I have a 355 reman short block in my car with the stock 305 heads. can I do anything with these heads? everything else on my car is stock at the moment. my goal is high 12s with this car as my daily driver. Im looking for a some what cheap solution. around $1500. if possable. ( yes I know it will cost more then that, im just asking about the heads/cam combo)what would i need to do with my tpi setup?

 

wont need all that much if you want high 12's. key is getting it to launch hard with a good set of tires, converter, gears, suspension and slicks.

I dont like stock 305 heads since they have small valves. A 350 should have atleast 1.94 intake 1.50 exhaust valves. If you dont mind spending money on the heads, get them setup for screw in studs, grind down the valve guide bosses for more cam lift, and give them a good valve job and possibly install those larger valves

Probly is gonna cost near 500 to get all that done so its not a very cost effective move, but still cheaper than most sets of heads. Mild port work should be done too tho. Basic runner port clean up and some pocket/bowl work. 200-300 dollar job i'd say but something youcould do yourself with a porting kit.
The thing i do like about the heads are the chambers..they will boost your compression ratio but becareful your not to high. I'm not sure what pistons you have in that shortblock. Keep it under 10 to 1 with iron heads

OR you could get a intake/heads package from Scoggin Dickey. Get the vortec TPI base, and moddified vortec heads for 1200 bucks or so. Thats your best bet going. throw in some big tube runners for good measure on power and you'll have easy 12's. all for under 2000 bucks. Alittle more pricey than your 1500 target, but its welllll worth it.

Depending on how well you setup the car, you could hit 12's with your stock 305 heads, but you will need to do some TPI upgrades... bigger base/runners should be done. Or atleast bigger runners with a siamesed stock base. Vortec heads will easily get you 12's

For a cam, i'd look into something like the comp cams 502 cam or 503 cam. the bigger 503 i'd use for siamesed base setup. If you do vortec heads, with vortec base then siamese the base alittle and run big tube runners, or get a set of SLP runners that are part siamesed. that be your best bet. Siamesed stuff works

So you have some options. i've hit high 12's with Bolt ons in my L98. A cam swap on my stock heads would easily hit mid high 12's consistantly. You will need good torque converter and gears with dot slicks or drag radials. ALSO you will need to look into some tuning aspects for that motor. It will require a chip burnt for it. A mail order may work ok but doing your own helps alot. upgrade to the 89 style ecm. The 6E mask is a good program to work with

 

scoggen dicky huh? i like. I didnt know they made a top end for 3rd gens. Im not devoted to making 305 heads make power. I was just curious. I have also thought about lt1 swap. I have a 96 trans am with the lt1, from a 60 roll back when my iroc was running good it would be a close race. but im sure the lt1 would have beat my poor old 86 eventualy

 

IF you could do the Lt1 swap, a simple cam heads package from lloyd elliot will make near 400whp with supporting bolt ons all for around 2000 bucks or so

 

I looked into that when I was going to put money into the lt1(le2le3) but ive came to the conclution that 3rd gen cars are a better platform to start with. not only do they handle better, but they weight less than 4th gens as well. the only thing i dont like about late model camaros and firebirds is the exaust routing. you almost cant fit a real dual set up unless i were to go with some dynomax bullits or some type of low profile muffler. then that would shut me down from lowering the car completly.

 

yeah 4th gens and 3rd gens basically dont have much room for exhaust systems.

A Lt1 thirdgen is a nice deal but if you have a new 355 you could work with that and get some power out of it. Just need the right set of heads/intake.

 

what kind of boltons? looks like you have ether a slp loud mouth or a gmmg.

 

i have a custom catback that i had made, consists of a chambered tube much like gmmg. its a similar setup as the loudmouth but with a tube muffler instead of resonator they use. its a sweet system

my old bolt on motor consisted of a stealth ram intake, and hooker shorty headers, with underdrive pullies, 1.6 rockers and a custom tune by me. Rest of the car was suspension/converter/gears and it ran good for what it was


If you'd add a good set of heads to my old motor and a bigger cam that car would have road out well. low 12's would be possible as i went 12.90s with the stock heads/cam