tracyballard

I'm about to buy a 454 for a 71 Corvette and I have a choice or 3 different head castings - 049, 781 or 292. I'm looking for a good street engine with the best oval port heads I can get - are there any real differences between these heads?

L88Plus

781 has the best intake port, 049 is a touch better on exhaust. I've never seen flow numbers from 292's.

73, Dark Blue 454

Agree,..781's and 049's are some of the best street heads you can get. Not familiar with 292's.

tracyballard

looks like I'm going to go with the 049's. On doing some more research I found that head is correct for my year model, so if it's as good as any I'll use it. the 292 heads were only used on 1971 402/454 engines, so I assume it's not as good on a 454 as the 049. thanks for the help!

Durango_Boy

What years were the 049s found? Are they rare and expensive?

tracyballard

049's were used for all 70-73 454 corvettes that needed oval ports heads from what I can tell, so I guess they're not that rare.

Durango_Boy

Probably expensive though huh?

Gage

According to my restoration book, the 049s were only in 73, but of course they could have made it into other yrs due to shortages at the factory. I've had 3 C3s and have noticed that what the books say and what happens at the factory are sometimes 2 diff things. If a shipment of 241 heads is due in, and the shipment is delayed, they are not going to stop the assm line if there are 049 heads sitting on the shelf, they will just slap those on to keep the line moving. Just like the book says 71s only came with orange valve covers, yet many early ones got chrome.

tracyballard

what casting number does your book show for the standard 1971 454 engine?

Durango_Boy

I'm curious too. I'll eventually be in the market for a good big block head, and I won;t want to pay high dollar for a one year production head.