I am looking at a set of heads that someone is selling, he said they are stock heads from a 91 roller motor. I am correct in assuming these are centerbolt heads right?

I currently have 176 heads on a 1976 small block 350 and they are killing me. Will I have to change anything aside from the valve covers?
He is willing to sell them to me for $50 for the pair. I am gonna jump on this if I don't need to buy much (if anything) else. I may have them ground out to 202 b/c I know someone with a machine shop who will do the work for next to nothing.
Should I go with this or stay away? Will I have any problems just yanking my old heads and slapping these on?

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Jay

Jay's Website
No car with 4 doors is a sports car! this goes back to my friend comparing his Maxima to a Camaro

 

If they are from a 350, I'd get your machine shop friend to check them out, look up the casting numbers, then I'd buy them. I am assuming (1976)your heads are from the smog era with inefficient combustion chambers, low compression, and 1.72/1.5 valves (correct me if I'm wrong).

I am almost positive that GM sells these heads on a crate engine that produces 300 fywheel hp. They flow alright at .400'', something like 196 cfm, but after that it's ugly. Some pocket porting, and these heads would hang with a great deal of aftermarket iron heads. As for the valves, save your money. I think it might actually hurt performance. At low level valve lift, air must flow across the greater valve area to fill the cylinder. Also, I think that the addition of 2.02 valves in thid head promotes valve shrouding (Bad).

 

yes you are correct in assuming that I have a smog motor (first mistake but its too late now)
Unfortunately I am buying them from someone on camaroz28.com and can't check them out before I buy them.
He emailed me about 5 minutes after I posted this and told me that they are fully dressed, rockers and everything. he mentioned casting 193 but I don't know what that means.
I am going to have to buy a new intake to go along with the heads, I am currently using an Edelbrock performer rpm, does anyone have a suggestion for a replacement intake? (they don't offer the rpm for the centerbolt heads) I also have a Holley 600 cfm 4160 carb on top of that.

this whole deal is gonna cost me $94 including shipping. and then a pocket porting, have it matched to the intake, new valve covers and I should be pretty much set right?

 

You shouldn't need to replace the intake. The only difference should be the center intake bolt holes. Have them elongated and bolt on your RPM. The only problem you might have is if you are keeping the EGR. RPM's dont have the provision. Have your machine shop freind do its not difficult and shouldn't take him very long.

 

no egr here, actually no emissions whatsoever

does this sounds like a good deal to the rest of you guys?

 

I think the 193's are the TBI truck 350 heads. I have a set, and am pretty sure they're 193's as well (been awhile since I looked).

They're not a highperformance head by any means.

Since you have a machineshop connection, I'd hold out for at least a set of L98's (083 castings)and have them gone through.

The 193 or 083 refers to the last three digits of the head casting number, which tends to identify which engine they came from.

 

I got an email with these pictures of the heads. He tells me that these should be perfect for cores but I am not too sure from the looks of them, and I would most likely have to replace everything on them and that might not be worth the trouble if they aren't anything special. let me know what you think of these

 

14102193...

They're some kind of 350 head, 87-up, but definitely not L98 heads. That means they're probably TBI heads, possibly from a truck, most likely swirl port. If that's what they are, they are garbage. You could upgrade the valves to 4", or downgrade them to 1.5", and never notice the difference, because the big lump in the intake port will be the thing that actually determines how little they flow.

Find out for certain what they are before you bite. You might spend $50 on something that's only worth about $2.50 in scrap iron.

I don't know what "176" heads are. What's the casting number on them? There might be some potential there, who knows.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

sorry I was referring to 176 as the intake valve size (like 194, 202 fuelie, etc) not the casting number, sorry for any confusion.

 

I'd save my time and money. Those heads don't look too clean. There is a reason they came off too, and a reason this guy wants to get off of them for 50 bucks. It is a gamble and it really depends on how much $50 means to you. Save your money and pick up a set of l98 iron heads off the classifieds here for around 200 bucks. You'll be happier with the results.

 

By the way, my car (1973 Nova) has 4 doors and I resent that remark.

 

ok I will take a look around for some l98 heads thanks for the advice

I wouldn't consider a nova a sports car, its a muscle car in my opinion, its not meant towards anyone in particular I just can't stand those ads referring to maximas as 4 door sports cars