My dad's friend is looking for a set of heads for a SB350 Elky project.Dad asked me if I knew where any "double-hump" heads were for a good price cuz all the ones in the Tyler,Tx area they found were too high priced.I told him I would ask you guys for some suggestions on some good alternative casting number heads that could give the same performance as the "mythical" double-humps.Thanx in advance. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I'm no expert by any means, but David Vizard is VERY experienced with SBC heads.

Mr. Vizard Recomends:

461 (double humps)
462 (double humps)
291 (1968 double humps, same as 462s)
040 (same as 291/462s but the casting mark is a triangle, not humps)
186s (double hump, 1968-1972, has accesory holes)
041 (triangle marking, 69-70 350 head, same as 186 but thicker casting area beneath spring platforms.)
492 (double hump, 69-72 head, refined version of 041/186)

He also mentions and aluminium Corvette head with 58cc chambers, no casting # mentioned tho.

And lastly, the 062/906 L31 "Vortec" heads.

Depends on the CR desired...right folks?
For stock castings of the older nature....441's and 993's were good if ported. But they are large 76cc chambers.

The new and cheap Vortecs seem to be all the rage these days. My engine builder is forced to use these in the Stock car class he runs, and they only manage to make 590-600 hp with them.

And of course there are a myriad of aftermarket iron and alum heads on the market.

Makes me glad I prefer big blocks.....not quite so many choices.......but there are more and more all the time.

Ron

If you want a dirt cheap head that can be found everywhere, look for the 416's. They are the 305HO head and can be found everywhere for nothing. Just about all 85-86 carb 305s have them. With some cleaning up they can support semi decent flow for a stock head. The nice thing is the 58cc chmabers give a nice bump in compression on a stock 350 short block.

Steve

Thanx for the replies everyone.I haven't had a chance to ask the guy what CR he's lookin' for, or how mild or wild the engine will be.I was just lookin' to get an idea of some good stock casting #'s and CC's sizes to look for besides the DH heads.Obviously he's on a budget and doesn't want to buy the aftermarket heads.

Thanx again. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

And the 305HO, head # -601, too!!

It is about the same as the -416 head but has a more eff. double-hump head chamber shape whereas the -416 has the more "squared-off" smog shaped chamber...

BUT both are good for raising the CR. on low compressioned motors b/c of the 58 cc chambers.

pdq67

trouble with old heads is that, they're old. by the time you find a set, pay for them, then get them redone, you're within a $100 or so of brand new vortecs, and unless there has been some incredible port work on those 305 heads, the vortecs will make more power with greater efficiency. only downside to the vortecs are the self aligning rockers and they require a vortec manifold, but if you don't already have an intake and rockers to use, it's not really going to cost much more for the vortec stuff than it does for the standard equipment. not to mention that you may have to find several 305 castings before you come across ones that aren't cracked. .02

No for sure the Vortec's flow way better. I have heard of some people professionally porting the 416's to flow as well, but that is beyond most people. The 305 heads are prone to cracking, but I have yet to seen any personally. If you go to the local Upull I am sure you could find a decent set that will work, for 50$. Vortec's cost minimum 500$.

Obviously it depends on what you want. If you want a 300hp 350 the 305 heads will work. If you want more then go with the Vortec's

Steve

Originally posted by wanarace:
No for sure the Vortec's flow way better. I have heard of some people professionally porting the 416's to flow as well, but that is beyond most people. The 305 heads are prone to cracking, but I have yet to seen any personally. If you go to the local Upull I am sure you could find a decent set that will work, for 50$. Vortec's cost minimum 500$.

Obviously it depends on what you want. If you want a 300hp 350 the 305 heads will work. If you want more then go with the Vortec's

Steve vortec's are $450, how much does that professional port job cost in addition to reconditioning the 305 heads? not a good investment, IMO. you may pay $50 for those heads only to find out they're junk anyway, then how many times do you wanna pay $50 for them until you find a set that will work? with the vortecs as cheap as they are, it's a no brainer, IMO.

I personally would use the Vortec's stock and just put a better set of springs on them. The rockers are fine and then use a mild up to .450" or so lift cam so the lift limit thing won't crop up!!

They make a lot of lift limit rule cams out there and besides lift doesn't make as much power as duration does..

Read --- NO MACHINE WORK sorta deal, that's all.

I did however go with -601's for my 283 b/c it's hard to up the CR. on the little motor without going to domed pistons b/c most heads combustion chambwers are too big for it..

pdq67

before i did any head work on an old set of heads or a set of vortecs with a intake to match i would buy a set of iron eagles or dart heads and have three times better set of heads for very little more money .been there and done it

Iron Eagels are Dart heads and cost about twice as much as Vortecs unless you get the stock replacement type which do have a thicker deck than the vortecs but won't make as much power as the vortecs out of the box. i had a setof the S/R's on my 355 and they didn't make any more power than the 441's which were on it previously, but it was nice to have screw in studs, guideplates, and a meatier head for port work. but even those are over $700 now.

Vortec's are $450, but the intake is another $100. Every Upull place I have ever been to has a return policy, maybe yours doesn't?

For $500 I was able to build 300hp 305. Now if I had Vortec's I would have a 330hp motor. But the motor would have cost $1000.

Like I said depends on what you want and what the goals are.

Steve

well i only paid 725 for the sportman heads 200 runners .why buy a stock replacement head of any kind if you are looking for performance nowdays any ways.

Originally posted by wanarace:
Vortec's are $450, but the intake is another $100. Every Upull place I have ever been to has a return policy, maybe yours doesn't?

For $500 I was able to build 300hp 305. Now if I had Vortec's I would have a 330hp motor. But the motor would have cost $1000.

Like I said depends on what you want and what the goals are.

Steve i agree. no way would i blow $1000 on a 305 unless it was for some particular class that required that motor. and no, none of the parts places around here give a money back guarantee on junkyard heads that they know nothing about. if they guarantee the heads to be good, they aren't $50 anymore, they're usually about $125, then you'll find out that they need guides, valves or at minimum a $125 valve job, springs, and cleaned up. by that time even without paying for a port job you're within $150 of NEW vortecs. plus you have the time of looking for the heads, taking them to the machine shop, and then if your machine shops are like the ones around here, you wait for at least 2 more weeks for them to get the heads redone. :(
JYD, unless you have a pretty stout 355, the vortecs would be a better suited head. 200cc runners are too big for a mild 355, you would need more compression and a pretty big cam for 200cc heads to be an advantage, IMO. on CHP's flowbench tests the vortecs actually flowed about the same as the Sportsman II's but with 30cc smaller runners they would likely make more power in the lowend and midrange, which is where you really need it unless the car is an all out drag car. ;)

another option would be to find the vortecs used at one of the parts places. just find a late model 5.7 in a wrecked pick up and you could probably get those for not much more than the HO 305 heads. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

m71 im not gonna deni what you said is true but most of us start out small but it aint long before we want to go alot faster and the sportmans will answer the call.i built a bugget 383 with 186 casting heads that ran some 740s in my chevelle and is now running 7.30s in my buddys camaro with a trans brake.i also ended up having about 550 dallars in those heads when i was done with them