I can buy a pair of these heads from a junkyard for $40. They'll come off the same Chevy van that I pulled the TBI throttle body and manifold from.

I'm putting a 350 in my Jeep Wrangler, so I'm not looking for top speed -- In reality, I'd be happy if I could hit 70 mph. Furthermore, I don't want to run this motor past 5000 RPM. I want torque for four-wheeling. In reading previous posts, I noticed that 14102193 heads do make decent low-end torque... and they produce good gas mileage, which would be nice on a daily driver like my Jeep. My 350 has dished pistons, so I'd have like an 8.0:1 compression ratio... not as high as I'd like, but whatever.

The other option was to use ported 305 heads and have a ridiculously high CR on my Jeep. I'd probably lose a little torque for horsepower, though.

Everybody I've read about here says that for a "performance" application, I'd be wasting my time with these '193 swirl-port heads. But, this isn't exactly a performance application... heck, I'm upgrading from a four-cylinder. Do you think this is worth my while?

 

If it's going to be a plug-n-play type swap, for what you describe, you'll do ok with those.

 

Id go with a polish job on the heads and they should work great for what you want.

 

Add some stainless undercut swirl polished valves in the current size. On my "601" 305 heads they were worth about 15cfm intake / 10 cfm exhaust with no other changes. I then gasket matched and bowl ported for about another 20 cfm/ 15 cfm. A very noticable change especially with the hotter cam. Those swirl ports choke an engine over about 3,500 rpm. They do wonders for low end torque and fuel economy though. Sounds about right for the cost of the heads. I would have them rebuilt by a rebuilder if they have more than 100,000 miles on them. It will cease oil burning when used with a healthy shortblock ( no oil burning on my 170,000 mile 1983 305) It cost me $140.00 to rebuild the pair.

If you don't mind what does the TBI setup run $$, as I am looking for one for my early chevy van?

 

The 193 casting heads have 64cc chambers,so your CR will be real close to 9.0:1 with typical 10cc dish pistons. The heads will work fine for a low rpm torque application.

 

I'll probably be heading out to the junkyard next weekend to pick up those heads. I definitely intend on rebuilding them... and I might do a little work to them, while they're off the motor. Might as well.

Fast305, I got an amazing deal today on that TBI stuff. TBI throttle body (incl. injectors), TBI intake manifold (not the best performing, but oh well), COMPLETE wiring harness, all sensors (IAC, MAP, etc.), as well as the associated hardware and other random parts I found. It was enough to fill a 5-gallon bucket, which I also found at the junkyard (forgot to bring a box). $50. I couldn't complain. It all came from an '88 Chevy Van 20.

I was looking at the same stuff on eBay (plus the computer, but no wiring harness), and it went for almost $200. Junkyard is definitely the cheaper way to go in this situation.

I think this is in the thread archives somewhere, but since it's on topic: what kind of cam would work well for me? I read something about staying under 0.450" or 0.500" lift with these heads. I was thinking along the lines of Summit's brand of cams -- cheap and effective.

 

All the junkyards here in Texas want $500.00+ for the same stuff. The people living in the rust belt have a definate advantage over us. I am thinking of sending a request to junkyards up North, paying them 2X what it is worth to pull the parts and pay the shipping to get it here. I would be at most $150.00 versus $500.00. OOPs hope I'm not threadjacking.

On the cam get a Federal Mogul Speed Pro CS 1014R. I have one in my 305 and it idles smooth w/ lots of vacuum(18 in/hg @ 650 rpm) and really wakes up the engine after 2,500 rpm. Mine runs to 4,500+with no problem. The specs are 204*-214*@ .050", and .423" .442" lift with 112* lobe seperation angle. It cost me $26.00 for the cam and $32.00 for the lifters from a local engine rebuilder.

 

That's too bad about the high prices where you live. Most of the yards around here are pretty reasonable, and pretty competitively-priced.

How would that cam fare in a 350, though? Wouldn't I want a little more duration with a larger displacement and 350 heads?

 

The cam has the same specs as the edelbrock 350 performer cam (probably the same cam). Thats as big a cam as I would run in that swirl port headed 9:1 350. My 305 is 9.54:1 which makes the cam seem smaller but still perform well up high. I think this would be a good TBI friendly cam as the vacuum is close to stock. You need atleast 17 in/hg vacuum at a slow idle for the TBI to run properly. Turbo City says that 206*@ .050" is as big as you should run on the intake side unless you want to get into custom chip burning etc. I think you could expect around 260 HP @ 4000 rpm and 350 ft/lbs @ 2400 or so on the near stock 350 (crank #s). My little 305 HO made 270 hp @ 4,500 and 310 ft/lbs torque @ 2,400 at the rear wheels. Not bad from bolt ons, on a carbed 305. I think that your heads are going to limit it to about 4,500 or so so why try to fix it with a mismatched cam. What transmission are you using? Most GM autos shift at 44-4600 rpm anyway. This cam will make great torque for off-roading. We use my van to pull heavy trailers and boats up steep ramps and it has more torque than we need on those slippery ramps. Its too easy to spin the tires off idle. Rainy days can be fun with this cam even more so if I had a 350.

I see cheap edelbrock TBI intakes on Ebay all the time along with the holley high flow tbis.

 

I think these heads will be alright for now, with TBI. I might switch over to TPI if the power isn't to my liking, but I should be alright -- a 350 is a lot of motor for a short-wheelbase Jeep.

I'm going to be running an Muncie SM465 four-speed manual truck transmission. My unit is from 1979, though they were used up until 1991 in certain GM trucks (heavy-duty, I believe).

I'll have to check out that cam some more. Sounds like a nice combo.