or caution... well to make a long story short for those of you with the holley be careful of tightening the bolt that holds the fuel injector cover down too tight...
mine snapped of tonight while driving down the road and got lodged under the number 8 intake valve. the reason i know this is because it was missing and the pan was loose then i took off the throttle body and did not see in in the manifold so i took off the manifold. and me and my brother in law found it in the number 8 stuck under the valve. it must have warped the screw becasue we tried turning it over by hand and it still would not come out!!!

so do i order the 081 heads for 474.99 with the bigger intake valves or do i spring for a 350 ... even though i just replaced the clutch last week and i'll have to take it all apart again!

this is the misery of my life... if i had a digital camera i would take a pic of the screw for you guys!

aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

 

Ewww, that sucks. For 475$ I'd look into vortecs. You'll need another intake, but I can't justify that much money for rebuilt stock heads.

 

wow that sucks. I too would look at vortec heads if this is a mild build-up. You can pick-up a 350 short block for cheap and install some vortec heads, a summit special bump stick, edelbrock RPM intake, crank up the fuel pressure and be on your way to 13's running TBI. Shouldn't cost you most than a grand for everything if you do the work. I know you're burning your own chips so that's how I'd go about it.

 

well i would go with the vortecs but i have been told from several reputable engine bulders that they aer prone to cracking and i think the 081's will work great because the have bigger than stock valves. they have the 1.94 intake unlike the lo3 and stock 081 1.84 valve, also pablo was running 13's on a 305 with 416 heads with stock valve sizes so i think the 081's will work... but i am going to go get the local shopper paper and see if i can find any deals! there was a guy here a while back selling performer heads good for like .600 lift and they are aluminum and he only wanted 500 bucks! the only thing is the compression loss! plus i don't know if they were the 1.94 or 2.02 valves???

update i got the bolt out and it is pinched a little so i am going to put her back together and see how she runs...

 

I've only heard of people saying how they "heard" about vortecs cracking. I think it's because the vortec heads were used in marine and truck applications. It's hard for me to believe that GM would design a poor casted head for those applications. Maybe some old school crack jobber weighed the vortec heads and came up with the conclusion that if it's light, it's thin and more prone to cracking....
Anyways, whatever you choose is up to you, I'm just giving you my .

 

well my wifes uncle who has built up cars since the 60's said they got them in the shop all the time with cracked heads. he is one of the most talented engine builders i have ever seen. he is one of those guys who goes and buys a rusted out peice of crap and turns it into a brand new car and sells it for 30,000 or so...
he said when they get higher miles on them they are prone to cracking and especialy when they are milled down.
even the guy from performance heads said something about them cracking.

 

Supposedly GM changed the way they were making the later vortecs, can't really confirm that. If your really worried about cracking go for the pro topline vortecs. They have thicker decks and supposedly better ports that flow a smidgen more for about 50 bucks over the GM vortecs. You really need to consider any other head other than stock gm stuff no matter how big the valves are. The vortec/aftermarket heads really are worth every penny. They are the key to power. If I had it to do all over again I'd spend evey penny on my heads and then buy the usuall mods like intakes and exhuast.

 

Light? Those vortecs are heavier than you typical SBC head.

 

Not the port and deck thickness! Only reason they weigh more is the valve cover height which is gay but it does strengthen the gasket sealing.

 

that other guy from the tech article got the 416 ported and did not change the valve size and he ran 13's too its in the tech article called porting the 305 heads or something like that. also you must remember i have a 305 right now and the vortecs would have to be milled down so i could use them and thus increasing the cost. and i would have to spend more money on another intake. if i had a 350 then i would consider it but i don't and i am not getting one until i can afford to get a t56 as well because i am not getting rid of the 5 spd and it is a weal kink right now so i don't want a whole lot more trq.

 

13's blah blah blah. Who knows exactly what else is done, heads and displacement are a SMALL part of the big picture. I thought you were going to go with a 350, if you're sticking with the 305 then don't bother with the increased valve size. Just do some exhaust port work and minor clean-up and bolt it on. I wouldn't spend more than $450 or you'd be just as good with exhaust porting on the swirl ports.

 

the 081's that are 474.99 come with 1.94 its part of the deal. i can get the stcok 081's fro mthe same place for 329.99 and they also have the 1.94 vlv. and they have a 3 angle valve job but thats about it!
i don't know what i will do cause it caught on fire last night... luckily after all 3 of us runnign around screaming like little girls we got the fire out.
well when we tightened the stud back on it didn't get tight enough and fuel shot all out of the top of the fuel injecter pod and then we solved that and itghtedned it back down and then after letting it sit for a few minuets tried to crank it and then it backfired!!! and wooof flames all over the intake manifold! all while sitting in some old mans driveway about 10 miles from my house at 1:00 am... but we made it!

 

Man you're having bad luck. Don't let it get to you, I've had the same thing happen only mine wasn't the injector pod but rather a poorley sealed pressure regulator. Fuel, lean backfire, flames, oh fun.
I really hate the way these o-rings are installed. Pisses me off that they don't have a better sealing device/clamp like the OEM Rochester units.

 

flames are always cool. I was going down the highway and I was almost home when the engine just started pouring oil smoke out the back of the car. It was bad, I just assumed I poped a piston since I had just ran it up through the gears. I gave it hell and hoped I could at least get it back to the house before the engine gave out completely. So when I finally got home I realized the smoke was coming from under the hood and not out the exhaust. I popped the hood and was treated to the site of my entire engine bay engulfed in flames, luckily I had an extenguisher in my garage and I was able to put it out. Ends up the problem was one of those cheapy oil pressure guage lines had burned through the header and squirted oil all over my engine bay at 60 psi and then ignited on the hot headers. Luckly I wasn't runnin FI at the time and I had very little to replace other than a couple of wires and the dissy cap. It didnt' even bubble the paint on the hood. I now carry an extenguisher in the car.

As for the heads, I would look around. Thats alot of money for rebuilt stockers. The bigger valves won't do you much good because the ports won't match up to them without some porting. I have a set of 416's with 194's in them and they have a significant step under the valve and the bigger valve is also shrouded pretty bad in the combustion chamber.