Why Every Head We Build Starts on a Toyota Casting

After testing numerous aftermarket head castings, we concluded that the stock OEM Toyota casting is far superior to any of them. It is the only casting we use in our own cylinder heads and we have never had an issue with one. It costs more than the aftermarket alternatives and we buy it anyway.

Bare castings if you are building your own: 8-port and 4-port.

Port Count First

Everything here splits on whether your head has 8 intake ports or 4. Count the runners where the manifold meets the head rather than ordering from the year alone. It takes ten seconds and it is the only answer we trust.

The heads are shared with the 2.7, which is why the product names say 2RZ/3RZ. Same casting, same valve sizes, same valve train.

The Three Stages

  • Stage 1 — a quality replacement on a new Toyota casting with all new valve train components. The head for someone whose original is cracked, warped past machining or has dropped a seat. Also in 4-port.
  • Stage 2 — better than stock for a performance engine, designed to work with our Stage 1 or 2 camshafts. Also 4-port.
  • Stage 3 — the most work, same camshaft pairing advice. Also 4-port.

Valve Springs — Buy by the Numbers

Spring choice decides whether a camshaft survives. We publish the actual pressures:

  • Street Performer — 53 lb seat at 1.44", about 145 lb at .450" lift. Mildly built naturally aspirated or low boost 0-10 psi. Use with Pro series or Stage 2 camshafts.
  • Dual spring set — 75 lb seat at 1.4", 215 lb open at .450". A must-have with bigger lift cams and higher rpm.
  • Pro HD dual — 100 lb seat at 1.400", 225 lb at .450". High rpm and high boost.

Matched kits take the guesswork out: Pro Dual spring and retainer and Pro HD Dual. Both work with stock cam buckets or our shim-under buckets.

Retainers

Street Performer retainers are an OEM-equivalent single-spring part. Pro titanium retainers are CNC machined from heat-treated titanium alloy — stronger and lighter, which is what lets a valve train survive high rpm. They will not work with a stock spring or keeper.

Cam Followers — Match the Bucket to the Camshaft

This is the part people skip, and it is why some big-cam builds wipe a lobe. A larger cam profile needs a larger diameter follower, or the lobe runs off the edge of the bucket.

Complete Valve Train Kits — Master or Mini?

Master kits include the shim-under-bucket followers; Mini kits do not. Buy Mini if you already have the right followers.

Pro (stock or Stage 1 cams) · Stage 2 Master · Stage 2/3 Mini · Stage 5 Master · Stage 5 Mini · Turbo

Valve Covers and Details

Valve covers by year: 1995-1999 and 2000-2004, with the OE gasket.

When fitting any head, the head-to-block dowel pins align the gasket and head properly. Sold individually, and they matter more than their price suggests — a head not located by both dowels will not seal reliably however well it is torqued.

Head bolts, studs and gaskets are on Rebuild Kits, Gaskets & Seals.

Tell us the camshaft and the rpm target and we will spec the valve train around it.

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