I bought a 350 out of a 75 el camino for $150. Got it today and tore it apart. I have the stock heads for it. Casting number ends in 802. But also laying around i have some 305 heads #601. I want to know which will work better for torque and streetability. I wont run past 4,000rpms. And yes, i already know, vortc heads would be better. But i deffinately dont have the money to buy them. For a while. So im just looking for more power right now. Maybe eventually vortecs. Thanks.
which heads do i use?!
- Thread starter 79cutlasssalon442
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The 305 heads have smaller valves, and smaller combustion chambers which is gonna send your static compression ratio sky high, unless there is an airport nearby where you can get good gas go with the 350 heads.
Why dont you just use the stock heads and save up for good heads? Forget about those 305 heads. Sell that engine for a couple hundred bucks, get the car running and then later on down the road get some good aftermarket or Vortec heads. With a stock 350 a change in heads really wont do much because everything needs to be matched. I feel like we just went over this in your last thread :shock: In my experience a stockish small block below 4,000 rpms isnt fun and you are really limiting yourself. Vortec heads can be found cheap. Go to a junkyard and start looking for 90s chevy trucks. They are out there.
I have a guy coming to look at my 305 for $450 wednesday. I just need a temprorary replacement to put in the car for now-83MONTESS- said:
802's are 396 big block heads. do you mean 882 heads? If so they are your typical open big chambered 70's smog era heads. If your engine has the factory dish pistons and you use a 0.041 head gasket, your compression should be around 9.5:1. That would make the engine still pump gas friendly. the 305 heads will increase your low end torque, but it will suffer in the upper rpms. The exhaust side on those heads is pretty bad. You will get some benefits by getting all the casting flash out of the ports, including the intake side. If the 305 HO heads are good and ready then go, they wouldn't be that bad. if you have to put a bunch of money in them to get them ready to run, I would forget it.
I agree, the 882 are a 76cc chamber head with bigger valves than the 601 heads and will flow better. Compression with dish pistons, 882's, and even the thin .015 steel shim head gasket you are around 8.5:1 compression. 601's with the same .015 head gaskets and you're gonna be at around 10:1, .041 gaskets you're looking around 9.5:1. If you're leaving the rest of the engine stock the 601's may help the low end, but the increase in compression with a small cam may require running 91 octane especially with .015 gaskets. IDK it's hard to say for sure, every engine is a little different, plus the chamber designs aren't the best for either head as far as efficiency.
Did some work with the 601 castings when the boys were running hobby stock motors. These are 58cc castings with the bigger valves 1.84 and 1.5 so the valve size isn't to bad for the lower RPM the guy wants to run. You could do some home porting in the intake with a little clean up on the runners and that's a big help. You also need to lay back the outer edge of the combustion chamber to get the sharp edges off. Run with a cheap stock head gasket .051 and it will keep the compression down for the pump gas. One other thing to do is block off the heat crossover port with something. Just the upgrade in compression will make it feel better. If the money is their for a set of vortec 906 or the 062 (these are the only two heads that are worth anything) casting that would make a BIG difference.
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