I got a set of old 202 heads for free, free people so I'm not going to throw them away and I know vortecs are better and all that but, I want to clean em up and put new valves and springs and maybe some roller rockers. I want to know if these heads would be better than the swirl ports I have on my car now? If not I'm still gonna put em on but I'll fix up the swirl ports and reinstall those.

 

What casting number on those "202" heads? Thats what really makes the difference.

Personally, I would try to sell them.

 

Same here sell both sets and pick up a better set all together.
Never know what those 40 yrs old heads have been through or how many hands/tools have been laid on them.

Sell the 202s for a few hundred your swirl ports for whatever you can get and move forward.

 

They are the 333882 castings, late 70s, I only plan on making 300hp, is that reasonable with these heads if i get a better cam and stuff? I drive my car so I can't sell both and look for new heads, if I do I'll have to buy online and shipping here will kill me, stock gm vortecs will be 600 before shipping, and around 800 after. I just want to know if the swirl ports or the old style heads are better

 

lol.. 882 heads. There's a reason why they were free. Don't sink anything into them, heh.

 

Congrats on the free boat anchors!

 

While your great comments aren't helping me at all, it would be nice if my original question was actually answered. Which heads, swirl port or old ***, will be better on my motor? I'm running a 15.00 with the swirl ports. I'd be happy in the mid 14s. Seeing as none of you want to give me 1000$ to buy those oh so great heads ur talking about, I'll stick with what I got.

 

good for cracking, low compression, they are basically scrap metal. they are 1,94 1,5 valves. if they are 2.02's that doesnt help any just proves someone wasnt smart and rebuilt a pair of crappy heads. swirl port tbi heads suck just as much basically.

 

That's a lot of money to put into something that won't gain any performance. It really isn't worth spending anything on them. The person who gave them to you should have paid you to take them. Honestly.

Can we assume you're talking about a 350, and the swirlports are the 350 version?

If so, then the swirlports are the better choice. BUT, putting any money into swirlports is also a waste. You might as well light cigars with $100 bills.

Save your money for a set of Vortecs. Really. That's the only thing that will make a performance difference. If it's 14's you want, Vortecs with properly matched intake, cam, and exhaust will easily get you there (assuming you have decent traction, proper torque converter stall, etc.).

 

Thank you for answering the question, I'll only be buying valves, I have all the other goodies already, so I'm not really putting 20$ into the heads. Just a hobby. Not building a rocket ship lol. So swirlies outdo old ones

 

All of us started out the same way you are. It's not necessarily about building a rocketship moreso than just being smart with your money. You can spend $1,000 just getting junk yeads back up to speed in a real hurry... hense why it's recommended you skip sinking anything into something that is already known to be holding you back. I vote for Vortecs and throw a set of Alex's Parts springs/retainers and call it a day.

 

Little bit of constructive criticism, unless you are changing the springs/retainers/locks yourself and skimping out on a valve job; I would sell both sets of heads that you have.

I ended up putting approximately $850 into a set of Vortecs when all was said and done. If I was able to foresee the future, I would have saved up that $150-300 more and bought a descent set of aluminum heads.

 

The 882s are not worth putting on.

They SUCK. The swirlies SUCK too. They SUCK in different ways, makes it hard to decide which is worse.

Which is worse: monkey plop, or chicken plop? If you had the one on your living room oriental rug, would you consider it an improvement to exchange it for the other? Would you even PAY MONEY to make the swap? (clean up the one, install the other)

Those heads are much the same situation.

I'd sell those to the next "greater fool" (yes, I've learned during my limited time among the supposedly "advanced" species on this planet, there is ALWAYS a "greater fool" here) and save the money toward buying something that DOESN'T SUCK.

About the worst possible reason (excuse me, that's the wrong word, should probably be "justification" or "rationalization") you can put forth for swapping something - ANYTHING - into your car is, "it was free".

 

As I said before, I have everything to clean em up, seals, springs, valves, etc. so I will spend a little of my time, and virtually no money doing this. I don't see why it's such a big nono, especially because its just my time I'm spending. But the final answer is they are both about the same. Thanks guys

 

they are not both the same, im not understanding wy your asking us a question when your not listening to us. neither is gonna get you where you wanna go. sell both sets and buy a good set of vortecs, waste none of your time, and be happier much much happier in the end. everyone on this site and any site has had their days being stubborn and wanting to use whats in front of them thinking its best, take it from us when we tell you its not.

 

Thing is, I know they aren't good, I'm only asking which is better and only one helpful person decided to tell me. As I won't be spending money, you guys are telling me to spend money you wanna buy me some vortecs? If not then your opinion on the comparison between heads would be nice, because that's what the thread is about and what I need to know

 

tbi swirl ports dont flow worth a damn, you can try porting them for a little extra but once again they are limited and you wont get any bit of power out of them

the free heads you were given have cracking issues from my experience flow just as bad both are 1.94 1.5 valves.

comparison between two crappy heads is, the swirl ports will give you more torque but then fall flat on its face the others will either fail and or fall flat on its face from the get go.

i get you dont want to spend anything but you have to do gaskets and all that anyways do it once and do it right because youll reget using either of those heads for any improvement.

 

If you are good at selling the heads, and if you find the right set of vortecs, it will be "free". Sell 2 heads for X amount, then take that X amount and buy the vortecs. Free.

 

I pulled a 14.1 on 882 heads using stock valves 0 porting and aftermarket springs. That being said they were already on the motor and I swapped them as soon as I got funds.

Mine were also 1.94 1.6 valves

 

Not that is such a no-no but youre looking to drop 1/2 sec that doesnt come easy the guys are trying to help you not waste your $ and be disappointed.

If I had a dime for every factory head someone wanted ported ie doing a "budget build" then came to realize after surfacing valve job poss. guides etc etc they were all way over the 1000 dollar mark when all said and done. Not one of them said Im glad I did this and saved moeny. Cause they didnt

 

Where I live everything is more expensive, the shipping mainly, so people tend to work with what they have, unless they're rich. I d

 

Where I live shipping is expensive and nobody is selling any parts for a "deal" don't believe me go on Craigslist for the big island of Hawaii and you'll see. It's bad. I could try check out a junkyard for some 96-98 heads.

 

Get the 882s if you want to or if you cannot afford anything else just remember if you decide to upgrade you are throwing away the $$$ of a gasket kit. Also the intake manifold for 882 heads will be different from vortec heads.

 

I already have an intake for it, and the headgaskets

 

vortec heads require a different intake than other heads. your gonna spend money either way no way around it so suck it up with the heads you have now till you can afford a set of vortecs and get them checked out, and or buy a new set of heads.

your budget idea will ideally not be budgeted. and i get people have to make due with what they have around you but it doesnt mean you have to be one of them. just because everyone is driving into the ocean doesnt mean you have to as well.

 

nobody's lieing about open chamber "882's" being junk. if your on a budget and cant find better, cheaper heads,...id change rear gears or the whole rearend from 2.73's to 3.73 or better, for performance. gaurantee you'll see an improvement. it sucks, but save your money for some aftermarket aluminum heads. you'll thank all these guys later.

 

I ended up selling the heads for 100$ saving up for some aftermarkets

 

Hey RedChev....lol, glad you finally sold the heads....So what's next? Or what have you done since?

 

What's up! Well first off I didn't want to leave another thread with no final word lol, after I sold the heads I cammed it with a mild edelbrock flat tappet, the car ran a 14.2 with an open diff and 273 gears lol. I sold the car and just picked up a 89 iroc with a 305 tpi, and it's reminding me why I switched to carb in the first place

 

Well, at least you know what you gotta do this time!! And hey, if free is what you have to work with then so be it!! Cheap and free isn't fast but it works....

 

If I knew how important keeping weight down would be for me (i didnt anticipate being so heavily into autocross) I would have done the same. Vortecs are still a good option if you're okay with iron heads, though. beyond that, the cost to upgrade from Vortecs to something better will have to include the cost of an intake also, which further complicates the decision. But Vortecs really are the only decent, cheap factory head that will make decent power. Factory QC may be sketchy, but it's always adequate and so there's always that.

 

The cost of bare castings for AFR's or Brodix isn't that much more when you consider what your getting for what your spending.Then over time fill them up with good parts and you have something of value.

 

ok, at the risk of being laughed off the boards,here is what I would do. if youre set on using them have them checked at a reputable machine shop first.i have built many truck 350s using these heads and they will make gobs of down low torque. if ,however you want hi end horsepower. these aren't the heads you want

 

He said a few posts up that he sold the heads....

 

He also said he sold the car.

 

Haha I guess nobody caught that