aluminum or steel

[Bandit72]

in about a year i'm going to be doing some major work to my 413, and was wondering, is it worth it to buy edelbrock aluminum heads, or spend the money on redoing my steel ones? also what can i do to the edelbrock heads to give them more power yet, i have a comp cams .507 intake and .510 exhaust grind # XE284H - 10 this engine will probably be bored out to 426 domed pistons, roller rockers, chromoly steel rods, it already has a forged crank, right now it has an edelbrock dual plane intake (might be changed when i do all this work to the engine) and an edelbrock 750 carb, (again will probably be changed to a demon after everything's done) what do you all think about the heads, intake, and overall numbers i can look at for this engine....

[Ghoste]

You'll find a variety of opinions on the Eddy heads here.  Personally, I like them but when you get into head mods, there are a lot of other great choices on the market too.  Someone else can speak better to those.
I would lose the intake and get either a Holley Street Dominator or the M1 single plane.  I think both of them would work better with that cam.  I'd lost the carb too.  I love the Carter style ones for a street car but it sounds like you plan to use it once in a while and the Demon will let you tailor it.

[471_Magnum]

First off, they're not steel, they're cast iron. What castings are they (not that it will change my recommendation)?

Why are you messing with a 413? Unless it's going in a numbers matching car, get yourself a 440 core to work with.

Don't get me wrong, a 413 can be made to work, but you give up a bit over a 440, and I not just referring to displacement. The smaller bore size will cost you in terms of head flow. Pistons will probably cost you more as well. If you're going to do a serious engine build, don't skimp on the foundation.

I agree with Ghoste: You can't lose that Edelbrock carb fast enough, and the dual plane will be a bottle neck (unless it's a Performer RPM).

Nine times out of ten, you're bucks ahead with the E'brock heads at most performance levels. The one time out of ten they aren't, somebody either is himself, or is personal friend of, a cylinder head porting master.

[Bandit72]

First off, they're not steel, they're cast iron. What castings are they (not that it will change my recommendation)?

Why are you messing with a 413? Unless it's going in a numbers matching car, get yourself a 440 core to work with.

Don't get me wrong, a 413 can be made to work, but you give up a bit over a 440, and I not just referring to displacement. The smaller bore size will cost you in terms of head flow. Pistons will probably cost you more as well. If you're going to do a serious engine build, don't skimp on the foundation.

I agree with Ghoste: You can't lose that Edelbrock carb fast enough, and the dual plane will be a bottle neck (unless it's a Performer RPM).

Nine times out of ten, you're bucks ahead with the E'brock heads at most performance levels. The one time out of ten they aren't, somebody either is himself, or is personal friend of, a cylinder head porting master.

i realize the heads are cast iron, i just didn't type it for somereason, the reason i chose a 413 is because 1) i got a really good deal on this one, and it is a very clean engine 2) Alot of people tell me that 413's have thicker main castings and i know it already has a forged crank 3) 440's are near impossible to find in this area
I will get rid of the intake when i do all this, this will be the second time i've had this engine apart, the 1st time i just wanted to clean it up, replace all the gaskets, and then decided i'd ad a cam...it wasnt' going to be much more than a weekend driver (and i was going to put it in a 63 dodge d-100 shortbed pickup) now that i have my charger, i want to go all out....but anyway, what can be done to the eddy heads to give them alittle more umph for a reasonable price, i probably won't want to put any bigger valves in then they come with, probably just mill them abit and maybe a 3 angle valve job or something similar, there is a guy here in town that does polishing too so i'll probably have them polished...thanks everyone and keep the advise coming