I guess I know what I need to do but I am looking for some opinions on which head to change to. Currently I have a .030 over 454 with 10.5 to 1 pistons (118cc head) and a set of 291 square port heads on it (106cc). I am running a hydraulic version of the famous L88 cam (560/580 can't remember durations off the top of my head). I bet you all can guess that it does not run very well on pump gas without severely retarding the timing. I am thinking of switching to either a set of GM aluminum roval heads or something like a set of 781's. Cost is an issue but I will give myself time to hunt for the best bargain. The worst thing about it is I have cowl induction and I will have to come up with a intake. Can you still run the factory 569 with the roval heads? If so I may be stuck with those. Thanks a lot.

Dave

What is your budget? If your willing to use an iron heads the Summit heads aren't a bad deal, or www.aeroheadracing.com has the 088 heads for $800 a pair, upgrades put it a little higher.

Dave,just curious ,is this a mostly street car or street strip car that see's only wk end cruising?

If yes maybe i have a farily inexpensive solution that can avoid the cost of reducing the compression and also allow you too run the full timing for best perf which is what its all about,nothing worse then having to retartd the timing to run on pump fuel loosing a lot of power and reducing your already poor fuel mileage even more.

I have had good luck with using Kemco supreme 130 REAL LEAD octane booster in apps/comp ratio's like your runing to stop detonation,this is that same lead that was used in leaded fuel 30 yrs ago.

You can mix it to over 100 octane,i mix 1 qt kemco to 18 gals 93 fuel which = approx 97.5-98 octane for my 396 with approx 9:9-10:0 comp with much milder cam then your running so it has fairly hi cyl pressure and it stopped the ping.

If you dont put a lot of miles on the car like me here is what i did,i bought 2 cases(12 qts per case) of kemco to get a bulk buy discount and free shipping and split cost for 1 case each at $110 with a buddy if you dont go thru more then 12 tanks yrly.

So now i have 12 qts kemco that will treat 12 tanks of fuel that will last me a complete yr so it cost me $110 to have a good running motor with full ig curve,that $110 is a nit in the scheme of things when it comes to this hobby.

Even if your motor would need a little more octain then the 97.5-98 1qt kemco with 18 gals 93 gets you (which i dont think it would due to so much cam) you could mix a little more kemco for 100 octane and that would cover approx 8-9 tanks of fuel. So if you go thru 15-20 tanks of fuel yrly in your car it would cost an additional $220 a yr. New heads etc could run you 1k-2k which would take the next 5-10 yrs of running kemco to = that cost assuming fuel wont go much over $5-$5.50 per gal,but nobody can estimate that one. But if you buy the kemco in a single qt/s or only buy 1 case its considerably more expensive.

It cost approx 50cents per gal for kemco to get 93 fuel to 98 octane and even adding that to the price of 93 fuel today is still at least $1.50-$2+ less per gal then compaired to race fuel.

And again it would relieve you of all the work/cost of replacing the heads if your motor is currently running well with no oil leaks etc other then having to retartd the heck out of the timing due to the crap pump gas.

Even if you want to reduce the compression in the future running the kemco now could at least allow you to run a full ign curve in the meantime by increasing the octane untill you get the time and money to do the job like in the off season.

I order the kemco online in 5 mins (or you can call them)and it shows up at your door 5-7 days later. I keep a few qts in the trunk of my chevelle so i just add the kemco when i fill up,i sue a funnel with long rubber hose to pour in it the tank prior to fillup.

I have suggested the kemco to many people having issues like you and the ones that have tried it have all had good results too being able to advance the timing for better running motor when using kemco with pump fuel and they have siad they are not going to bother spening the time/money to change heads etc to reduce comporession because the kemco had worked so well.

If you dont have 93 fuel where you live and only have 91 all you have to do is add a little more kemco to get the octane where your motor likes it.

So if you want to give it a try give me your email here or pm it to me and i can send you al the kemco contact & tech info .

Scott