I have heard you can tkae traditional SBC heads that flow better than lT1 heads and have them converted over to Reverse Flow cooling for better air flow. Can this be done? I have heard about this but i am not for sure.

 

Yes, it can be done and there have been many guys that have done it. Do a search on here and you will find several threads about the subject and I believe that some actually list some prices. I was going to go this route until I got my AFR's.

 

The LT1 head is a very good head, better than the double-hump or what ever old timers love to talk about. Even better is the LT4 head.

The mis-conception you have is people take racing traditional SBC heads and convert them...like some Pro-Actions.

The only reason I would go to a traditional SBC head would be to change the angle. You can get stout performance with AFR heads already setup for reverse cooling.

You would be nuts to take any GM casting pre-LT1 and convert them IMO.

 

I agree completely. Only thing worth adapting would be some of the best Brodix or other top of the line that flows significantly better than any LT1 type casting out there. If you're not doing a wild setup, the LT1 heads can be worked to support 400rwhp na fairly easily, and I'm sure the aftermarket castings (Trickflow, AFR, & Edelbrock) can do a lot more, especially with forced induction or more cubic inches. Unless you've got a 396 with 12 lbs. of boost the effort of adapting SBC heads probably won't be worth it.

 

hmmm , how would a sbc work with lt1 heads if they flow that much better than sbc heads, ...a little reverse engineering.
i put absolutely no thought into this , just incase it sounds rediculous

 

This makes no sense!

 

I think that he is saying that the LT4 is even better than the LT1 head. Or, it would be better to go with a GM LT4 head or an AFR LT4 head instead of going through the trouble of fitting a standard SBC head to an LT1...I have to agree also. I thought about the SBC conversion and then thought against it and bought a set of bare AFR LT4 210's to have ported.

 

It makes perfectly good sense!

 

I haven't seen anything AFR makes for an LT-1 that will flow in the 330-340CFM range like a converted set of Pro action's.If they say they do their flow bench is very "happy" in it's readings.

 

you guys are nutz that dont make no sense.


It is not very hard to convert older style heads to lt1. all you have to do is seal up the coolant passages that would go through the old style intake. Then drill and tap two holes in the back of the heads for the crossover tube. Then the bolt pattern is deffernt for the intake. You have to drill a few more holes in the intake to fit it on the head. Thats it your done. The AFR's for gen 2 are the same as gen1 but cost 2 times more. I would go convert their gen 1 to gen 2 for the best bang for the buck.

Or if you have 396+ with a huge cam Jegs makes a pair that out flows AFR and any other company i've ever heard of. Those would make some power on a gen 2.

 

Those pro actions wont work on anything smaller then a 396 with huge cam. Thats why they have 230cc or bigger intake runners

 

That must be why I am running them on a 383,is because they won't work.They have 247CC runners and runner CC's can't be compaire due to length,ya need the cross section to know.

 

Formula,

I wish it was that simple to change the heads over. That's the jist of it, but you still have oil drain backs that you have to put in there and it's a good idea that all of these things don't leak, you don't want oil in the coolant.

230cc is not that big of a runner size, It would actually work well on a street 383 if the motor was made for that. Then again port shape, length, cross section are all more important than port volume.

Basically unless you are going really crazy you don't need a set of converted heads. A good set of 300cfm 23 deg heads can support 600hp you just have to match the combination up well.

If you are going to do it, 18 deg or a race casting like a SB2 is the way to go. RacerDude has a set of 23 deg heads that were converted, he had West Coast Cylinder Heads do them and talking to the owner it's not his favorite job to convert them over.

Bret

 

You beat me too it man!

 

Ooooooppppps

I don't think Richard would do another conversion for $1500.00 on top of the port work. They were done Right though.