I thought I read somewhere that I could get better compression by using my 305 heads on my 350 swap. Any truth to that? If not, what are some other good options for heads on a early 90/91 truck 350 motor. Thanks!

 

well you never said what 350 it is but vortec heads are your best bet.

 

The only reason they use 305 heads is cause some of them came with tiny chambers (58cc). The downside is you sacrifice a lot of head flow, meaning it's good for low end grunt more then anything. I ran a set of 58cc heads on a 350 with a mild cam behind a T5 in a 84? trans am, car saw a best time of 14.1 on street tires (horrible launch) and difficulty getting it into 3rd. I think it was defiantly capable of turning high 13's but that's about it. The local shop figured we were making about 310 horses at the crank, if I remember correctly.

Your other options for higher compression is different pistons or milling a set of heads.

 

Maybe, maybe not. LG4, LB9, L69, LU5 305 heads have the same ports as L98 350 heads, but with smaller 1.84" intake valves. Put 1.94" intake valves in those 305 heads (416 or 081 castings), and you'll have the same flow capability as L98 350's.

My 305-headed 350 has run mid-13's with 3.23 gears and no tuning (after running 14.0's at 5800' altitude).

Of course, 062 or 906 Vortec heads would be better.