ok so i have my set of 416's sitting in my garage and would like to do a little work to them to make them flow better. they were rebuilt a while ago but the motor went quickly afterwards so they cat for a few years. what should i do to get them ready to out on my new motor? i was thinking new valve seals and maybe a gasket match or so. i know nothing about rebuilding heads i have never taken one apart before and was just wonering what you guys think i should do. not looking for something crazy here but just some decent power from a 305. i have stiffer springs and stuff from the cam kit that was on the engine so thta shouldn't be a problem, or do you think i should leave it to the machine shop and hope it dosent cost too much?

 

get yourself an electric die grinder and a speed controller, if you don't have a big air compressor.
Gasket matching is usually what people do when they don't really know what they're doing. You want to focus in the bowls. The valve guide and the short turn.
go to www.carbidebur.com and get some burrs. The 6" long shaft with a cylinderical end and ball tip is good. Also a short one with a flame tip is useful. 3/8" diameter should be fine.
Then some sanding drums, I actually preferred to use cylinderical over the tapered ones. 80-120 grit is fine, they spin fast so they remove material faster than you think.

Do a few searches, F-bird'88 has posted numerous times on it. Sitting bulls thread is really good (you'll know it when you find it, I think it's the longest thread on TGO ever).

 

ok well i do have a pretty decent air compressor to do this with or a dremel. i'll check out those threads, i just wanted something relitively easy because i have heard that if done wrong backyard head porting can hurt more than help. i guess i'l just give them a mild port job and soem new seals.


also i want to get screw in studs for them but i have no idea what its gonna cost to have them put in, should i just pin the studs to save money?

 

sure, you can pin them if you want. Or use the non collared MR gasket ones. $20 or so, and you'll need a 7/16"NC taper tap, about $8. Pretty cheap, you can do it at home.

The dremel is ok for touch up work, but the die grinder will be your bread and butter. Air tools are a lot better, $20 for the grinder and your speed is infinitely adjustable. I wish I coulda done it that way...

 

um do you have a part number or pic for the ones from mr gasket. sorry but like i said i know very little about heads. i guess that with a stock bottom end 305 i probably wont even need to pin or screw them. i was originaly planning on building up another 305 like the previous owner had which was a rather high compression motor and it started to press the studs back out. but now i just want something with a little more flow to replace the 081 heads on my 87 lg4 because i would rather just build these heads and swap em over than have the car down for a longer amount of time to do the 081's that are on the car now. plus then i can use my performer rpm manifold i have

 

you'd need to pin the studs or use thread in studs due to spring pressures, not really anything to do with compression ratio. So if you're using a bigger cam, and or have stronger valve springs (a good idea), then you'd need to pin them or use thread in studs.

MRG-1076
$30 from summit

or 3/32" x1" long roll pins, and a few 3/32" carbide drill bits. Your call.

 

oh ok i wasn't sure because the last owner had done quite a few things to the motor and said they started coming out, i do have stiffer springs and plan on useing a bigger cam so i guess i'll look into the mr gasket ones it just seems kinda wrong for me to take a drill to my heads when i can just spend the 30bucks and rest assurred they are taken care of.

 

If you are going to try your hand at porting I would suggest getting
David vizards book called (how to build & modify chevrolet small block v-8 cylinder heads) it is very good if your are just learning. I have also used the
mr.gasket smooth shank studs. I have them in my car. But be care full using them I did another pair of heads for another engine and cracked a stud boss.
The area where the thread ends has a slight taper and seams to act like a
wedge. I torqued them to the recommended value(50 lbs IIRC)maybe this is to much.