i have an 86 t a and am just finishing up installing a 1976 350 out of an old blazer with stock freshly reconditioned 882 casting heads, comp cams #270 cam, headers and a 3 inch exhaust with flowmasters and im keeping the tpi set up off of the original 305
Now heres the question, i've asked around about the 882 heads and am getting mixed answers. some people are saying they make excellent low end torque but dont have much rev potential, and others are saying that theyre just all around junk and that i should of stayed with the 305 because it has better heads and produced more hp than my 350. because im keeping the tpi setup though, which is designed for low end torque production, wouldnt the 882 heads compliment the tpi setup? is this an alright combo?

 

Well, let's put it into persepctive here....

Your TPI 305 made what, 210 HP from the factory?

That truck 350 made what, 165 HP? 180 HP if it was a 4-barrel?



So how "good" are 882 heads?

Sorry to see that yet another car has been downgraded to a 70s smogger setup.

 

http://www.users.interport.net/s/r/srweiss/tablehdc.htm

according to the above link, 882s flow better than L98 heads.

http://www.allchevynova.com/nova/dyno.html

according to the scond link, 274 hp is possible with 882s

 

Yeah we see that sort of thing posted all the time... funny thing though, motors that are built out of that garbage, don't seem to read the article, or at least, they don't believe everything they read.

There's ALOT more to what makes a head "good" than just raw flow #s in stock condition. Flow is important, but it isn't everything.

Tendency to crack, chamber size, tendency to detonate, etc. etc. etc. are all good things to consider as well as flow.

882s are among the worst that there are for a typical performance build-up. I cannot count the number of motors that I've seen built with 882s that have disappointed their owners; or the number of them that I've THROWN IN THE TRASH after putting something else on people's motors, that woke them up.

 

882s are 76cc chambers, not prone to detonation compared to 58cc 305 heads. but not very desirable. but if you got a set and want to use them until something better comes along , why not? If they've been freshly reconditioned I would think they were checked for cracks.

 

They are HIGHLY prone to detonation, if you do the simplistic inexperienced builder thing, and just jam "pop-up" pistons under them to get the CR up out of the mud.

Tell you what....

You build your motor out of 882s, I'll build mine out of my choice of stock heads. Even 305 heads, if that's what you think you want to compare the 882s to. All I'll ask on those, is that I get to open them up to the 350 size valves. In return I'll give you a break: I'll let you use dome pistons if you want, to even up the compression ratio.

Then we'll put em on an engine stand.

What do you think will happen?

 

Hey, try not to take this personally. jussin350 took an old blazer motor and installed it in his t a. Not a typical performance build-up. He asked a question about his heads. I provided some information for him to consider. That's all. I don't think he's going to see some great improvement by pulling his 882s and putting his stock 305 heads on it. I could be wrong.

 

Nope, nothing personal... just the facts.

He asked about 882 heads. I offered the results of real-world experience with real people on real motors just like his in real cars.

The results of that experience say, ditch the 882s. They are the dung. The combo of 305 heads on the smogger short block is far superior, even if the 305 heads are in bone-stock condition. The 305 heads with stock 350 size valves would blow the 882s away.

Back to the original question.... in addition to the heads being a poor choice, that cam is not appropriate for a TPI motor at all. It will likely make less power and run slower in a TPI application than a stock L98 or LB9 cam. TPI imposes specific requirements on the cam design, and that cam isn't designed with those requirements in mind. It's a mismatch. Apart even from that, it's too much cam for a 8¼:1 motor, which is what that one is, with ANY N/A induction. It'll be real soggy feeling all around because of the very low cylinder pressure that the motor will end up with.

All in all, I don't think it's a very good plan.

 

the 882's were crack tested and checked out good, although i am well aware of there ability to crack. theyre mainly just on so that i can drive my ta around until i can afford a new set of heads. i understood that stock for stock the smogger 350 had less hp than my stock 305 but my main reason for choosing it was that its a nice 4 bolt main block with low miles and i figured that it would have more potential for higher hp as time goes on than the 305 would ever have. also the stock 350 had a 4 barrel carb, now that it has tpi it should have a little bit higher hp and torque numbers which may or may not make it better than the 305

 

the 305 heads are also in excellent condition, would u suggest using those on the 350 since they "flow better" than the 882's. i've heard the compression would be way to high to be usable by using 305 heads on a 350. as far as the cam goes its actually a 268, which is still probably a bit much but i was originally planning on using an old edelbrock performer manifold with a 650? cfm edelbrock carb however it didnt seem right to just set aside the tpi setup because i really liked teh way it looked and the crisp throttle response of it. do any of you believe i would see any gains in using my carb setup?

 

http://www.allchevynova.com/

this guy with the 882s says:

"my 350's best of 13.41 @ 103 mph"

"I stuffed a Comp Cams Extreme Energy 274 Hydraulic Flat tappet bump stick and new timing chain. The compression ratio came out to a whopping 8.4 "

"with an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and an Edelbrock 750 vacuum secondary carburetor."


I think your stock 882s flow better than stock 416s. According to a book I have by David Vizard, going from 8.0:1 cr to 10.0:1 cr is good for a 3.7 percent horsepower gain.

 

hey thanks for the info, if i could get my car to run those times with only those mods to the engine id be more than pleased with it, however i bet that built 350 tranny he has had quite a bit to do with those times. my intitiall goal for my car was to run in the low 14's but its good to know how far i can go with these heads, assuming they dont crack on me lol