882 heads

[6768chevylover]

When they say they are prone to cracking, do they mean on the exhaust seats or the exhaust ports on the head? I have these heads on my blazer and im dreading doing the head gasket to find cracks any wheres.

[Marshy]

Any reason to believe they might be cracked?

[cableguy0]

Any time any cylinder head is removed it should be sent to the machine shop for at least a pressure test and a resurface. Heads do twist and warp over time from the heat cycles and should always be resurfaced to ensure starting with a nice flat surface. If this is an old engine a valve job wouldn't be a bad idea either. HOWEVER don't dump a ton of money into a set of stock sbc heads. Usually a few more dollars past a full rebuild gets you into a new set of aftermarket heads.

[GRX]

Have magnfluxed literally 100s of them. Usually crack in the center two exhaust seats - at 1 and 11 o-clock, respectively. Loss of coolant is not a common failure here. Often first sign is a blown out seat and valve. Then they extend inward from there. Used to have an array of badly burned valves on top of my toolbox.

This was one of the first heads to feed the intake exhaust cross-over from both center ports. So much heat is retained in these areas.

[B. W.]

Originally Posted by GRX

Have magnfluxed literally 100s of them. Usually crack in the center two exhaust seats - at 1 and 11 o-clock, respectively. Loss of coolant is not a common failure here. Often first sign is a blown out seat and valve. Then they extend inward from there. Used to have an array of badly burned valves on top of my toolbox.

This was one of the first heads to feed the intake exhaust cross-over from both center ports. So much heat is retained in these areas.

X2 - love the Vortec heads BUT I'd guess that 9 out 10 of these heads will be cracked when checked. You can buy new stock heads at a reasonable price or, as mentioned above, for a little more go aftermarket. For a mild build the new stock heads are hard to beat. RHS used to have cast iron vortecs but I believe they are now offered by Engine Quest. They are cast in New Zealand. I bought a bare set for $530 a few years ago, supposed to not crack like the stockers but I don't know, time will tell.

I must be going blind, I confused your 882's with 906's! Just ignore everything I said!