'84 K10 Engine Build Questions

[Marshy]

Hi guys, long time lurker here.
Sorry in advance if this gets long winded, I'll try to stick to the details but have a lot of questions...

Background:
I had a slight head gasket leak right before winter last year so I decided to take the heads off and have them looked over perfessionally to check crackes and make sure the seats, guides and valves are good. (The one head I took off only had 4 valve stem seals remaining!) The motor never overheated and gasket failure looks like it might be age related. Failure lookes like it was driver side cylinder closest to the firewall...

While I have heads off I decided I want to change the cam. Right now the heads are off and the block is still in the truck but that might change as I think it would be less work to pull the block to change the cam than remove radiators etc...

Intended Use:
I use the truck for moving loads of firewood and will eventually get a trailer to help move larger amounts of firewood. Low end torque/power is important to me however I do sometime take a road trip with it and need to cruse 60-65.

Truck/Engine Specs:
GM 350 4 bolt main, bored 0.030" over
Pistons are dished, I tried to use my caliper and measure the dish but it was crude, I estimate the dish is 0.070-0.075"
Im unsure deck clearnance at TDC and what my gasket thickness will be, I bought a fel-pro gasket set from autozone months ago...
Heads: GM 305 cast #416, stock combustion chamber size I read is 59cc and intake volume is somewhere around 169cc
Valves are I:1.84" E:1.50"
Trans is a manual SM465, rear end is 3.42 gears and I have 31" tires.

I plan on picking up an aluminum Edelbrock Performer dual plane intake and some long tube headers.
If my machinist has to do anything more than lap the valves I might consider putting in larger intake valves pending cost. Other wise the valves and heads will remain stock minus the skim cut.

Im trying to do this on a budget so would like to say with mechanical flat tappet lifters and stamped rockers that are in it now. However I am considering replacing the valve springs, push rods and timing chain as a precaution... All that said, what would be a good cam for this application?

[Marshy]

Originally Posted by bobs86silv

.

Bob, I read your post in another thread about tips on the #416 heads. Any thoughts on a good cam? Sounds like you know your way around these heads. Advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[Marshy]

Head gasket kit is felpro HS 7733 pt3 and I plan to use an Edelbrock 1405 600cmf carb.

Over 60 views and no advice? I suppose I might have to call a cam manufacture and ask them. I just figured someone here might have some insight using these heads in a truck...

[Pine Bark Auto]

Many years ago, I used a Edelbrock Performer series cam in a similar application. That truck was a 4X4, 4 speed, 3.73 gears and 35" tires. Engine was a 400 SBC with flat top pistons and stock heads. I was mainly interested in low end torque and knew the motor would rarely see north of 5k RPMs. I was running a Quadrajet jetted to 70 model 454 specs. The cam idled smooth and in addition to great low end torque it gave great mileage numbers. 16 - 17 mpg if you kept your foot out of it. I'm sure advancements have been made since then, but I'm also sure a reputable cam manufacturer could recommend a "Torqe" or "RV" type cam for your application. Resist the temptation of a "high performance" cam with the lopey idle. You will not be pleased. Chip.

[Marshy]

Thanks for the input Chip.

I'm having second thoughts about using the 416 heads. After paying someone to look them over, possibly deck them and freshen the seats (as needed) I think I would be father ahead if I found a set of vortec heads.

The more I think about it the easier it is to justify. Especially since I planned on replacing the intake manifold on the 416 heads anyways and add in replacing lifters, rods and springs as part of preventative maintenance. I might as well invest into some quality heads that have great flow at lower lift that compliment the cam.

Are the only vortec heads end with 906 and 062? How do the LT1 heads differ from vortec?

I found some LT1 heads 10128374 that I'm going to research but initial results say something about reverse coolant flow so not sure they are any good on this engine.

[Marshy]

BTW, I found a huge library of Chevy head numbers here:
http://www.enginelabs.com/news/quick...sting-numbers/

Looks like the LT1 heads are different than vortec but I'm not sure the exact reason... But it a moot point anyways.

[Captainfab]

Yes the only 2 casting numbers for GM Vortec heads are 062 and 906's. The only engine you can use LT1/LT4 heads on are an LT1 or LT4. That is mainly due to the fact that those engines utilize a reverse flow cooling system.

[Marshy]

Thanks for confirming the LT1 info.

I read that the vortec heads like dishes pistons... Idk how true that is but i have 0.03 over dished pistons with 4 valve reliefs. How many choices of dished pistons are there? I can estimate the depth of the dish with my calipers but I'm trying to figure out what my CR is and that measurement isn't much help. CR seems to be a big deal when selecting a cam lol.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Marshy

Thanks for confirming the LT1 info.

I read that the vortec heads like dishes pistons... Idk how true that is but i have 0.03 over dished pistons with 4 valve reliefs. How many choices of dished pistons are there? I can estimate the depth of the dish with my calipers but I'm trying to figure out what my CR is and that measurement isn't much help. CR seems to be a big deal when selecting a cam lol.

It would be hard to cc a piston with the engine still in the truck. Just by the sight of things I'd say you have stockish dish size, usually around 12.5cc. Some estimation can also be made by measuring the depth and circumference of the dish itself, and account for the valve reliefs.
http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/467...ression-guide/

IMO, the bigger issue would be the "deck height" (piston compression height). Lay a straight edge across the deck over a piston, then roll the engine around to TDC and see what the smallest feeler gauge is that will just drag between the straight edge and the piston when rocking the piston back and forth.

Some "builder" style pistons sit lower in the bore, lower compression, and kill quench.

With proper quench, 12-12.5cc dish, Vortec heads will get you about 9.5:1 CR.

Go Vortec! Use a thermostat bypass of some sort though.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Marshy

CR seems to be a big deal when selecting a cam lol.

You can use the chart in this link for a rough guide. Keep in mind that if you use a bigger cam than the chart says, it will be more ping-resistant.

If you use a smaller cam than the chart says, it will be more ping-prone. I'd lean towards ping resistance, driven by application. Example: 4WD, towing, or camper truck needs slightly lower compression for a given cam to avoid pinging compared to the chart, lighter cars can stay pretty close to it. That being said, you don't want a big old cam on a 4WD, camper, or tow vehicle. Read both these to get a better general idea.
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w..._compatibility
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ose_a_camshaft

[Marshy]

Thanks! I'm not familiar enough with these engine to know if there was a million different sized dished pistons or only a few... It's too bad they weren't marked how many cc's they are dished..

I will pull the block and get it on a stand. I'll need to take the rest of the engine out of the compartment to do the cam anyways. Might as well take it out and CC a piston and check deck height. I will get a dial indicator to find TDC and measure deck height...

I found a set of 906 heads for sale locally. Sounds like they are off a stock GM truck with unknown miles but were from a running engine. I've got him down to $130 for the set and they have rockers on them for what it's worth.

I'm just really nervous about buying a pair that haven't been magnafluxed or pressure tested. I don't feel like paying for that expensive of a life lesson... Any advice, is cracking on the vortec heads a real concern?

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Marshy

Thanks! I'm not familiar enough with these engine to know if there was a million different sized dished pistons or only a few... It's too bad they weren't marked how many cc's they are dished..

I will pull the block and get it on a stand. I'll need to take the rest of the engine out of the compartment to do the cam anyways. Might as well take it out and CC a piston and check deck height. I will get a dial indicator to find TDC and measure deck height...

I found a set of 906 heads for sale locally. Sounds like they are off a stock GM truck with unknown miles but were from a running engine. I've got him down to $130 for the set and they have rockers on them for what it's worth.

I'm just really nervous about buying a pair that haven't been magnafluxed or pressure tested. I don't feel like paying for that expensive of a life lesson... Any advice, is cracking on the vortec heads a real concern?

Cracking in Vortec heads is no different than any other head if they lived their life on a stock Vortec fuel injected engine, if any head gets over-heated too much or too often it will crack.

Lots of people installed Vortec heads on their hot rods and did not put a t-stat bypass hose on so there were a lot of heads that got cracked and hence a bad rap. I'd much rather buy a set off a stock Vortec engine with the factory set-up because it had a factory bypass hose.

Did you get a chance to see the engine they came off of? Look for signs of over-heating, and being able to see the head gaskets that came off is also a good thing. Baked-on oil sludge is a bad sign, and the smell of burned garlic toast coming from the coolant is the smell of burned coolant, the result of a very overheated engine.

If all looks good, try to snag the heads, rockers, head bolts, and valve covers. The head bolts off the later model engines are twice as good as the stock bolts off the older engines. You can use the pushrods out of your present engine.

It's hard to cc just a piston dish. Measure and record your deck height, then place a piston exactly 1" down in the bore and cc that and give me all the info; I'll do the math and tell you what you have.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Marshy

Thanks! I'm not familiar enough with these engine to know if there was a million different sized dished pistons or only a few... It's too bad they weren't marked how many cc's they are dished..

I will pull the block and get it on a stand. I'll need to take the rest of the engine out of the compartment to do the cam anyways. Might as well take it out and CC a piston and check deck height. I will get a dial indicator to find TDC and measure deck height...

I found a set of 906 heads for sale locally. Sounds like they are off a stock GM truck with unknown miles but were from a running engine. I've got him down to $130 for the set and they have rockers on them for what it's worth.

I'm just really nervous about buying a pair that haven't been magnafluxed or pressure tested. I don't feel like paying for that expensive of a life lesson... Any advice, is cracking on the vortec heads a real concern?

This from crankshaft coalition:
"How to find good used heads

Vortec heads have gotten a reputation for cracking easily. The truth is they do not crack any more than ANY modern lightweight production head, although there have been problems associated with leaking intake gaskets on Vortec engines that may have caused more than the usual number of cracked heads.

[edit] Junkyard heads

When buying Vortec heads from junkyards (or any head for that matter), the chances increase that the heads will be cracked. There are ways to tip the odds in your favor, though.

To find heads from an assembled engine that have a better than average chance of being uncracked, look for:
heads from a wrecked vehicle. These stand an excellent chance of being good, as long as the other things listed here pass inspection.
engines that do not have the thermostat removed. A missing thermostat is an indication the engine was running hot.
engines that still have antifreeze in them. Engines with straight water, or without any coolant showing, may well have been losing coolant. No one replaces leaking coolant with antifreeze- they will use straight water "until I fix it". By then, it's often too late.
engines with water in the oil or oil in the water. This is a sure sign of a blown head gasket or cracked casting, either of which can lead to overheating and cracked heads.
vehicles that do not have antifreeze receipts or antifreeze or water jugs laying around inside the vehicle. That's another sure sign there was a problem with the cooling system.
Look for heads having a spark plug (or spark plugs from adjacent cylinders) with no unusually colored deposits- or a lack of deposits that were removed by coolant getting into the chamber(s). Head gaskets leaking or a cracked casting that lets coolant into the combustion chamber will make the plugs look a lot different than a normal plug- look for uniformity.
Look for engines that do not have evidence of stop leak in the radiator/cooling system. If it has stop leak, it was leaking. If it was leaking there's too big of a chance it overheated and cracked the heads. Signs of stop leak use is a sludgy or copper/silver colored metallic accumulation inside the radiator fill neck, the same thing under the radiator cap, and possibly even in the overflow tank".
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w..._cylinder_head

[Marshy]

I didn't get a chance to see the engine the heads came off. Talkin with the guy he said he was going to put them on an engine he had but never got around to it because he wanted to swap in a 4 speed on a car and needs the extra cash. I'm waiting for pictures from him. I have another guy more local that has basically the same deal (removed stock 906's with rockers) for $100, but he's been hard to communicate with.

So I have 2 basic questions at this point.
1. Once purchased, should I take them to my machinist and check flatness and magnaflux them?
2. Is there anything else I should ask him to do? I planned on asking him to check for burnt valves and guide wear but anything else? (I planned to lap them and install seals etc.)
3. What's a reasonable cost to make then a reliable head?

Thanks for the other info, I will get back to you on deck height and cylinder cc like you suggested. In the mean time I will read those links.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Marshy

I didn't get a chance to see the engine the heads came off. Talkin with the guy he said he was going to put them on an engine he had but never got around to it because he wanted to swap in a 4 speed on a car and needs the extra cash. I'm waiting for pictures from him. I have another guy more local that has basically the same deal (removed stock 906's with rockers) for $100, but he's been hard to communicate with.

So I have 2 basic questions at this point.
1. Once purchased, should I take them to my machinist and check flatness and magnaflux them?
2. Is there anything else I should ask him to do? I planned on asking him to check for burnt valves and guide wear but anything else? (I planned to lap them and install seals etc.)
3. What's a reasonable cost to make then a reliable head?

Thanks for the other info, I will get back to you on deck height and cylinder cc like you suggested. In the mean time I will read those links.

I'd say "I'll pay an extra $25.00 if you take them to the machine shop, if they pass the machine shop test, I'll pay what you ask plus the $25.00 extra AND the machine shop bill but if they fail they are yours to keep and the machine shop bill is yours as well".

FYI: You MUST be there when he picks them up, receipt must come with the heads, and after he drops them off you need to go to the machinist and have a word with him before the guy picks them up.

If you read the links, you will see what they are saying and I am saying is that buying the heads the way they want to sell them to you is the worst possible way and you may be buying bad heads. Who wants $100 for good heads? If they claim the heads are good, why would they not accept this deal?

IF I WERE YOU, I'd offer to buy the heads contingent on passing the machine shop magnaflux, valve guide clearance, and flatness test. Do NOT agree to any crack repair and make that clear going in.

On the flatness test, you are looking for extreme warping, (bad overheat). If the heads will clean up at .005" or less, I'd accept that, buy the heads and have it done. Then you can put seals, lap valves, and new springs. Let me know what cam you decide on and I can pick some springs for you, it's as easy as removing the dampener coil but you have to get the right diameter spring to match the dampener pad on the vortec heads.

A good machine shop can give extra angle valve jobs that will increase airflow as well if you can afford it.

They are not worth putting new guides in, and every set I've seen with up to 200,000 miles have not had bad guides. Me, I'd put a set of stainlss steel 1.94" intake valves leaving the intake ports UN-touched, and a set of 1.6" stainless valves on the exhaust with pocket porting and short side radius relief.

If you get the heads, when you assemble them with the new seals you can check your valve seal to retainer clearance before we select the cam otherwise you need to keep the valve lift around .450" max not knowing actual clearance. My experience has been that they have more clearance most of the time, and you can "ghetto grind" the retainers if you need to.

I have no idea what local machine shop prices are, but consider you can get brand new vortec style heads at summit with better springs, screw-in studs, completely ready to go for $679.00 shipped.

Or roll the dice, you might get a good set for $100.00 or you might get a set of $100.00 rocker arms. Or buy both sets and double your odds.

[Marshy]

Great advice. My biggest problem that I have is the heads are about 30-45 minutes away from my home and machinist. I will have to either find a machinist out there that will check for cracks and flatness or buy at risk. I can get a straight edge to check flatness but I'll need to find someone out there who can flux those... The good news is I'm in no real rush but the bad news is there aren't many out there to chose from... I'll start lookin for someone who can flux these for me.

[brap999]

100 - 130 for used vortecs are a great price if they are in good shape, at least where I'm from (northern VA/Washington DC area). I paid 260 for my pair, and that was the cheapest I could find for a clean set in great shape.

[Marshy]

I spoke with him more and found out he's just a kid in high school. I told him the sale is contingent on them passing a flux test at a shop near him. Obviously if they pass I will pay for the service and buy the heads. If they fail he pays for the service and we part ways. He said he wasn't sure if he could cover it if they failed but I told him it should have no problem if they come off an engine that didn't over heat and was running. I told him I would let him know what the shop would charge and go from there.

I found another set of heads that have beed gone through. He asking $600 and they are. Fresh from the machine shop. They have threaded rocker studs, LS3 "bee hive" springs, have had the spring seats machines to accomidate the larger spings and the guide boss machined to allow lot up to 0.560".

At this point I think that not a bad deal if he has papers with them. I'm looking at about $300 for my machinist to take a set and blast, dip, deck them, cut the seats and the valves, not including and parts. Just not sure if the LS3 beehive springs are even necessary especially with a flat tapet cam/lifters.

[fstfwrd]

If torque is what you are looking for, go with a cam with a short duration (204/214)etc, and a narrow lsa of 110 or 112. Should have plenty of torque to pull wood around.

[Marshy]

Well, the kid with the vortec heads bulked. He thought $50 was too much money for the flux test if they were bad and didnt want to prove they were good. Oh well, back to looking for heads now.

I found a pair of used Pro Comp 3002 cylinder heads. Been doing some reading and see a lot of mixed reviews about quality. Sounds like they have improved over the 3001 series heads and they actualy outflow the vortec heads.

Right now I have a guy that has a pair with valves, springs and guide plates asking $400. He said he bought them and decided he didnt want to take apart his 383 to put them on. Im not sure if I should believe him or not. I think he bought them then did some reasearch and got cold feet maybe. Either way, I'm starting to lean that way because I think it would be hard to beat that price if buying used Vortec and gettign them refurished.

I almost scared to ask but, what do you guys think about the Pro Comp 3002 heads? Most consistent comment I read was buy them unassembled and put your own hardware in them. AFAIK these were bought assembled but will verify... Anything I need to do to them before I bolt them on (lap valves, deburr)?

I will make the sale contingent on sucessful pressure test too.

[fstfwrd]

ProComp seems to make some pretty decent stuff. I know when they first got big, a buddy of mine bought a set of 4 ProComp mudder tires (285/75/16) for a 2001 GMC reg cab shortbox pickup. Had nothing but problems with them.

Their intake manifolds are damn nice. I assume they are china cast, but for the money I was really impressed. The casting was clean, both intakes seated properly and we've never had an issue with them.

The 416 305 heads were essentially the best 305 heads if such a thing exists. I see you had them listed in your engine specs at the top. Some of the light truck 305's from roughly 1982 and up used a "601" casting that works great with a little work. The bad part of using 305 heads on a 350 or larger engine is the small chamber size. My go-to theory for picking a head for a 350 would be a minimum of a 64cc chamber size.

How long did you drive the truck with this setup? Did you ever have any issues with pinging? If you ran 89 or higher octane fuel you may have been lucky and there is no pinging or other in-ordinary engine noise. Typically, with the 305's small chamber size and a short duration, little to no overlap stock cam, plus having to lug a heavy vehicle such as a truck down the road is when you would notice the pinging.

But with a 4 speed tranny and 3.42 gears, I don't imagine there is any engine lugging at highway speed to even speak of.

You can find "193" TBI swirlport heads for next to nothing being as you are trying to build this on a budget. There's no sense in using an outdated 70's-80's era large chamber (76cc) smogger junk head. I know there will be TBI head haters that will call me out, but guys are practically giving the things away. They're fuel injection era heads, so theres a good chance you can find an assembled set on the cheap that wont need any work other than a spring change (only because I assume you are changing the cam). They already have 64cc chambers, which is a perfect match for that 350, and you will have a slight change in compression for the good (less chance of detonation aka pinging and blowing it up).

If you have a block that has the 3 cast towers in the lifter valley that can be drilled and tapped for the factory oem roller cam lifter retainer (first seen in 86/87 and up, even if the engine was equipped with a flat tappet cam, the goodies are there). Saying that, if you can go roller cam, get a stock "LT1" Camaro/Firebird cam. It has 202*/207" intake and exhaust duration, .450/.460 lift, and a 116* LSA for a silky smooth but "burbly" exhaust note. Will have plenty of torque especially with the 4 speed for moving firewood.

If you go the standard flat tappet cam route, Speed Pro (a division of Federal-Mogul) makes some budget cams that I've had great luck with. The Speed Pro CS1014R which specs at 204*/214* intake and exhaust duration, with .420/.443 lift. I used this one in a former TBI truck engine, with an el cheapo aluminum intake, quadrajet, Summit long tube headers, and dual 2.5" pipes to behind the cab, dumped out of Cherry Bomb Extreme turbo mufflers with turn-downs. This setup was a torque monster in that TBI swirl ported 350. You wont be chasing down any blondes in Corvettes, but you will have PLENTY of power for moving heavy wood, or pulling a trailer.

Another GREAT cam (although a little more money) is the Lunati Voodoo part # 60100. We stuck it in an 84 El Camino that was 305 boat anchor equipped. Swapped the electronic Quadrajet for a standard electric choke Q-Jet, stock intake manifold, el-cheapo long tube headers, and dual 2.25" exhaust piping. With a 2.41 axle ratio and a "lockup disabled" 3 speed turbo 350 trans, that car would scoot right along. This one had plenty of vacuum too, so the brakes worked great, etc. Specs on the 60100 are 207*/213* intake/exhaust duration, and .437/.454 lift.

The key to making this truck a great driver is going to be a good dual plane intake manifold, carburetor of choice (I HATE edelbrocks 1405, 1406, etc but to each his own), I would use a non electronic Quadrajet, a camshaft with relatively "short" duration. Somewhere in the 204-210* on the intake side, and 207-220* on the exhaust side. A cheap set of longtube headers, and a dual exhaust with a minimum 2.25" pipe side, and actual mufflers, not glasspacks. With a basic setup like this, you might even be suprised with a little better mileage than you've been getting if you drive it every day.

Good Luck, and I'm subscribed. Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll do my best to answer as quickly as possible.

Brendan

[Marshy]

Originally Posted by fstfwrd

ProComp seems to make some pretty decent stuff. I know when they first got big, a buddy of mine bought a set of 4 ProComp mudder tires (285/75/16) for a 2001 GMC reg cab shortbox pickup. Had nothing but problems with them.

Their intake manifolds are damn nice. I assume they are china cast, but for the money I was really impressed. The casting was clean, both intakes seated properly and we've never had an issue with them.

The 416 305 heads were essentially the best 305 heads if such a thing exists. I see you had them listed in your engine specs at the top. Some of the light truck 305's from roughly 1982 and up used a "601" casting that works great with a little work. The bad part of using 305 heads on a 350 or larger engine is the small chamber size. My go-to theory for picking a head for a 350 would be a minimum of a 64cc chamber size.

How long did you drive the truck with this setup? Did you ever have any issues with pinging? If you ran 89 or higher octane fuel you may have been lucky and there is no pinging or other in-ordinary engine noise. Typically, with the 305's small chamber size and a short duration, little to no overlap stock cam, plus having to lug a heavy vehicle such as a truck down the road is when you would notice the pinging.

But with a 4 speed tranny and 3.42 gears, I don't imagine there is any engine lugging at highway speed to even speak of.

You can find "193" TBI swirlport heads for next to nothing being as you are trying to build this on a budget. There's no sense in using an outdated 70's-80's era large chamber (76cc) smogger junk head. I know there will be TBI head haters that will call me out, but guys are practically giving the things away. They're fuel injection era heads, so theres a good chance you can find an assembled set on the cheap that wont need any work other than a spring change (only because I assume you are changing the cam). They already have 64cc chambers, which is a perfect match for that 350, and you will have a slight change in compression for the good (less chance of detonation aka pinging and blowing it up).

If you have a block that has the 3 cast towers in the lifter valley that can be drilled and tapped for the factory oem roller cam lifter retainer (first seen in 86/87 and up, even if the engine was equipped with a flat tappet cam, the goodies are there). Saying that, if you can go roller cam, get a stock "LT1" Camaro/Firebird cam. It has 202*/207" intake and exhaust duration, .450/.460 lift, and a 116* LSA for a silky smooth but "burbly" exhaust note. Will have plenty of torque especially with the 4 speed for moving firewood.

If you go the standard flat tappet cam route, Speed Pro (a division of Federal-Mogul) makes some budget cams that I've had great luck with. The Speed Pro CS1014R which specs at 204*/214* intake and exhaust duration, with .420/.443 lift. I used this one in a former TBI truck engine, with an el cheapo aluminum intake, quadrajet, Summit long tube headers, and dual 2.5" pipes to behind the cab, dumped out of Cherry Bomb Extreme turbo mufflers with turn-downs. This setup was a torque monster in that TBI swirl ported 350. You wont be chasing down any blondes in Corvettes, but you will have PLENTY of power for moving heavy wood, or pulling a trailer.

Another GREAT cam (although a little more money) is the Lunati Voodoo part # 60100. We stuck it in an 84 El Camino that was 305 boat anchor equipped. Swapped the electronic Quadrajet for a standard electric choke Q-Jet, stock intake manifold, el-cheapo long tube headers, and dual 2.25" exhaust piping. With a 2.41 axle ratio and a "lockup disabled" 3 speed turbo 350 trans, that car would scoot right along. This one had plenty of vacuum too, so the brakes worked great, etc. Specs on the 60100 are 207*/213* intake/exhaust duration, and .437/.454 lift.

The key to making this truck a great driver is going to be a good dual plane intake manifold, carburetor of choice (I HATE edelbrocks 1405, 1406, etc but to each his own), I would use a non electronic Quadrajet, a camshaft with relatively "short" duration. Somewhere in the 204-210* on the intake side, and 207-220* on the exhaust side. A cheap set of longtube headers, and a dual exhaust with a minimum 2.25" pipe side, and actual mufflers, not glasspacks. With a basic setup like this, you might even be suprised with a little better mileage than you've been getting if you drive it every day.

Good Luck, and I'm subscribed. Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll do my best to answer as quickly as possible.

Brendan

Hey Brendan, thanks for the input and subscribing!

I've had the truck for about 4 years. It's always been a seasonal truck as I want to keep it out of the salt. Along with the 416 heads that came off, it had a stock iron intake and a Q-jet electric choke that I modified to be a manual choke with cable and lever. I know it needs rebuilding because I've seen it leaking fuel out of the shaft ends pouring onto the manifold (the plugs in the bowl might leak too IDK). I picked up the Edelbrock carb and a Torker II manifold (both slightly used) at a yard sale one day for about $25. I thought the carb would be a better option than the Q-Jet and didnt feel like rebuilding it.

Anyways, I've always run 87 octane in the truck with no pinging, not even under heavy load or even after letting the gas sit over a hand full of months with satabil in the tank. I dont have an RPM gauge so no idea how many R's it turns on the freeway but I know its spinning good around 65. I usually try to keep it around 60 but I become the slow car on the freeway. I have gone on a few trips that lasted 2 hrs one way and the MPG's wernt terrible suprisingly. The truck would be more highway friendly with some 33 or larger tires to help get the R's down at higher speeds but I would be giving up low end for it.

I am deciding to not use the 416 heads because my machinist wants about $300 to freshen them up. Thats blasted/washed, fluxed, decked, guides checked, seats cut and laped and assembled minus cost of any parts. For what its worth I'd rather put that money into a set of heads that are meant for that displacement motor and flow better. The Pro Comp 3002 heads sold in about 24 hours of being listed so I missed a good opportunity it seems. However, I'm going to the u-pull junk yard on firday to look for vortec heads. They have a 3 day refund policy or a 30 day exchange if I get a set that are cracked and only cost $25 per head with a $10 core!

In the mean time, Im going to go buy a Harbor Freight engine stand and pull the block. The block ID is V0823CMA and if I looked it up correctly its a '74 block that could have been used in anything, vin is 14M108780... Once on the stand I will measure deck height and try to CC the piston dish.

I did read about the TBI/TPI swirle port heads being good for torque but they arnt as cheap as you would assume. So far any I've come across ready for rebuild think they are worth as much as vortec head ready for rebuild. I also found a set of 461 camel hump heads that had a fresh rebuild and gaskets for $200 but sold on 24hrs too. I was considering a set of those if I have too...

[mechanicalman]

Marshy see what your local machine shop will charge you to put 1.94" intake valves in the 305 heads and if they can "un-shroud" the valves thus opening up the chambers to around 64cc, that would be OK.

And really, what was wrong with it before you blew the head gasket? The 305 heads ran your compression up some but with a larger cam you could balance it out.

Take a straight edge across the deck and feeler gauge one of the pistons at TDC after you clean off a spot of carbon and let me know the deck height and if you want to throw the 305 heads back on with another cam I'm sure we can make a very noticeable improvement compared to what you had before. Stock 305 heads on a 350 need cammed up a little to work right.

Let me know what you do before you do it and I'll walk you through whatever you decide.

[Marshy]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Marshy see what your local machine shop will charge you to put 1.94" intake valves in the 305 heads and if they can "un-shroud" the valves thus opening up the chambers to around 64cc, that would be OK.

And really, what was wrong with it before you blew the head gasket? The 305 heads ran your compression up some but with a larger cam you could balance it out.

Take a straight edge across the deck and feeler gauge one of the pistons at TDC after you clean off a spot of carbon and let me know the deck height and if you want to throw the 305 heads back on with another cam I'm sure we can make a very noticeable improvement compared to what you had before. Stock 305 heads on a 350 need cammed up a little to work right.

Let me know what you do before you do it and I'll walk you through whatever you decide.

Honestly its not worth the money to put into the 305 heads. The cost to refresh a set of vortec vs the 305 heads is the same. Add the cost to put in the 1.94 valves and deshroud is going to exceed the cost of buying the vortec heads when you look at labor and new valves. In the end the 305 heads still flow like 305 heads. I can get back some CR point by decking the vortecs some...

My biggest concern right now is I have some minor surface rust developing on the cylinder walls. It never occured to me that I should have lightly oil them. I vacuumed out the push rod galley and the cylinder bores last night beause there was some junk from the head removal that fell in there. I need to roll the engine and get the rust deposits off and get the cylinders and coat them with some oil. I will get my deck clearance tonight.
I plan on going to the junk yard on friday so prospect some vortec heads. The junk yard wants $25/head with a $10 core. I can get full refund if returned in 3 days or get refund store credit up to 30 days. So if I find a cracked head I can take it back but, I will make sure that is valid when I sign in the yard. Otherwose I have a guy parting out an engine with 062 heads that I can get for under $100. They are still on the engine that he is selling/parting out.

[Marshy]

I feel like I made some progress today and yesterday. Happy Memorial weekend BTW.

I went to Harbor Freight and got a 1000lb engine stand yesterday and went to the junk yard and got myself a set of 062 heads out of a chevy 1500 truck. Even manage to lose a little knuckle skin so I know I did it right.

As I'm checking out one of the cashiers asked me what heads I had. We struck a conversation about the vortec heads and he proceeded to tell me he has a set of 906's he want to sell. Sounds like they had some run time but he said are ready to bolt on. He tells me they already have threaded rocker studs, larger valves (2.02/1.60), larger spring landings, threaded for guide plates and retainer clearance for up to 0.600 lift. He said he wanted $500 for them. I took his name an number because I was thinkin that might be a good option.
I don't think I could use the springs and rockers that are on them so even minus those parts I doubt I could have these 062's set up like that for any cheaper. And now that's a delima, I'm going to have to talk to my machinist and make a choice especially if I decide to use a retro fit roller setup (I started a retro fit roller thread). If I decide to go that route I'll sell these 062's on craigslist and scooping up the 906's he has. Decisions decisions... I better figure out my budget and draw a line in the sand before my wife does it for me.