. Edelbrock quality control is lousy.
2. Edelbrock customer service is beyond lousy, it's rude and abusive.
3. Summit Racing customer service is excellent and Summit totally stands behind what it sells.
 

1958 delivery

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Would you buy a head from anyone and not check it out before installation? Just metal shavings is not a big deal if everything checks out. I would disassemble any head and check guide clearance, valve seat, spring pressure etc. You install straight out of the box and stick a valve you know they'll blame you
 

Skip FIx

Well Known Member
Heck almost every aftermarket part I've bought you have to double check. My machinist has even told me high dollar Carillo and Oliver rods sometimes are out of spec.

My new Eagle '09 stroker crank had terrible journal taper out of the box and had to be turned. ATI balancer was too loose on the Eagle crank snout that was in spec, had to buy their hone to fit hub. My Stef's pan did not fit the 09 block had to send it back then even massage it and they said they have a block they use to make them with. That is just my '09 build, a number of Pontiac builds with similar issues.

Try getting an aftermarket block for any motor Chevy or Pontiac -a lot of prep work beside a bore and hone job no matter who makes them.

Over the years I've personally had good luck with Edelbrock tech. Had them send me free head bolts I lost 2 of a set. Sent me the updated 409 Dual quad rear baffle setup for free. Foundry's aluminum seems to have much less porosity issues then many of the smaller companies parts.

Sent my Pontiac E heads off to be CNC and totally assmebled-came back pouring CNC shaving out of every coolant hole ahd to dissamble and reassemble. Aftermarket block the rear main seal literally dropped in as the groove was machined to big.

Kind of goes with the territory.
 
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