Here's one for you... The engine that was in my car when i bought is seems to be out of an 87 Vette, according to the casting numbers on the block and heads. The previous owner pretty much demolished most of the internals but the block (4 bolt, 2 pcRMS) and heads are still good. I want to go with a 383 rotating assembly and reuse the heads, intake (Edlebrock performer air gap) and carb (Edlebrock 600cfm) for now. The heads are aluminum, 58cc and with flat top pistons should produce 11.7:1 comp. Basically what I want to know is am I wasting my time trying to use these heads? I dont know any other specs on these heads..not much info out there. Just wanted to see if anyone had any insight before I took these things down to the head shop.

I also have a 700R4 trans that seems pretty fresh to go behind this mess... Still trying to decide what I'm gonna do out back in the rear....on a seriously tight budget.

 

Are you sure about that? Aluminum heads is consistent with '87 Vette, but not 2 piece RMS.

You might want to look for better heads, or at least having the ones you have professionally ported.

 

Correction, the block is a 2 piece but doesnt belong to a Vette. I'm guessing who ever built that motor mixed and matched. Supposedly the crank, rods and piston were out of a Vette too, can niether confirm nor deny....besides, they are in the trash pile anyway....

 

What do you suggest I look for head wise? Keep in mind my tight budget..

 

I guess since all my buddies are Ford/Mustang guys, I have to go outside the inner circle to get some advice....

 

The 'vette heads aren't bad. My stage 1 porting, with 2.00" intake and 1.50" exhaust valves, has netted 250 / 195 cfm at .500", without a length of header tube on the exhaust port.
The 600 carb is too small, plus the RPM AirGap intake realy likes large carbs. a Holley 770 would be a better choice.
Choose pistons with at least a 12cc dish. If money is that tight, Summit has a deal on some 17.8cc hypereutectics that would still give you around 10.5:1 with the heads at 56cc, and a 4.040" bore, and a 0.040" piston-to-head clearance.

 

I was definately wanting to get at least a 750 carb, was looking at an 800. From what I understand, those heads have 1.90" intake valves now, so I guess I could get the 2.0 and port the crap out of these...Hopefully the head shop doesnt break the bank on that deal!

I wanted to go with forged flat tops...will there be a clearance problem??? I was concerned about the bottom of the sparkplug opening and clearance there..

 

113 castings, correct? Should be 1.94"/1.50" valves.

 

No, the 128s I think...the other one of the two

 

Okay, but valves would still be 1.94/1.50.

 

I like the sound of those fast burns, The Summit tech said the intake i have would work with those...

 

I'd get an rpm intake, the 383 wants to breath. Open it up to 1205 and get some new heads or really work the aluminum vette heads over. Need to keep compression under 11 or so for pump gas. 230ish deg cam would net some good power and compliment the rpm intake. Thats what I'd do.

Keep an eye on classifieds for used aftermarket heads. thats your best budget bet for a great head. Most bottom line heads are 1000+ for aluminum, and iron isnt much cheaper.

You keeping a hydraulic roller cam or flat tappet? that will make a little difference on what springs you need for the heads. Set it up right to match the cam.

If you had your eye on fastburns which i think are around 1200, i'd look at the brodix IK200's

 

There's a difference between "will bolt to" and "will work well with".

It may bolt to Fast Burns, but. . .

A Performer RPM Vortec would be a much better choice.

 

Just because I can do 250 cfm consistently doesn't mean you should try to hog them out yourself. And I didn't specify which intake gasket I used, because that's not the restriction.
Anybody can grind on heads, most can do a decent clean up if they don't get aggressive. But some guys are just "naturals" at making small ports move serious air, and I am one of them. I try to play it down, most of the time, but I didn't post in here to brag, just to give evidence of the potential of these heads in good hands.
Guys who are new to porting nearly always ruin the first head they ever grind on. It is easy to make it worse than what it was, no matter how it looks or feels.
Many articles have been written on DIY porting, and most guys can do good work after enough practicing of this sound advice.
now, Fast Burn heads are never the answer. They have 210cc intake ports, and 2.00/1.55" valves, but on the intake side they can't even equal the '98-'01 stock L31 intakes, with smaller 1.94" valves in 170cc ports. That is truly sad. Avoid those heads like the plague they are. If you like them, get Edelbrock's E-Tec heads. The 200cc versions are no better than the 170s unless you're going past 6000 rpm frequently.