Quote:
Originally Posted by 1972BlueC20
Well, I thought about doing that at first.
One of my heads is cracked at one of the bolt holes, so I'd need to either find some factory used replacement heads and have them redone, or buy some aftermarket heads. Both of which options aren't cheap, and I don't know of a good machine shop in my area that I know I can trust....machine shops can be high too....but just looking into the option of buying 2 new heads, it would be around $700-$1200+ just for heads.
I heard that you really shouldn't put a new top end on a old lower end....not sure if this is true....heard it could cause issues to pop up shortly down the road....heard it's best to rebuild the whole thing if you have it torn down to that point....which again would cost more than a new crate once everything is factored in.
that all being said, i figured that by the time I factor in the cost of buying new heads, new gaskets and my time it was better and would give more satisfaction on the end result to just buy a brand new shiny crate engine with a warranty....
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Putting new heads on an old short block being a bad idea is an old wife's tale. The bottom end will not degrade just because of good heads. How many miles did you say were on your bottom end? Anything less that 100,000 miles, provided I had no reason to believe anything was wrong, I'd put a new cam, heads, timing chain/gears on it and not worry.
Get some small chamber heads, the cam I recommended and you and your buddies put them and all the other new parts you ordered on your old engine a set of headers, new dual exhaust if you need it and have fun. I'd recommend the 65cc heads for 399.00$ and felpro 1094 head gaskets and a cheap set of new head bolts. You will spend half as much and go twice as fast.
http://www.aeroheadracing.com/chevy.html
ANOTHER OPTION would be to sell the heads off the 290HP and put the 65cc heads on it. THAT would get you LOTS of power and about 9.5:1 compression with steel shim head gaskets. THEN your 290HP cam will work, and work well.