I have an 86 pick up with a 305. I was thinking of pulling the 305 & 700R4 before it goes to the scrap yard.

Most likely the head #'s are 14039121 or 14039122, I will check this out later to be sure.

1)Are these heads junk?

2)Are they better than my smogger 333882's?

3)Are they as good as a set of 081's or 416's from an L69?

I ask, because in the future, I want to replace the 882's with something that flows more and has a smaller combustion chamber. I have my eyes on a set of new Sportsman II's, but if these 305 heads can perform well with mild porting, I may just do that and upgrade the valves to cut the cost in half. (new Sportsman II's are around $1100 to $1200 shipped from Jegs).

 

Sorry can't tell ya anything about the performance potential on these 305 heads. You'll just have to remove them and cc the chambers, measure the vales and maybe cc the intake ports to get an idea if they are worth saving.
I suspect that since they come off a truck 305 with typically low low compression that they will have a large(er) combustion chamber than the typical HO305 head (58cc)
may even have tini tiny valves.

416's and 081 heads are common in the junk yard. Ususally you can get a set "for a song" as most people turn their nose up at "305 heads" in general.

 

I am going to have to get off my behind and go to the bone yard.