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Well, it's been almost 2 years since the new Edelbrock heads were supposed to be released. Whenever the release date comes up, it then gets pushed back another 3-5 months. So far, Summit is showing a June 20, 2022 date but that's about as believable as the earth being flat
Life is short, I know a handful of people who died in the past year and waiting around while life passes you by, is stupid. I opted for the SpeedMaster heads and they worked out fine.
So is there any REAL updates on these heads or just speculation and more release dates that come and go?
I seen on FB that the BB heads were going to be ready in July, this is not a fact but a guess, I asked on Edelbrock page chat about the sb heads and they just ignored the question. Seen a guy in that thread pre paid for a set Jan 2020 so Its been more than 2 years. My last hold date will be July and if there is no news I will have to get some irons done as I want and need to move my build along.
Here what Bernard Mondello thinks but of course its not fact.
Last edited by skyhigh; April 21st, 2022 at 11:40 AM.
Well, if waiting for the Edelbrocks means NOT driving your classic Olds, I wouldn't wait and just get SpeedMaster or iron heads and get the car rolling again. That's 2+ years of ones life they can't get back and enjoy the summer time cruising their Olds. No guarantee you will be alive to enjoy it if one keeps waiting.
Personally, I would prefer if they would just say, "Unknown availability date - Please check back later". Instead of giving out dates, the dates come and go, and then they give out more future dates, they come and go, and the process is being repeated over and over now for 2+ years. It's all BS if I am to be blunt about it.
Last edited by pettrix; April 21st, 2022 at 12:23 PM.
Its not just Edelbrock there are supply chain issues with a lot of speed equipment company's. The majority of sectors are suffering form this, I had to wait over a year for a front load washer bellows and I'm still waiting on a FP breaker.
I would have to agree bolt on what ever heads you have and enjoy your car.
So what's my point its not Edelbrocks fault there are issues in all sectors. I have to give Edelbrock credit, when many speed equipment companies stopped or never produced speed equipment. Edelbrock has continued to supply the Oldsmobile community.
There would be no copy cat heads if it was not for Edelbrock.
All the old guys that knew how to do things. Took early retirement in the pandemic.
That and as I said before somewhere here on OC. The Ever Given that was stuck in Suez Canal. Was the start of supply line problems, pandemic was the nail in the coffin.
And now ''China’s COVID-19 lockdown is inflaming the world’s supply chain backlog, with 1 in 5 container ships stuck outside congested ports. Ships have been piling up outside Shanghai, the world’s largest port, and other container docks across China as authorities have forced multiple cities into lockdownto counter the country’s worst COVID outbreak since the pandemic began.''
Better not worry about Edelbrock heads,they are no good without cam bearings. Call your local or national parts vendor and try buying a set of Olds V-8 cam bearings.. We bought the last set we could find @ Rock Auto.
Last edited by 66-3X2 442; April 23rd, 2022 at 05:47 PM.
Better not worry about Edelbrock heads,they are no good without cam bearings. Call your local or national parts vendor and try buying a set of cam bearings.. We bought the last set we could find @ Rock Auto.
Yep. Anybody that hasn’t realized that the whole world is in one kind of shortage or another must be living under a rock
It's not just Edelbrock heads, try finding Speed Master heads right now. I blew a head gasket a few weeks back. At the time I didn't know if I could use my iron heads or if the block was still good, so I didn't order any parts. Back then I could have gotten bare SM heads. Now, there are none in stock that I can find and the "estimated" shipping date is late June or early July. Fortunately, there were no cracks in my heads, so hopefully the can be milled.
Better not worry about Edelbrock heads,they are no good without cam bearings. Call your local or national parts vendor and try buying a set of Olds V-8 cam bearings.. We bought the last set we could find @ Rock Auto.
Glad I stocked up a few months back. I have four sets sitting on the shelf. And before anyone asks, no they are not for sale.
I tried for months to get Edelbrock heads. I lucked out and found set on Racingjunk.com. I emailed and called Edelbrock many times, If you call during the day as i did numerous times the message says to call back during business hours. My engine builder said they got bought by another big company . I myself dont think they are still in business , they have almost no items left on their website. I hope they survive I have not heard many good things about the speedmaster,,,China made. I go with a good set of cast iron before id go Speedmaster .
Again, lots of inaccurate info here. I guess it’ll never stop.
Edelbrock is NOT out of business. They were behind the 8 ball before they moved but had to bite the bullet and move at some point. And they had to hire new people as not everybody followed from Torrence CA.
They’ve been owned by this company for over 10 years, but again just now made the merger. Vic sold it years ago.
Done dozens of sets of the Speedmasters over the years. Castings are fine, not totally concentric, but otherwise fine.
And the new Edelbrock 4150 style carb is a pretty trick piece. 4 air bleeds per throat so you can really get a great fuel curve.
Last edited by cutlassefi; April 27th, 2022 at 04:21 AM.
Edelbrock got sold off and absorbed by one of those corporate giant private equity firms, Industrial Opportunity Partners (IOP). First thing they do is fire workers, cut pay rates and gut the company so it operates but the labor expenses are cut in half. Private equity firms are all about profits for its share and stake holders. Unlike when owned by Vic Edelbrock, it no longer has anything to do with honoring the family name or providing the best product for the hobbyists. Those days are gone and never coming back.
What can be debated is how this will affect the Olds aftermarket parts from Edelbrock. Time will tell. I don't see Oldsmbobile being a priority and money maker for IOP/Edelbrock so I don't expect to see any rush or focus on providing Olds parts for the hobbyists. The heads will probably show up at some point but they will run out of stock quickly and another production run probably won't happen for years or maybe never again, that's my take on it.
Last edited by pettrix; April 27th, 2022 at 12:20 PM.
I don’t like waiting for anything! I’d rather just work with what I have eventually things will come around and if they don’t so be it.I also don’t like being price gouged and given a line of crap why.
I've used the SpeedMaster 455 heads and they are good. Just make sure you go over the heads and have a good shop check everything. Running them now and no issues.
I think SpeedMaster is the way to go for now until something better comes along. Unless you really need to (OEM resto), running iron heads makes no sense. The aluminum heads give you a weight reduction, better flow (especially if ported), you can run higher compression with aluminum heads, more power, less prone to detonate with aluminum heads, etc.
When on sale, you could have gotten a bare casting SpeedMaster 455 heads for around $600.
Last edited by pettrix; April 27th, 2022 at 10:59 AM.
I've used the SpeedMaster 455 heads and they are good. Just make sure you go over the heads and have a good shop check everything. Running them now and no issues.
I think SpeedMaster is the way to go for now until something better comes along. Unless you really need to (OEM resto), running iron heads makes no sense. The aluminum heads give you a weight reduction, better flow (especially if ported), you can run higher compression with aluminum heads, more power, less prone to detonate with aluminum heads, etc.
When on sale, you could have gotten a bare casting SpeedMaster 455 heads for around $600.
Now to break some hearts. They ran a massive sale on all their parts for a day or two, with a large percentage off, and I think I got them bare for less than $600 with free shipping, and if memory is correct closer to $400-450.
Never trust the parts guys or machinist, and always check the stuff yourself and fix it yourself, if you can. Not everyone is smart nor honest, and then there is the plain old human error factor. The only two things I concern on these are using stainless valves and bronze guides instead of steel, (for normal non race longevity).
For umpteenth time, out of the box they don’t flow much better than a big valve iron.
And not sure if the guy that unboxed them has ever seen cyl head ports before. Hopefully you can all see how eccentric the cast port is vs the CNC’d entry and exit.
Again decent cyl head, just needs some work.
I doubt low lift, in reality is a real problem on power, as air flow is low on any heads at low lift and extremely momentary, at that low lift point. The deeper into the valve pocket and bowl area is where the flow changes for better or worse.
I doubt low lift, in reality is a real problem on power, as air flow is low on any heads at low lift and extremely momentary, at that low lift point. The deeper into the valve pocket and bowl area is where the flow changes for better or worse.
Correct. Back in the cast iron era I would spend my after school hours working the valve pocket area on C heads for my enduro car. Did not cost anything just some dremel bits and time. Bought a set of Joe Mondello ported heads back in the day and used them to compare to a stock set. Almost all his work was in the valve pocket area and the angles on the valve seat.
Correct. Back in the cast iron era I would spend my after school hours working the valve pocket area on C heads for my enduro car. Did not cost anything just some dremel bits and time. Bought a set of Joe Mondello ported heads back in the day and used them to compare to a stock set. Almost all his work was in the valve pocket area and the angles on the valve seat.
I was porting heads back when flow was measured @5", and almost no one had a flow bench. But what's funny is I ported for others for free, and never did on my own heads for one reason or another. I was hanging out in a hot rod machine shop from early 1970 until about 1987.
A June release date for the big block head is looking better at this point.
In addition, it looks like they’re going to move forward on the small block head as well, as all testing is done to this point. My name will be attached to those upon their release. I would think fall would be a good estimate for that.
As I have said before, the small block head will be a game changer. Even a mild 350 build will yield close to 450hp with these heads, with lots of potential.
Last edited by cutlassefi; May 5th, 2022 at 04:02 PM.
April 21st, 2022, 08:48 AM
