The heads on my 79 vette are cracked, so I figure since I've been wanting
to build my engine, I might as well start now.

The local mechanic told me to buy a set of 882 heads through him for 350 bucks.

He claims that with flattops and a decent camshaft, they will make my motor put out 300 rear wheel hp.

However, the tech books say that these heads are 76cc and are prone to cracking.

I was also looking at the 750 dollar a pair (complete) sportsman II heads. (BTW, will angle plug heads work in a c3 vette with headers, or will they interfere, and does anybody know if the sportsmans have accesory holes?)

I'm not sure which way to go. And I'm wondering if there is a middle of the road between those two options.

 

i have heard the same thing about the 882 castings so i would stay away frome them myself. your post got me to looking and on page 32 of the latest jegs catalog they list small block chevy ALUMINUM heads completely assembled for $500.00. then on page 34, they show sportsman 2 cast iron heads for under $400.00. hmmm, if it were me, i'd tell that mechanic to go pack sand!

 

Those prices sound like they are each, you have to double the price in the catalog
As far as the heads are concerned I would avoid the 882 heads like the plague, not only are they prone to cracking but their design just generally sucks, they have an extremely inefficient combustion chamber and with flat top pistons you might get about 8.8-8.9:1 CR. IMHO I would go with the Fe Vortec heads that scoggin dickey sells with the upgraded springs. They run about $600 for a set and they will easily produce 425hp right out of the box.
edited to say
BTW the 882 heads are the same heads that you have now.


[Modified by mean8t, 4:30 AM 1/18/2002]

 

Go with the vortec heads. They are around $450 a set. You will need a new intake manifold, but you probably want a new one anyway to make the big hp. I bought sportsman II heads before I saw an independent flow test of the Vortecs. I should have bought the vortec heads.


Mike

 

I use a set of 882's on a 350 small block. I have had decent results with them. They propelled my 3600LB 55 chevy with 2.73 open rear gears connected to a turbo 350 tranny using the Edelbrock RPM cam, springs, chain, and intake, with 4 valve relief flat topped pistons fed by a Holley 750 vac carb to the tune of 14.60's at 102-103 MPH.
My high performance mechanic friend, who also drag races, told me when I bought them for $125, with a valve job, that the castings are thinner than the earlier 60's castings and are prone to warping and cracking if the engine is overheated. I think that the reason they are used in magazine and test comparisons is because they are the last of the readily available big valve heads prior to the recent availability of Vortec heads, since they use 1.94 intake valves and 1.5 exhaust valves. The Vortec heads I think are not a bolt on compatabilty piece with earlier intakes and require more expensive specialized valve train components. A buddy who uses Vortexc heads on his 12 second 71 Nova told me that after he had all the machine work done to his new set, and spent something like $300+ for a set of fuller rocker rocker arms, that he would have been better off to have spent his money buying aftermarket aluminum heads that accept the older style valve train parts, because they are readily availabe and cheap from ex-racers as used parts. The 882's do appear to be 76cc heads, so the compression ratio is not too great. But the desirability was due to the big valves and plentifulness of them in the late 70's and 80's, prior to the availability of the new style Vortec heads. When I had my 882 heads shaved, I had the machine shop angle cut them a little more than usual to straighten the heads so the chamber cc's were slightly reduced and the compression ratio increased.
For $350 I would wait and buy used swap meet aluminum heads with big valves and small combustion chambers,like 58 or 64 cc heads, that only need slight repair work or are in good condition which the owner needs to get rid of quickly. In PA, my family attends the Silver Springs swap meet, which is a dirt tracker swap meet where those guys practically give away parts when they are done with them in the fall. My brother has bought two good sets of aluminum heads there, just like I described for $350 & $400. He sold the first $350 set at our drag strip a year later to a racer for $500. That guy just bolted them on and felt he got a good deal. So, the 882's aren't a bad head if they are cheap, you are aware that they should not be overheated, and you don't want lots of compression, but for the huge price of $350, I would redirect that money to buying aluminum higher compression, bigger valve heads.
Hope that insight helps you make a better informed decision.
Be cool!
"TEACH"

 

josh, your correct, those prices were each. even so, i would buy new ones as opposed to the 882 castings. BTW, don't bother putting the rear sway bar on.

 

Ill say that even if you get an older set of rebuildable iron castings, while they are durable, you will spend some sweet change setting them up. theres cleaning, magnifluxing, porting, milling, machining for screw in studs screw in studs and guide plates, valves, valve guides, valve job....ect. By the the time you set up a good set of iron heads, you coulda just out and bought the aluminum heads assembled and ready to go.
My Dynomax coated headers on my 350 are listed as incompatable with angle plug heads. Not sure about other headers.

 

My hooker headers were not compatable with my angle plug Canfields.

Tyler Townsley