chevy 350 cyl heads

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Apr 7, 2007
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i have two sets of cyl heads
one off 1974-1980 350/400 with 76cc
the second off 1987 an up 350 64 cc
i have my 350 apart right now getting the glazing off the cyl walls. it is bored .030 over. i know there is going to be a compression ratio change but i was wondering if one was a better design. i can see on the 64 cc heads the sparkplug location is closer to the valves and the lifter valley is deeper. but any ideas would be helpful.

steve
 
Sep 1, 2006
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Tampa Bay Area
Around the late 1980's GM built some awful heads. They block off almost half the intake or exhaust port to try to induce swirl and reduce hydrocarbon emissions. Unfortunately, if you have those heads, they are useless for performance. As for the 76 cc smogger heads, they're not much better. I would look into a set of budget heads like the L35 Vortec heads from 1996 and later GM trucks. They require a special intake manifold, but flow amazingly well.They have exceptionally efficient combustion chambers that burn so well, they like only 28 degrees of total timing, as opposed to the 38 degrees a typical SBC likes with normal wedge chambers. Plus, they are priced competitively with a set of rebuilt old heads and come complete and assembled. You need to use your guided tip rockers from the 87 350 too. Plus they have a 64cc chamber. A pair is usually under $600- and that's new. Or, you could use a set of new heads from Summit racing that are available complete for under $500 , IIRC. Finally, there are the World Products S/R Torquers, which are a version of the old "Camel Hump" fuelie heads first use in early 60's Corvettes with Rochester mechanical fuel injection. These are not as cheap as they used to be, costing around $750 the last time I checked, but you may find a used set cheaper. I have a set on my 355 and they aren't bad, but I wouldn't pay what they are asking for them nowadays either( I paid $550 in 1997, IIRC), not when $250 more gets you a decent set of aluminum heads. Anyhow, those are my choices. When you look a how much you will spend to rebuild either of those old sets of heads, it make economic sense t doesn't make sense to do it. By the time they are hot tanked, get a valve job, new springs and valves where needed, decked etc you could have made alot more power for the same money.
 
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