Engn Bldr Head (1 Viewer)

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Jan 31, 2011
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Location
Loomis, California
Anyone out there purchase an engn bldr head in last few years and have problems with them?? His heads were esteemed to be premium quality among other heads hence why I bought it. I have about 15k on the head with a LCE torque cam installed. In the past 2 months I’ve broke 2 valve springs and when I dropped off my head yesterday, my machinist said my exhaust valve seats were smoked. Needless to say I’m really disappointed with the head. Ted is no longer in business or else I would contact them. Just wondering if anyone else has had issues?
 
Probably stirring the pot because I have no first hand experience but I think I read somewhere that as good as engblder was alleged, the product was inferior to OEM and what else is available aftermarket wise. Along the lines of not total chinese crap but still cheap s*** and you get what you pay for.

If the casting is good do a valve service with powdered or better seats and oem or oem equivalent valves and valvetrain and send it.
 
Yea, the more I poke around the more I realize that everything is junk compared to OEM. Most of my research was on how well the casting was and not on the valvetrain and components were... current plan is to have my machinist pimp out this head and run it. Next question is how well are the 22re performance and LCE heads? For 1k I’d hope that one wouldn’t have this issue but just curious. Just wanted to give the next guy a heads up about the Engnbldr heads. The valve springs and seats are junk.
 
I have used engnbldr parts in the past a few times, some were good, some not. Went through a few timing chain kits on several 22REs, but I always tossed the gaskets and got OEM. @yotadude520 the pistons and cam, and the "turbo" oil pump in the red truck came from him, I think the valves too. Timing stuff is all OEM except the guides which are the DOA steel ones. All the gaskets are OEM. Block and head are original, but both have been shaved flat.

Never had the occasion to buy one of his heads, but I always heard good things about them "back in the day" (when he was still open). He sure was a nice guy, I hope he is enjoying his retirement.
 
OEM heads are still available but they run around $800. I was hoping that Ted had someone to pass the business onto....
How’s KLF’s sweet red xtra cab these days? It’s in the Rockies yea?
 
So, update on my head build... First off, gotta give credit where credit is due. The guys at Redline engine builders are awesome! Super helpful and nice along with great prices! Purchased his 281C Torker cam which he explained to me in detail was all around better than LCE’s Torque cam at $100 less. They make their cams in house and have been doing so for the last 25 years. Pretty bummed that I’m having to spend upwards of $800 to get this head done right but I guess it is what it is. Also gotta say that I’m not overly satisfied with LCE. I’ve been buying their stuff for the last decade and have recently come to the realization that they aren’t all that great... bought their street springs and retainers to put in my head and upon installation my machinist said that the springs were super sloppy with their “matching” retainers. I guess the retainer is supposed to fit nicely inside the spring with little to no play. These were all over the place. Not ever close. My machinist really didn’t like this at all. When I asked LCE about it they said it was fine. My machinist disagrees entirely. Performance 22re on the other hand, has a true matched set of springs and retainers. These guys put a lot of love and passion into their products and have things specifically designed for them. I’m not trying to trash talk anyone just giving some insight on my findings.
 
I was never impressed with LCE, even though I had a few of their products. The red truck has one of their headers on it. But I was not happy with their "exhaust stud kit". Put them in, then they pulled right out of the head as I was torquing the header down. Yanked them out, in the trash. Helicoiled all the stripped holes, then put OEM studs in.
 
After my dealings with LCE with buying a short block from them I have stayed very far away from them.
 
Good info, I'll be following your lead! I couldn't afford a head right now so I ended up just swapping in another motor I had, but I'd like to down the road.
 
After my dealings with LCE with buying a short block from them I have stayed very far away from them.

Really??? Very curious what happened with this??
 
I was never impressed with LCE, even though I had a few of their products. The red truck has one of their headers on it. But I was not happy with their "exhaust stud kit". Put them in, then they pulled right out of the head as I was torquing the header down. Yanked them out, in the trash. Helicoiled all the stripped holes, then put OEM studs in.

Ironically, I remember reading somewhere not to get their exhaust stud kit and specifically to get OEM. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was you! I am a fan of their header though. A bit pricey but then again everything they offer is high dollar. Idk, for being a “22re” specialist they sure don’t have all the answers...
 
So, update on my head.... got it back and am pretty happy minus LCE’s horrible customer service. Final product is the original egn bldr head and valves with new seats, redline 281 cam, LCE springs, 22re performance retainers and keepers...aka frankenhead. I am to run zinc oil from now on as advised by both my machinist and the great guys from redline. Anyone else run zinc oil?? So Got it all installed and running Monday and am just working out some minor kinks. My machinist and the guy from redline cams worked together and selected the LCE springs for their pressure rates upon unloading. Nothing against 22re performance, in fact, I would rather have used all their products... all around better company. I guess LCE just buys products from other companies and just slaps their name on them. My machinist thinks they are super tech springs? Says they look identical and the pressure rates are the same. Great springs all in all but LCE’s “matching” retainers didn’t come close to fitting. They were super sloppy inside the spring. Don’t buy! Lol. The 22re performance ones actually fit them perfectly.

So anyways... after years of running down the rabbit hole of power lust for the infamously underpowered 22r and spending tons of money on various upgrades I was always left feeling unsatisfied. Upon reinstalling my accelerator cable I realized that my accelerator pedal wasn’t actually opening up my throttle body all the way!! Such an idiot. It’s like when a kid leans left and right with a controller in hopes to make them steer more in either direction, I would smash the crap out of my pedal in hopes of more power. After fixing it I damn near crapped myself with the outcome I got. My truck has never ran so good and been so peppy. Best power upgrade I could ask for!! Check your pedals!

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