Every once in a while I hear talk about some aluminum heads for the 6.5 that the folks from BETA developed. Does anyone have any information on these, like design goals, issues, etc... I don't know, but I think a nice performing aluminum replacement head at a reasonable cost would be a big hit.

I also notice Summit is carrying more and more diesel related products. Maybe it is just a matter of time before a company like Edelbrock develops a nice aluminum head.

I'd go aluminum in a heart beat. The loss of about 30lbs each. Plus way better heat dissapation, probably would fix most if not all heat related problems with the current head design. As far as strength concerns Kennedy's putting 550+HP and 950+TQ through the aluminum heads on his D-Max! Nuf Said!

I'm not a fan of aluminum, give me a good grey cast iron anyday.
With different rates of heating and expansion, these two metals will always work away from each other and build a layer between them.

thats why it would take getting cometic to make a multi layer steel head gasket. I've already talked to them, but it would take a run of about 100 sets for them to tool up to make them for the 6.5.

The 6.5L forum would be strongest if we were a buying collective. A hunderd orders would take no time to fill.

Aluminum would seem to be the way to go. With the ability to run more compression alone I think would be advantegeous. The lighweight, that would be nice, but I dont think that dropping 60 llbs off the motor is going to be noticeable. Other then having ot install them while on the truck and lifting them over a fender. With a good headgasket and studs, I dont think there would be much of a problem.

Would be nice, but I am sure $$$ would be nice and high as well.

I think there is a ton of opportunity to address some of our issues we have with these engines with a nice set of heads. You could increase the flow by altering the ports (where did I read these heads are 135hp NA parts;) ) . You could address the cooling issue by adding additional channels or volume. You could optimize the compression ratio. And, maybe move away from IDI? Like QM said, the heads don't even have to be aluminum.

On a side note, I picked up a set of aftermarket iron heads from world products for my 351 powered ski boat. Chioces were slim, but I found a set that included larger SS valves, better flow, and cost less than OE replacement heads. That was about 5 years ago and I have not had an issue with them yet. Today, there are many companies producing aluminum and iron heads for the SB Ford. Hopefully, some company will see the same potential in the diesel market and make a set for the 6.5 TD.

I was thinking you would have to stick with the ds-4 for simplicity, and the IDI would become a hybrid, eliminate the pre cup and tap a port into the head so the injectors thread in at a more aggressive angle (~35*-45*'s relative to the piston face tdc, instead of the compound-complex it goes through now through the precup and bounced off the side of top of the piston) billet the CC opening for the injector port, and move it enough to tap another head bolt per chamber, so that means machine work on the block, but just to make 4 additional bolt holes per block deck at ~5, 6 or 7 o'clock where the pre cup had been. aluminum would be the metal of choice for the above head changes.

This would give you a more evenly spaced headbolts, and perhaps more push on the piston center.

I think that QM is getting righ at the point here in reguard to adding bolts to the head into the block. Using Aluminum heads will require more fasteners to hold them down. The DMax survives with alum heads because it has more head bolts and they are placed better. My .02

I also like the idea of going DI with a new set of heads. It would be nice to see an aftermarket company that specializes in gasser heads for performance that could actually design something that would work for Diesel.

Ya that would be good

It would be nice to see an aftermarket company that specializes in gasser heads for performance that could actually design something that would work for Diesel.
No offense but, that is the last person I would want designing heads for my diesel. It would take a seasoned diesel company to get them correct, even after several revisions.

DD,

Point taken, what I meant by that is someone that has the tooling and ability to cast heads, but you're right in that it would take a design team thats well experienced in Diesels.