Do not buy these heads!

[SappySE107]

Ebay Racing Heads

These are the heads purchased by a member here that were sent to me. Im sure I posted up pics and specs on it here but im on dial up so if someone wants to link it please do. They are horribly ported, flow less than stock on both sides and aren't clean at all. I had to clean them up enough to flow them but they need to be torn down completely and cleaned.

They are not stainless steel valves. I have a set here. They are stock springs too so big deal. They are on consignment but not by the guy that had this work done. If they were finished by Zigouras Racing, then I wouldn't do business with them either as these heads are in very sad shape. It was beginner work at best, and I think a beginner would at least finish them better.

I was hoping the current owner would get a refund on these but alas they are screwing him over on this deal even though they horribly misrepresented their product in the earlier auction (claimed swirl polished valves equal to manley. They said the springs were performance springs).

I hate to see this kind of crap on ebay and I don't want anyone to get burned on these. I can't warn everyone but the people that see this site can share this information if they see them brought up or want to warn others. Only the rockers are worthwhile, and they aren't mint. They have wear marks where something has hit.

[SappySE107]

http://60degreev6.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=8537

Original Auction

"These heads were professionally built for a customer by Zigouras Racing, Inc. and several other machine shops. The heads were designed to produce extremely high compression (up to 12;1 with flat top pistons), and extremely high RPMs (up to 8000 before valve float). The ports are large enough to support over 400hp at only 8 psi boost. We've had similar heads dyno at over 360 horsepower naturally aspirated, with 12.5;1 compression. They were fully ported (possibly by Circle Performance Racing Engines in Brockton) and flow benched at a cost of over $800. The final machine work was done by Zigouras Racing, and all new hardware was installed. Springs are GM Performance, and valves appear to be Manley stainless steel Severe Duty or similar type of valve. The castings themselves appear to be the lightweight GM castings. They also have a set of Crane Cams 1.60;1 ratio aluminum roller rocker arms. These arms are FULL needle bearing rollers with roller tip, that retail for almost $400 a set (these are the Gold Series, I believe). All said and done, the customer has almost $2000 into these heads. We are now selling these heads for him on consignment, with a very low starting bid. Please do NOT bid on these heads if you do not have the funds to purchase them right away. We've had several people bid on these in the past, and we had to relist them. Buyer pays actual S&H. Since these heads were specifically designed for extreme racing application, no warranty is available for them. "

[SappySE107]

So now they are talking to me direct. Joy.

"Eloy valves are mostly nickle, steel and chrome, so yes, they are considered a stainless alloy. Certain grades of stainless contain some iron for strength.

We did the finishing work, but the customer did the final assembly. From what we've seen, these heads are clean. If there is any residue left of them, they can easily be cleaned. I doubt the residue will affect the performance of the heads any."

SBI valves aren't stainless. They are better quality than stock but they aren't listed as stainless.

They also say they didnt do the final assembly. But they said this in their first listing.

"The final machine work was done by Zigouras Racing, and all new hardware was installed."

So who did the final assembly? Whoever it was didn't care that they weren't clean at all.

So I told them to check the post I made on the main site page telling everyone to avoid their heads. Their reply.

"We never lied about the quality of these heads; we stated them as best we could with the available information that we had. We cannot verify what the customer tells us on a consignment sale, which is why we do not warranty anything that is sold on consignment.

A lot of the information in that post is incorrect, and we will contact the administrator of the site shortly to have it corrected. "

They sent me these heads direct from them. I still have the boxes. Apparently my information is wrong even though I took pics, flowbenched the head, and measured the spring to find it was stock.

Ill never do business with Zigouras Racing.

[treeZ24]

just as an observation, they say "appear" alot within their ad.

to me that says they know better (that what they are selling is a cheap knockoff of what its supposed to be.)

misrepresented, yes.

[SappySE107]

The heads dont flow enough to support 360 hp NA, nor is this quality of the port work going to allow it. The springs won't go to 8000 RPM like they claimed would be possible either. They wouldn't get to 7k!

Im going to print this all out and take it to the machine shop and see if they will write me up a detailed letter explaining everything that is not as stated since it has to be on official letterhead by an expert. I dont have any letterhead:P

[RednBlack]

Ben, you just love stirring up shit. :P

[SappySE107]

Im just doing what I think is right.

[Rhedalert]

"Appear" "seems" "believe"--- all snake-tactics.

[blackbombshell95]

Ben, you just love stirring up shit. :P

x2 lol.

[614streets]

ZIGTACUALR!

Plug: I have a fageol blower on ebay for 500 bucks with about 1 day left no bids hint hint......

[94Camaro]

fuck zigouras racing.

so i see that my 3400 heads finally turned up....well at least thats what i can surmise from this. or maybe its just matt trying to swindle someone again, either way... (pull up a chair this is a long read)

In 2002 I purchased, from another retailier, a set of 3400 heads complete with 1.6 roller rockers attached to them. i paid 50.00 at the time as the 3400 demand hadn't hit yet. i was intending on having them worked on then tossing them on with the 3400 plenum as an upgrade.

Matt, whos last name i dont remember, told me that he worked for Zigouras Racing. I had known him for 6-8 months and we conversed. He seemed to know something of engine building and said he worked in a shop. Everything was cool and I mentioned my want to get heads ported and polished. He said he could do them - and since he never did work on the 3400 heads before he would do it for free, being that I was a friend and he wanted the experience. He told me that if i paid him for the flowbench work (as i wanted port flow #'s to plug into DD2k) he would do it all.

Time passed and I queried every now and then about how the heads were doing. he would send me blurry photoshots of the valve area (CC) and then show me all the progress he was making on his turbo'd 3.4. (i have pics somewhere on my personal machine at home)

anyhow, a year passed and I started to get antsy. I asked him when i saw him how the heads were going and he started to come online less and less (i would talk via AIM). then one day he stopped coming online altogether. a few months passed and so i called him and talked to him on his cell phone. he was surprised to get my call as he had only talked to me on the phone once and didnt think i would call him again. he explained that he had been having family/money troubles and would get me the heads asap cause he promised them to me.

i said awesome and waited to hear back from him...a few more months passed...then around july 2003 i met a few more fbody owners that had moved out to cali just recently. one of them KNEW matt. he explained to me that matt was a bullshit artist. he never told the truth and always talked more than he would back up. i started to get nervous hearing this and sent an email...

two weeks passed with no response, so i sent another...no response...and i sent another 3 days later..no response. i got busy and it slipped my mind, until around november 2003 when i bent an exhaust valve in the 3100 heads i had (long story). so i sent another email...no response. I finally got him on AIM. talked to him - and he said he would totally send them out asap. i called him a few days later on his office phone to talk to him, and he was there. he told me he was just finishing up some stuff, and asked me for a mailing address and told me they would be there in two weeks. iwas like awesome cause i really need em. i have em and cant afford to get another set.

two weeks passed. a month passed - no response. i started emailing daily, to his work and home addy. no response. i called his cell again...

he had DISCONNECTED his cell phone!

i was furious. i realized at that point he had no intention of sending me back my heads. he never intended to port them or anything of the sort, he just needed money and liked what i had in mind (i had told him about the swap and how i planned to do it).

i called his work. his boss answered and explained to me that he had gone out on an errand and would be back in a bit. imlike fine. i explained the situation to his boss and in return was told that matt would be notified and i would get a call as soon as he got back.

two days passed. i called back Zigouras Racing - asked for matt. the owner, Paul Zigouras, said "one moment"...then like the dumbfuck he is, he put the phone to his chest and said to matt (never put the phone to your chest if you dont want people to hear what you are saying) "Its that Russell kid..you wanna talk to him? alright..."

he then came back on the phone "yanno what, matt isnt in right now. i thought he was at his desk but my guys are tellin me that he went home for a bit. ill have him call you when he gets back."

it was at this point i explained that if matt didnt give back my heads I would sue matt, paul, and the business and hold all of them personally responsible for this bullshit - and notify the BBB as well as several news outlets. he said it didnt have to come to that and i told him that ive been waiting a long time. he told me he would make matt call me.

another week passed and i was forced to order ANOTHER set of 3400 heads at a more expensive 110.00 (140 incl. shipping). i put them on and the car ran again...meanwhile i was still in email hell with zigouras racing. why you ask? because they had stoppped answering their phones altogether when i called. the receptionist always picked up the phone and matt and his boss were always out everytime i called...at the same time every day for a week in a row (highly unlikely). then i called the following week to find out that they had gone to a motorsports event and wouldnt be back for two weeks. i said that was enough, and sent them an email.

I CC'd everyone i could think of that would back me in a legal battle. i made sure to inform paul and matt both that i would take this matter to court were my heads not returned in two weeks time to the following address (gave my current addy in the email) and that i would expect that everythign be set right and would rather not have this go to court because i would purposefully post this story everywhere.

two weeks later i received a box on my doorstep. iwas elated to find that i had won!

i opened the box very happy, to find a set of 1996-pre Gen III Aluminum heads. ported/polished, and spray painted silver. stock springs. no rocker arms, and GUIDE PLATES. i asked the guy i bought them from and he sent me a picture of the heads he had sent (in my folly i had the heads sent directly to zigouras racing thinking that it would be quicker that way. in hindsight i wished i had sent them to myself, as i would have been too lazy to send them out again) and i got a pic of a set of 2000+ Gen III Heads.

I was furious. i spent two months battling with matt and paul over the phone. they finally informed me that they had sent me the heads back, and i had no way to prove (since i didnt have the heads directly sent to myself) that the heads sent to them were the 3400 heads (i do however trust the seller of the 3400 heads waaaaaaaaaaaay more than i trust zigouras racing because the seller was prompt and courteous and matt/paul were lying sneaks)

i never got back my 3400 heads. i do still have a set of badly ported Gen III aluminum heads with rocker arm guides and studs for 1.5 rocker arms. 1.720/1.430 valves. no bowl work. just smoothed runners. it was done to placate me. the only reason i ever gave up on it was because it wasnt worth my time.

I would venture that this set of 3400 heads that has now found its way to Ben was a) the set i originally sent to matt, or b) a set that was fradulently gotten some other way.

either way there has to be something that we can do to run this shop outta business cause they honestly are not giving the automotive world a good name.

[psquare75]

So I saw these heads on eBay, and I ALMOST bid. I live about 45 minutes from them. Glad I didn't go take a look. Good luck with this.