I have dealt with 440 source and bought 2 sets of their heads. I also bought one of their aluminum water pump housings, and the internal casting was really bad and very restrictive internally. I can start a thread later with pictures with gaskets in place, compared to the Mopar housing. They refused to refund my money, even if I paid to ship it back, so I had to pay shipping to get a worthless part, had to pay to return the worthless part in order to recieve store credit only, so I bought a set of overpriced ARP head bolts from them.
It's a Dr Jeckle and Mr.Hyde thing, from the nice guy that you order from, to the arrogant *** that refuses to make things right when there is a clear problem. Never will I again waste my time or money with them. BTW the PRW waterpump housing is the same flawed casting. It is a problem that could be fixed if they chose to let their Chinese manufacturer know of the issue, but big surprize, they don't care if you score cylinders in the right bank of your engine.
As far as the quality of the heads, the early castings had issues with the chamber location, and therefore had head gasket issues. They did fix that problem, and the casting looks nice, however the one set I used had to have the pushrod passages opened up for clearance. Through many others input I learned that the retainers are absolute crap and the springs are not bad, but fatigue over varied time and most people recommend replacing them also. I replaced the springs, locks and retainers on both sets of heads with Comp parts. I have decided to sell the second set of unused heads that I already have.
The Edelbrock heads already have quality parts installed, have helicoiled bolt holes, angled plugs, are US made and are about the same money and possibly less once you replace the necessary parts and clearance the pushrods. If you order them through Summit you will also save a chunk on shipping.... Summit (800) 230-3030, Very good customer service.
As far as the stroker kit, or Indy EZ heads, I would recommend Mancini Racing (800) 843-2821/ (586) 790-4100. Art seems to be pretty knowledgeable, and helpful. Eagle has a decent reputation and is priced fairly. You still must have a good machinist check all your journals thoroughly, and rod/wrist pin clearance, before assembly.
BTW the Indy EZ will raise your intake manifold about 1/2".
When figuring your compression/deck height, know that most aftermarket rods are about .008" shorter... I can find the actual specs sometime if you need them. I think the factory 440 rod length is 6.768" and the Scat and Eagle rods are 6.760", and I think the deck height of a RB block is 10.72", but it has been some time ago, so don't take this as accurate yet.
