building 78 olds 350 help

[smonsta]

Were can I find some good built heads... I've looked at summitt but they don't offer too many options... any1 know of a good website?

 

[CHRIS.O]

There isnt much of a cylinder head aftermarket for oldsmobile. Not your usual popular companies anyway. Edelbrock makes a set that can be modified to use on small blocks but really they are meant to be used on big blocks. Rocket racing sells heads, i dont know much about them though. Mondello I think makes them or modifies them as well but they have a bad reputation. There may be others I am unaware of. I am guessing since you have windowed mains your horsepower goal is no more than 400hp? If thats the case you might as well buy a set of 5,6,7a heads and have them worked over a little bit.

 

[Mathematic]

you also have the option to buy used and get them rebuilt...i think about $250 a head.

 

[rccktmn2]

http://btrperformance.com/
http://www.rocketracingperformance.com/

These are about the only two that I would trust, both are very good, reasonable and stand behind there work. Mondello is in cali if you can afford the shipping but they don't offer as much, Dick Miller is another one, he also has his own heads and can do just about anything you want, he also has top end packages for any olds engine.

 

[layedoutregal]

you also have the option to buy used and get them rebuilt...i think about $250 a head.

thats just to get em cleaned up, i have 6 heads and did a complete valve job and porting, ur looking at a grand if not more

 

[86-blk442]

I just had a set of #5 heads worked by Bill Trovato over at BTR. Had w31 valves installed, milled the heads for the compression I wanted, bowls blended and some other things done. It ran me just over $1300 for the head work not including buying the hears and all gaskets. The price may be a little steep but Bill was great to work with and definitely stands by his work. Check out my build thread to see the heads and invoice if you want.

 

[Rocket]

You can find an older set and have them cleaned up, machined & fitted with some new parts. 5, 6, 7's would be what to look for. Like mentioned above expect to pay a grand or more to have them done right with quality pieces.
The Edelbrock heads will work pretty much right out of the box. Being a '78 350 it should have 1/2" head bolts so you'd have to drill the heads to accept 1/2", they come ready for 7/16" head bolts. Other then that they're a direct bolt on.

 

[Mathematic]

How much for a job like this?

 

[86-blk442]

Thst looks like it would be a few grand minimum to get to that point. It honestly really depends on your specific goals for the engine. Like mentioned above if it's a windowed main web block, you can't go too radical.

 

[Rocket]

Like mentioned above if it's a windowed main web block, you can't go too radical.

Don't under estimate what a windowed block can take...my last engine was about 400-425HP that I regularly stuffed 150HP worth of nitrous on. It had about 7 of 8 yrs of street driving along with probably 500 1/4 mile passes, 100-150 of those were with nitrous. The last summer I ran it, I started uping the jets to see what would happen, the car just went faster and faster, no damage to the engine...I ended up not allowed running nitrous anymore because I was going too fast without a rollbar.

I'm not neccessarily recommending building a windowed block if you plan on making alot of horsepower, especially if you have the option of using a solid main block