Sorry for all the questions guys, but I really appreciate all the help. Anyways, I have the opportunity to buy a 92' RS with a 70's 350 block supposedly .30 over with new pistons. It has sat for 2 years and has the 882 heads. Im wanting to put a cam in it along with other goodies but I'm not sure what to do about the heads. They, too, also have had a 3 angle valve job. I have a set of 305 heads that have come off an engine that had been run with coolant in the oil, so I don't really trust them. I'm planning to buy a full gasket set and re-do all the gaskets. What else needs to be done before I try and run this, and to determine if the block is good??

 

There are 2 different 882 castings. Neither are considered good. The 882 casting is the better of all the garbage heads.

One 882 casting has a single exhaust port going to the heat riser. This is the better of the two castings. The other 882 casting has both center exhaust ports going to the heat riser. There a very high chance that this casting will be cracked.

There's only a few 305 head castings that can flow enough air to properly feed a 350.

 

Thank you, I had a feeling the 882 heads were garbage with my limited research. And I don't trust those 305 heads either, plus, like you said, they don't flow enough. What are some steps I can take to make sure this doesn't implode when I go to start it at first??

 

Make sure it's full of oil and coolant. Charge up the battery and/or jump it.
If you want, you can pull the plugs and squirt some oil in the cylinders, and bar it over a few times, then put fresh plugs in and fire it up.

I'd use ported 305 heads long before I used 882 heads... See sig.

 

Actually, we use 882, and 993 on our circle track engines. They are fine for your 350. If you do any work to them, mill them to get more compression. I'm just assuming you have flat top pistons. Put the restrictors in them and enjoy. We had a set on a alcohol burning modified motor and they worked good. Not as good as a double hump, but still good.

 

Restrictors? In cylinder heads? Que?

If 882/993 heads aren't that bad... what are bad? I mean, they will keep the car running, but I can't really think of anything ... "worse"... Maybe old 305 heads with 1.72" intakes might be worse, but now we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel eh?

 

If you can find a set of 441, or 441x, those are the best ones in the same catagory as the 882, and 993. The restrictors are for the egr port and help to reduce cracking.

 

I'd use the 993 casting before I'd use an 882. It's not just about flow numbers, combustion chamber size or valve size but the casting itself.

Some castings are just much better castings with more metal in areas that are prone to cracking. 993 is a heavier casting and won't crack as easily as an 882 casting.

The restrictors are those little metal plates in the intake manifold which block or restrict the amount of exhaust gases that go through the intake to the EGR or to use to heat up the base of the carb.

 

I first magnafluxed a set of 882s back in '99, and have never found one to be cracked yet. They are way more trustworthy than 624s, and while 993s are heavier, I'm not convinced that any 76cc, non-624 head is any better than any other.

 

I see nothing wrong with running 882 heads. I would rather run better heads but you can build a decent engine with the 882s.

 

Just because a previous motor had a leak doesn't mean the heads are bad. They can be checked. I would take a redone set of 305 castings (if they're of the better 305 casting group) over a set of 882's any day, personally.