What are the best heads to get? Does the throttle body need to be replaced? I plan on having around 260-280hp and like 390lbs of torque. Im going to get the Edelbrock intake manifold, and an LT1 or LT4 cam.

 

idk about the heads but the throttle body can deffinately support the power if you know how to burn chips for your ecm. If you can't burn chips then you might as well learn or go carbureted cause if you don't burn a chip then it will never run right.(i would recommend learning to burn cause you can keep your drivability and gas milage).

 

You're probably going to get a bunch of recomendations to use Vortec heads off of a 350 (L31). I would listen to those recomendations. You can get a set from Summit or Jegs brand new for around $500.00 assembled. They will lower your compression ratio due to have a larger CC. You can mill them down and use a thin head gasket to compensate.

 

Im going to get the EBL after I get the new intake manifold. So when I get that im going to def need some help setting it up for the first time.
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So get them and take them to a performance shop, what should I tell them I want, exactly? I guess I will just have a shop install them and mill them down and everything.

 

ok dumb question and I feel embarassed asking, but I have a 305 and want to bore my cylinders to create a little more power with oversized pistons... do I need special heads if I bore it .040

 

you probably wont make it .040 on a 305. Either way, the gain would be minimal. Boring is a maintenance act, not a power increaser.

 

Yeah, if you want more cubic inches, you really need a bigger stroke rotating assy.

And to the smart people, how do the vortec heads compare to the LB9 TPI heads? I thought I heard that you can put TPI heads on a LO3 and get some easy gains too?

 

The ones that claim the "Great Gains" from stock 081 heads on a L03 are on crack. I have seen a ported pair of 081s not gain the upper hand on a cammed up L03 until after 4,300 rpm.

Next to ported ZZ4 heads, the 059 casting Vortec 305 heads are the BEST GM heads you can put on a 305.

 

Well, I figured the vortec heads would give better gains then the TPI heads, but I didnt figure it would be that big. I still am undecided on what I want to do in the long run. The main thing, is, the car is my daily driver, and will be for a long time. Another car is out of the option.

So whatever I do to this car, it needs to be easy enough to tune in an afternoon (for a noob), needs to get some decent gains, hopefully I could see 200HP, maybe like 280TQ, and needs to retain my current gas milage.