Couple questions about heads...

[BDIDDY]

Been looking into building up a 350 and was looking at heads, since that would be the main part of my money, and was wondering is it better to just buy aftermarket heads?

Or should I get the stock ones ported, polished, and all the good stuff...?


Any suggestions..

[ThumpMyHonda]

I would say get them ported and polished. I also know that the head gasket set for a 350 is REALLY REALLY cheap.

[Polecat]

No, no, no...do not have stock heads rebuilt unless they are stock Vortec heads...if they are older Chevy castings, probably 882's, they stink for street performance usage. They have like 76cc combustion chambers, and small intake runners.

You'd be far ahead to buy some Dart Iron Eagle heads...you can order them in 72cc and 64cc combustion chambers, and from 170cc to 230cc runners. Don't overkill here...bigger is not always better. So if you replace pistons, look at getting 9.5:1 compression, not static compression on a daily driver. Add a good Comp hydraulic cam and be ready to go...usually a good Holley 650 carb is fine...no need to overkill on gas.

[BDIDDY]

Well if everything goes as planned this won't be my daily driver. I just want something reliable and quick also.

Any heads work at all?

Will they make that much difference? If I get aftermarket heads is there any need to get work done to them?

I saw a set that were rated at 425 horse with a certain intake and carb, thats about what I want to run at. I just want something reliable but still fast as all get out...


Thanks for the help thus far...

[Polecat]

Not just any head, you need it to match cam, compression,runners,etc...
But seriously look at the Dart Iron Eagles...they run awesome right out of the box...I had the aliminum Dart Pro 1's on my 406, and now I'm sold on Dart. I had World Products Sportsman II's...and after paying $800 for a set, less than one year later had to have them redone because of guides.

if you need help on a cheap motor combo, email me and I'd be glad to help.

Tracy

[analogkid]

vortec heads are cheap and the arguably the best stock heads for a SBC. only catch is that you will have to buy a vortec specific manifold as the bolt angles are different from all the others. 400-425 could be made with a new box stock set without much trouble. its just the issue of getting a bunch of parts that will work well together. 1 surefire way is to read a bunch of hotrod mags and exactly duplicate a motor they have built up. a little tuning and you can be very close to what they did in the writeup you choose.

[Polecat]

true, Vortec's are undoubtably the best stock head, problem is on a performance street motor, your mlimited to .450 lift cam.
Plus, you'll need self aligning rockers, and special intake and valvecovers...so really by the time you add that up, other heads look more appealing...but I agree, best stock head there is, even over the older doublehumps.

[soundstreamer]

after never getting a chance to look up close and personal at vortec heads, i went ahead and bought some. i was most impressed with the runners. So smooth and rounded in the curves compared to the older style's almost 90 degree right angle exhaust runners, it's amazing nobody thought of them earlier. the centerbolt valve covers are a bonus because i've had nothing but bad luck sealing the older, flange bolted style without leaks. changing to a new intake was no big deal because i wanted to try edelbrock's air gap anyhow and was planning on buying a new intake anyhow.
the two downfalls i see with vortec heads is that:
1) i hear(i haven't checked my clearance, so i don't know) that you can't have too much of a lift(.400ish basically stock) on your cam without having major problems.
2) they need self aligning roller rockers(about twice the price of standeard roller rockers)
all in all, i love the vortec heads on my 350. i am running a 750cfm eldelbrock carb and 9.1:1 compression and have more than enough "umph" in my truck to pass with ease and impress any passenger that asks: "what'll it do?".

[BDIDDY]

Do you think I could call summit or some place, whenever I get ready, and ask them to build me a combo? I just want something that will run, and be reliable...

I will check into those heads...


Thanks alot for the info..

[BDIDDY]

I looked some up, pretty decent prices, even though I only checked one web site...

http://www.diabolicalperformance.com/dartheads.html

I was looking there, even though I don't know much about them bigger numbers always look better to me. But these right here sound nice... Under the Iron Eagles, halfway down the page...

My dad said that angled plugs give you more horse too, is that true?


DRTIRON215
215cc
64 or 72
2.05/1.60
1.437double
angle or straight
$499

[analogkid]

angled plugs dont do a **** thing.......except help you with clearance issues from your headers/make it easier to help change spark plugs. but even that depends on your specific application.

[BDIDDY]

I looked some up, pretty decent prices, even though I only checked one web site...

http://www.diabolicalperformance.com/dartheads.html

I was looking there, even though I don't know much about them bigger numbers always look better to me. But these right here sound nice... Under the Iron Eagles, halfway down the page...

My dad said that angled plugs give you more horse too, is that true?


DRTIRON215
215cc
64 or 72
2.05/1.60
1.437double
angle or straight
$499

So what about these heads...?

Are the heads the first part to worry about, then cam, intake, and carb?

[cheeseburger35]

So what about these heads...?

Are the heads the first part to worry about, then cam, intake, and carb?

yes and no... unless your going pretty big .. no.. you can get a good cam to work with stock springs and then get intake and a carb... but if you're going big the heads need to be first..

[assassyn]

edlebrock performer RPM alum, they are good

[Polecat]

So what about these heads...?

Are the heads the first part to worry about, then cam, intake, and carb?

unless you plan to build a bigegr cube engine over 400 cubes, 180cc to 200c runners would be beter suited..you want the head and cam to work together..
with 215cc runner, you'll want steep gears, bigger cam, more compression and converter.