Anyone use the Hesco Head?

[yossarian19]

So, I was talking to a long-time wrenching buddy about the long and glorious history of the Jeep 4.0 and, of course, started bad-mouthing its successor the 3.7, claiming that the Jeep 4.0 with updated technology in the head & intakes is a far superior beast blah blah blah
If I'm correct, the Hesco head should at 30 HP to an otherwise stock 4.0 and according to dyno numbers at http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6355
the 99 intake should add 32 at the crank.
So, I'm going to be conservative and say a well-built 4.0 with Hesco's more modern head, 99 intake and decent headers / breathing upgrades and increased compression ratio (hey, aluminum lets you get away with it) should make 250+ horsepower.
Anyone use the Hesco head? Are their claims true? Is there hope for a modern, performance oriented 4.0 top end?

[urban yan]

Anyone use the Hesco head? Are their claims true? Is there hope for a modern, performance oriented 4.0 top end?
Aren't they 2k?

[jeepinwi]

I wish I could remember which forum this came from, but I remember a person who installed a Hesco head and got only minimal gains(less than 10 hp). Hesco claimed he did not install it correctly, didn't do this, didn't do that, and basically beat around the bush about getting a true 30 hp gain.

Edit: after searching, I found this thread was originally posted on the Hesco Forum, but has since been removed. Long story short, the head was NOT all it was hyped up to be.

[yossarian19]

Depressing news, really.
Of course, what I really want to see is a cross flowing head and until that happens, I daydream about TIGing two 3.7 heads together ;)

[aparke4]

what i remember too is that it is about 30 lbs lighter

[REDDOGG.XJ]

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813869

[jeepinwi]

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813869

THank you very much for finding that thread.

[yossarian19]

Wow, that is even more disheartening.
I guess the sunny side is still that you can run higher CR on cheap gas... oh joy.

[beakie]

don't know much about it, well nothing for that matter.

but they also have a few heads to choose from. the aluminum one your talking about (I presume) and a stock one which is just machined out, like a port n polish I think.

I don't understand how the aluminum could add 30hp. Yes lower temps, and properly machined posts would help, but 30hp seems quite healthy indeed.
I think the stock head they machine would be a good option since it keeps things so uniform across the board. But the $$ seems excessive.

There is talk, has been for a while too, about him getting enough orders for a full aluminum 4.0 block. $10k I think it was gonna be... ouch.

[ehall]

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813869

man I got bummed out just reading that

[seanyb505]

Not me. I can now rest easy that I dont have 2000 dollars laying around to buy it! But that turbo system... man thats pissing me off

[yossarian19]

Ported big valve head with 10:1 compression would make the aluminum head worthwhile but Dino is talking 20 horse from higher compression - call it $100 / horse. Silly.
Hesco claims the block should be much stronger and able to be expanded more. That would be neat, I guess, to run more displacement with SBC valved & ported head.
Still want to see a cross-flow.
Hell, I'll just build a stroker when my 4.0 quits and if I need more, I'll go SBC. My old man always has chebby parts laying around...

[JNickel101]

So, I was talking to a long-time wrenching buddy about the long and glorious history of the Jeep 4.0 and, of course, started bad-mouthing its successor the 3.7, claiming that the Jeep 4.0 with updated technology in the head & intakes is a far superior beast blah blah blah
If I'm correct, the Hesco head should at 30 HP to an otherwise stock 4.0 and according to dyno numbers at http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6355
the 99 intake should add 32 at the crank.
So, I'm going to be conservative and say a well-built 4.0 with Hesco's more modern head, 99 intake and decent headers / breathing upgrades and increased compression ratio (hey, aluminum lets you get away with it) should make 250+ horsepower.
Anyone use the Hesco head? Are their claims true? Is there hope for a modern, performance oriented 4.0 top end?


Not to go completely off topic, but in that link you posted, there is a "writeup" about removing the fan clutch and using a fan clutch eliminator. Anyone else ever done that?

[wolfpackjeeper]

A friend of mine is currently building a stroker, and I will be going this route on a head sometime in the near future.

From what I remember, His machine shop guy matched up a cam to his 4.7 application, put in larger valves and machined it to seat correctly, a little bit of a port and polish(said if he did too much on intake he would lose power), and some other jazz. He will probably see a much bigger gain than that hesco head, for much less. Hopefully if he sees this he will chime in.

[Dr. Dyno]

So, I'm going to be conservative and say a well-built 4.0 with Hesco's more modern head, 99 intake and decent headers / breathing upgrades and increased compression ratio (hey, aluminum lets you get away with it) should make 250+ horsepower.


You might get 250hp but it's likely that you'll need Hesco's aluminium head, adjustable roller rockers, ported '99+ intake, 62mm TB, Hesco H264 cam, all the other external bolt-on paraphenalia, and a Unichip with dyno tune to get there.
Hesco claim a 30hp gain from their head alone on a 4.0 but they don't tell you the caveat which is that you also need to have all the stuff listed above. HP costs money but when it comes to Hesco's stuff, you could easily end up spending $4000 just to reach that 250hp target.