My current combo
Engine: SBC 350 .30 over
Heads: Stock 882s
Carb: Edelbrock Performer 600 w/ 1" spacer
Ignition: Stock HEI
Intake: Edelbrock Performer EPS
Cam: 218/218 @ .50 and .450/.450 gross
Exhaust: Hedman Headers/2" duals
Misc: 1.6 Rockers on the Intake side (soon to be exhaust too giving me .480 lift on both)
3.42 gears, 28" tall rear tire

Currently my RWHP is 210 and I am really hoping to get another 50+ RWHP with a head swap. The dyno shop recommended Dart Iron Eagle II heads but at $800-$900 a pair I figure I will spend a little more and get Edelbrock Performer heads to match my intake and carb or Trick Flow 23 degree heads. I figure the extra weight loss is worth the extra money.

My questions are:

1) I heard that head bolts are only good for a couple installs. Is this true?
2) Are these heads truly a "bolt-on" or do I need to be worried about other stuff?
3) Any thoughts/recommendations on my setup?


Thanks.

 

Geez, you're about to upgrade to my motor combo almost exactly! Check out the Camaro in my sig. It's set up like this:

350 popped 30-over with flattop pistons
Dart Iron Eagle heads (200cc intake ports, 72cc chambers, 2.02/1.60 valves)
The above combination yields exactly 9:1 compression
Crane 272 Energizer cam (216/216 @ .050, .484/.484 lift with 1.6 rockers, 112* LSA)
Edelbrock Performer intake (earlier style, non-EPS)
Holley 600 vac sec carb (model 1850-4, dead-stock outta the box)
Stock HEI (centrifugal advance recurved by yours truly. 34* timing at 3000+ RPMs)
Hooker shorty headers and a single 3" exhaust all the way back.

You can see below how fast I've gone with this very mild combination. I think low 13s will be possible with the new gears and posi. I probably lay about 250-260 to the rear wheels, if I had to take a wild guess.

Recommendations:

1. The 2" duals are killing you. You want at least 2-1/2" duals on it. Probably not a big deal at 210HP but 250-275 is gonna come a whole lot easier with bigger pipes.

2. Watch your compression ratio. The 882 have 76cc chambers. Everything you are looking at has smaller chambers than that so your compression will be higher. By a little (72cc Dart Iron Eagles) or by more than a full point (64cc Edlebrocks). If you know what kinda pistons you have in the motor I could estimate your compression with different sized chambers so you could keep the compression in the realm of sanity. Probably want to stay under 10:1 with aluminum heads, under 9.5:1 with cast iron heads as a general rule.

3. Head bolts can be resued many times as long as they haven't been over-torqued in their life. SBC head bolts are not the throw-away torque-to-yield type. However, with some heads you can't fit the big 5/8" socket on a few of the bolt heads (springs and such get it the way of a large socket). A set of quality ARP 12-point head bolts isn't that much money and they're the last set of head bolts you'll ever buy. Plus, aluminum heads require the use of anti-gall washers under the bolt head and the ARP bolts come with them automatically. If you go with the Iron Eagles you can reuse the stock bolts and there is no need for the anti-gall washers (I run my Iron Eagles above, with stock head bolts that have probably been reused about 5 times).

4. Any of those heads will be a bolt-on with maybe a few very minor exceptions. Nothing is EVER a true 100% bolt-on but you shouldn't encounter anything show-stopping. Note that the Trick Flow heads require special length pushrods. Also, your stock 882s probably don't use guideplates- the aftermarket heads will. That requires you to install "hardened" pushrods. Stock sticks aren't hardened and will quickly wear out when run against thin, hard steel guide plates. You can buy cheap hardened pushrods in stock and +.100" length from Summit for as little as $28 a set (I've used them many times including in my current motor, above).

I agree that if you have a few more bucks to spend that aluminum heads would be worth the cost to take about 50 lbs off the nose of the car. The little Edlebrock Performer heads don't set any records for high flow but they do OK and they do it with very small (high velocity) ports that are good for torque- they're better than they look on paper. The Trick Flow 23* heads I don't have experience with. The Iron Eagles are a solid choice for the buck and also work real well- probably better than you might expect. Get them in nothing bigger than the 200cc intake port size (size I'm using), or the smaller 180cc port size.

 

Well, I'd go with AFR's performance wise. I got mine for like $1400 but they require nothing out of the box. You can take them out of the plastic and bolt them on. They come with 76cc combustion chambers but I milled mine down to 64.5cc for a little raise in compression. Plus the race ready 210cc heads come with valve springs set up for roller cam up to .670 lift. Also, they flow 285cfm on the intake right out of the box at .700 lift. AFR's aren't cheap, but "going fast" isn't a cheap hobby.

 

You may want to look at the Edelbrock Performer RPM heads instead of the regular Performer heads. I think they are around 170cc and would work very well with your setup. TFS 23* heads are excellent but are 195cc which may be a tad big for your combo.

Like carbed93 said, you can't go wrong with AFR's either. I think you can get a set around $1250 if you shop around. I would stick with 180cc.

 

my setup with the 195cc AFR's were $1250 and made 445hp and 445tq.

Good choice if you ask me!

 

Thanks for the feedback, very helpful stuff.

My pistons are cast flat top if memory serves.

One question, regarding the hardend pushrods. What would .100" longer do for me?

Sounds like the Dart Iron Eagle II heads are looking better and better to me.... That would leave me some extra money for some 2.5" duals or roller rockers...

 

The length of the pushrod won't gain you anything. I'm using .150" longer hardened pushrods but only because of the lift on my cam. Unless you're using a fairly large lift cam, I'd say stock length pushrods would do fine. But you can buy pushrod length checkers through Jegs or summit, that's the sure way of telling what size you need.

 

I have found several Dart Iron Eagle heads (180cc 64cc 2.02/1.60) on E-bay for around $700 plus shipping. Sounds like a real good deal. Thoughts?

I am concerned about my compression ratio going from 76cc to 64cc heads. Is there a way I can find out what my compression ratio is?

Also I do not see the word "hardened" when looking up pushrods in the Summit Catalog. How are they referred to?

Thanks, Jim.

 

Assuming your engine specs, above, are accurate then your current compression with 76cc heads is probably around 8.5-8.8. Not real high. Swapping on 64cc heads keeping all esle the same will bump you up about 1 full point (9.5-9.8). Still just fine with pump gas.

Summit brand pushrods are all hardened. The stock length cheapies are: SUM-G6400. Cheapies in +.100" over stock length are: SUM-G6400100. About $30 a set for either.

 

I agree with 406TA. The RPM heads will be plenty adequate for your motor, and they will give you a good bit of room to upgrade your valvetrain without sacrificing streetability (huge intake runners don't typically bode well for low-RPM use). They're also readily available for $1000/set, ready to bolt on.

Another excellent head to think about, but only if you're wanting to run a big cam in the future, is the Brodix Track 1. I've seen these in the $1200 range in most places, and you've got plenty of room to upgrade with those.

I am in a similar boat to you; my El Camino has a 355 with 882 heads and a similar-sized cam, and I'm looking to upgrade. However, I'm gonna do cam, heads, and intake all at once. I also have a quadrajet (don't scoff, I've tried the Edelbrock carb and it won't make anywhere near the power that the quadrajet will on my engine).

If you have flat-top or dome pistons, I would not get iron heads with 64cc chambers; that gives you 10.25:1 compression which is a little high for pump gas. Aluminum heads will work fine provided you don't use a thin gasket.

 

AFR's would be your best choice performance wise but if you wanna stick with iron heads go with Pro-Topline. These things have alot of meat and can be worked over alot.

 

I bought a set of Pro 1 215s for $740 shipped to my door off eBay. I'd say to keep looking.

Also, Combination Motorsports sells a set of Ex hardened pushrods 7.200", 5/16" pushrods for $25 bucks.