found a guy selling some 202 heads the casting number is 3991492. I am aware of the "461" "462" 202 fuelie camel hump heads but haven't heard of these ones. Are these heads any good for performance use with port/polish work

I've got a few sets of 492 also 186's, back in the day they use to be the hot set up.

i better pick them up then. My buddies 406 had 202 fuelie heads on it and that motor roared like a big block

They are not 202 heads. Please stop calling them that, that drives me nuts!
They just so happen to have 2.02" intake valves.
They are 492 heads. And yes, fuelie/camel hump heads. And they HAVE 2.02" intake valves, that does not make them "202 heads". The valves play a small part in the quality of the head.

Remember what he said, they "used to be" the hot setup. It's now 2008, and they are far surpassed by other heads

But they are the best $250/pair heads around. If they have the front accessory mounting holes and you don't want to spend $600 for Vortecs, they'll work.

which are better 202 fuelie/camel hump heads or vortec heads?

Vortecs with 2.02 valves, of course. But they cost more than $600/pair...
The 1.94 "vortec" heads, I don't know, probably be close, depends on who ports them...
With the old heads, it all depends on those front accy holes... If they ain't there, the heads are only good for early cars and hot-rods.

$250 for a set of old camel back heads isn't a good deal even if they have 2.02 valves. Late model heads flow better and have better castings. There's more to heads than just the valve size.

Having the camel back heads rebuilt to good performance specs can cost a lot more than buying a good set of aftermarket heads. New valves, guides, larger springs which requires machining the spring pockets. If they don't have screw in studs, machining the stud boss down to install screw in studs. Just having all the machine work down and the cost of new parts can put those obsolete heads over $1000.

40 years ago, camel heads were a performance head because there was little to no aftermarket choices and production heads were all poor. With available choices now, camel heads are only good for collectors or someone who needs a specific casting.

Stock Eliminator racers still need camel heads however as soon as someone who's selling a set has done anything such as a valve job, port and polish etc, the Stockers can't use them.

Any head can have 2.02 valves. A real performance head can have 2.08 intake valves.

You can get junkyard Vortecs for a song, and have them rebuilt for not much more. They are 10x better than the double-hump castings - more power, torque, throttle response, and fuel mileage. Better heads in every way, and you can build them for about the same.

Vortecs breathe better with the stock 1.94 valve than those double-humps do with 2.02 valves - Vortec head flow is actually very comparable to the 195cc LT4 cylinder heads, and have the same chamber design as the LT1/LT4.

Please to explain what a "202" head is. I always thought "202" designated the intake valve diameter; i. e. 2.02" diameter. If not, what is a "202" head? By the way, patten number 3991492 is from a '69 to '72 350 with 2.02" intake and 1.60" exhaust [yup, I know I'm about two years late with that info].

How can I tell if the head is a Vortex or not?

'Vortec' not 'Vortex'... and Vortec heads are their own unique animal - very tall and narrow intake ports and a unique intake bolt pattern that only uses 4 intake bolts on each side, that point straight up. Normal SBC heads have 6 on each side, and only some point up.

A 492 is a good head, They will get the job done. I have the 292 angle plug heads which were only sold over the counter bare and they work great, yes a new set of performance heads will outflow them but these have been ported and the WOW factor that i get out of them is worth it. So buy them and put them on!!


Mark.

OK, I will. Got a good source? I'm putting together a 350 for 1/4 mile circle track racing. Someone told me Vortex heads cooling passages don't line up with earlier vintage blocks. Is that true?

DSLee

Thanks Adam. Sorry for another dumb question but what is "SBC"? I've been away from Chevy racing stuff for a while [30 years].

SBC= Small Block Chevy.


Mark.

In case anyone is interested, the link click here is an index of most Chevrolet engine and cylinder head patten numbers sorted by number. It's in a YAHOO group so you may need to join before you can open it ....or not. You can always quit once you've downloaded the book.

Regards,
DSLee

Jeekers, now I feel like a real jerk. Sorry.....

Porting a cast iron head isnt cheap, a nice job will set you back more than a new set of those Vortecs. Plus any machine work, ie surface valve job spring/seals etc if they need it.