Help Me Pick New Heads
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 548
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From: Victoria VA
Help Me Pick New Heads
I was thinking about putting a aluminum intake and a new set of heads along with a cam in my 77 L48 I do not want a race engine just more than the 180HP I have. I have a TH400 and 3.55 rear I do not want to have to go with a different stall convertor. Give me your ideas and what you think the HP/Torque will be.
Thanks
Thanks
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 548
Likes: 1
From: Victoria VA
Pro
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 561
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I was thinking about putting a aluminum intake and a new set of heads along with a cam in my 77 L48 I do not want a race engine just more than the 180HP I have. I have a TH400 and 3.55 rear I do not want to have to go with a different stall convertor. Give me your ideas and what you think the HP/Torque will be.
Intake, heads, headers all good....be careful when choosing a cam, any decent mechanic / performance parts shop can give you sound advise on cam. Too lumpy and yer in for hell, a mild street rod cam should do the trick !
You should expect for little money to easily gain 30-50 horsies !
Intake, heads, headers all good....be careful when choosing a cam, any decent mechanic / performance parts shop can give you sound advise on cam. Too lumpy and yer in for hell, a mild street rod cam should do the trick !
You should expect for little money to easily gain 30-50 horsies !
Pro
Joined: Jun 2005
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One last thing, edelbrock sells what they call performance packs at reasonable rates.
www.edelbrock.com
then search performance packs and they outline expected horsepower gains etc.
www.edelbrock.com
then search performance packs and they outline expected horsepower gains etc.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
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From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Last edited by 63mako; Mar 27, 2007 at 11:42 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,175
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From: State of Confusion
http://www.sdparts.com/catalogsdparts.aspx
..... not-aluminum, but the smaller chambers will raise your compression, making more power right-off-the-bat, and allow for more performance if you slide a cam in the motor later:
http://www.sdparts.com/product/SD806...merIntake.aspx
..... not-aluminum, but the smaller chambers will raise your compression, making more power right-off-the-bat, and allow for more performance if you slide a cam in the motor later:
http://www.sdparts.com/product/SD806...merIntake.aspx
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Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19,347
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From: Tampa, Florida
One last thing, edelbrock sells what they call performance packs at reasonable rates.
www.edelbrock.com
then search performance packs and they outline expected horsepower gains etc.
www.edelbrock.com
then search performance packs and they outline expected horsepower gains etc.
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...dkey=ClickInfo
I dont think any of the intakes will work with a stock but not 100% sure......
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 548
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From: Victoria VA
I do not want to have to change my hood so I do not think the Preformer RPM will work. Someone said RPM's. Also the link to the heads from SDPC did not work it got me to the site but did not show the heads you were talking about.
Thanks
Thanks
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,175
Likes: 86
From: State of Confusion
I believe this will show the heads with upgrade -
http://www.sdparts.com/product/SD806...ngUpgrade.aspx
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,883
Likes: 124
From: Lubbock TX
I'm a firm believer that just about any caveman could come up with a better group of parts than Edelbrock offers. Their heads - big block and small block - flow mediocre at best. For about the same money, you can get a set of Brodix or Dart heads, a good Comp or Crane cam (cams are the sorriest part of Edelbrock's packages) and an intake that will fit under your hood.
If you're on a tighter budget, rework a set of Vortecs with a little bowl blend and short turn clean-up. Pick a cam with under .475 lift - there are several out now made specifically for this situation - and get a Vortec intake that will fit under your hood and you'll have a permanent grin for well under your budget. There'll probably be enough for some cheap ceramic coated headers to help it breathe and dress up your engine compartment.
If you're on a tighter budget, rework a set of Vortecs with a little bowl blend and short turn clean-up. Pick a cam with under .475 lift - there are several out now made specifically for this situation - and get a Vortec intake that will fit under your hood and you'll have a permanent grin for well under your budget. There'll probably be enough for some cheap ceramic coated headers to help it breathe and dress up your engine compartment.
Last edited by L88Plus; Mar 28, 2007 at 09:23 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 5,943
Likes: 3
From: Wildwood IL
My opinion:: Much better combos out there for your purpose. I modded a 77 a few yrs back very similar to your needs. Stay with a 180cc runner 64cc chamber head. Stay under .490 lift 230 duration cam (using 1.6 rockers on intake valve) & a good dual plane intake with headers. 300HP will be easy, and will have GREAT driveability. Mine was!!!
Eddie
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,739
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From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina
Aluminum Brodix Iron Killer heads ... IK180 or IK200 ... $1000-$1100/complete pair at summit. If your $1K-$1.5K budget is for Alum heads, cam, intake, gaskets, rockers etc ... forget it for now. On other hand ... L48 can get alot out of any set of small chamber (~64cc) iron heads, a $70 summit cam&lifter kit & thin shim felpro 1094 gasket ... raised compression & more cam does a lot. A good used set of Alum 58cc L98 vette heads, same $70 cam & thin composition gasket would set it on fire.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 127
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From: Miami FL
same issue here except i need to figure out heads and cam for a 350 with a 4 speed. was looking at the edelbrock package but seems popular opinion says otherwise
we already have an edelbrock performer intake which we would like to use along with comp 1.5 roller rockers, and a edelbrock 600cfm carb
the car is running through hooker side pipes
so if i were to jump on the brodix 180's which seem like a good set of heads at a good price which cam would you guys recommend to get at least or as close to 400hp out of the combo?
we already have an edelbrock performer intake which we would like to use along with comp 1.5 roller rockers, and a edelbrock 600cfm carb
the car is running through hooker side pipes
so if i were to jump on the brodix 180's which seem like a good set of heads at a good price which cam would you guys recommend to get at least or as close to 400hp out of the combo?
Pro
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 725
Likes: 1
From: FL.
IK 180's would be hard to beat for your application w/ performer height Intake .
A dual pattern cam in the 262 or 268 advertized range, Comp Grind Number XE268H if you can rely on your compression ratio being up above 9 to 1.
If you cant rely on at least that compression ratio drop down to a XE262H Grind. Crane has comparable cams, research and make your choice
. Either one Use as thin a Head Gasket as will work. All surfaces flat and very clean. Also 1.6 rockers will give you a reliable little bump up and still be in range with the smaller 180cc intake runners. Tom
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 548
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From: Victoria VA
I had a 74 Z28 with a TH400 3.73 rear and all I did was put some headers and a 750 holley and it ran like a bat outa Hell! If I could get my 77 to run like taht I would be happy. How did GM build a 350/350 with no headers? I know the comp. was higher but with small chamber heads I should be able to do some waht the same. Let me here back from you all.
Thanks
Thanks
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 5,403
Likes: 95
The exhaust system on a 77 is a real killer for performance and the
more power you try to make with the engine the more of a
restriction it becomes, keep the exhaust manifolds if you do not like
headers but do something with the mess back behind the manifolds,
the 350 horse older vettes did not have to contend with the lousy
exhaust system you have, they also had a small dome piston and
64cc heads good compression to make the 220s at .050 int. duration
cam work. You can make 350 hp with your dished pistons with 64cc
modern iron heads for a little less money then aluminum and that
would give you extra money to spend on getting rid of the exhaust problem. The rpm manifold will fit under your 77 hood no problem as
long as you are willing to use a drop base air filter not the stock filter.
Get rid of the L/48 cam it has 195/202 at 050 duration and 390/410
lift.
more power you try to make with the engine the more of a
restriction it becomes, keep the exhaust manifolds if you do not like
headers but do something with the mess back behind the manifolds,
the 350 horse older vettes did not have to contend with the lousy
exhaust system you have, they also had a small dome piston and
64cc heads good compression to make the 220s at .050 int. duration
cam work. You can make 350 hp with your dished pistons with 64cc
modern iron heads for a little less money then aluminum and that
would give you extra money to spend on getting rid of the exhaust problem. The rpm manifold will fit under your 77 hood no problem as
long as you are willing to use a drop base air filter not the stock filter.
Get rid of the L/48 cam it has 195/202 at 050 duration and 390/410
lift.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 122
From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
I had a 74 Z28 with a TH400 3.73 rear and all I did was put some headers and a 750 holley and it ran like a bat outa Hell! If I could get my 77 to run like taht I would be happy. How did GM build a 350/350 with no headers? I know the comp. was higher but with small chamber heads I should be able to do some waht the same. Let me here back from you all.
Thanks
Thanks
64 CC heads, 268 cam, headers with 2 1/2" exhaust and a good intake will put you where you want to be in power. The Brodix IK 180's as recommended above are a good choice. The dual pattern XE 268 H is the cam to use with your setup. Chevy's like a little more on the exhaust side which the dual pattern gives you. What goes in has to go out. Look at the difference in intake and exhaust valve sizes. Rebuild your quadrajet and set your distributor timing and advance correctly you will have added I would guess 80 to 100 HP at the crank.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 548
Likes: 1
From: Victoria VA
I wanted to say that I have stock exhaust manifolds but tht is it. it goes from there to 2 1/2" all the way back to Dynomax Ultra Flo mufflers. How about the "WORLD PRODUCTS SPORTSMAN 2 CYLINDER HEADS" Anyone use them or have a coment.