Good Afternoon Everyone,
This will be my first post of many on this fourm as I recently joined the Corvette C3 family.


I require a good set of heads for my car. The stock casted heads have cracked and are causing me issues.
I want to keep the car as stock looking as possible so Im looking for some advise on a replacement cylinder head.


Can somebody help me choose a set of assembled heads that will bolt on and let me use the stock intake manifold and carb setup?
I'm not looking for tons of power as the cam and headers already give this car an amazing sound. Its a cruising car and that's about it.
Im budgeting around $900 is that's doable.


My setup is:
1978 Corvette L48
Hooker Headers to side pipe exhaust
Comp Cam 268H
Everything else on the car is stock.


Thanks in advance
~Rob

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/tf...0001/overview/

 

Thank you for the quick response!
After reading up a lot on the fourms and speaking to a few head guys I came up with these heads over on Summit.
Im hoping to choose one of these for my new setup.
Anyone have any difference of opinion?

 

Buy this book.

 

Your L48 has an actual compression ratio of right about 8 to 1 likely a little under. Your cam bleeds off a lot more more compression than the tiny factory cam, it needs 9.5 to 1 compression to realize the benefit of the increased lift and duration. The heads I linked get you there. The 72 CC heads you linked get you to 8 to 8.2 compression and the first one and the fifth have incorrect springs for your cam. The ones I linked have strong enough springs with enough lift capability and increase your dynamic compression (DCR) the correct amount to optimize your cam, flow better than the Darts, and have the correct port size for your engine. The correct DCR and most flow through a smaller port increases power across the entire operating range pyramidically. Combine with Felpro 1094 head gaskets to optimize quench. Your cam likely makes less power than the factory cam with your heads or the 72 CC heads. You need 64 CC or less chambers to even get back to stock power levels. You do realize the 2nd and third are iron heads and all are priced per head right? Dart runs big on the ports. Likely will CC at 190 or more, way to big of port for your operating range and combination and not enough compression for your cam.

 

Thank you again Mako,
I'm learning as I go with this. I have very little knowledge on head selection. I was just worried about going down to a 64cc or 56cc in your recommendation as I feared it would cause unnecessary knocking. I was aware the my 2nd and 3rd selection were iron heads, I selected them based on other members builds with the same cam setup and stock intake.


I'm very mechanically inclined and took a 3yr automotive engineer program but head selection was never my strong point.
As mentioned I was only looking to use my vet for touring and maybe shows one day.
I see you've gone out of your way quite a bit to help people on the site. Thank you again for helping me and guiding me in the right direction.
I will keep reading and put the head you suggested at the top of my list.

 

These heads make a good buy for the budget minded and can be painted to look original, but with much improved performance. These are the 72cc chambers, but also available with 64 cc, the more desirable for your application. Also, check out the Vortec heads.
http://www.promaxxperformance.com/in...hevy-1861.html

Vortec:
http://www.promaxxperformance.com/in...ortec-157.html

They have a good selection to meet most needs. I am in no way associated with this brand, just a happy customer.
http://www.promaxxperformance.com/index.php/

 

The head/gasket I linked will give you 9.8 to 1 compression with a stock L48 block. It will give you 8.12 to 1 DCR and .040 quench. It will likely run with no ping on regular fuel and full performance advance. You can go to 8 to 1 DCR with iron heads .040 quench and 93 octane.
You can go to 8.5 to 1 DCR with aluminum heads .040 quench and 93 octane in most instances with no detonation issues. With Aluminum heads I try to shoot for 8.2 to 1 DCR and .040 quench and they will generally run on regular gas with an aggressive timing curve with no ping. If it pings back timing down a couple degrees or run midgrade fuel. The power gains and performance across the board are very noticeable.

Stock block with your cam comparisons

Stock heads(76 CC)
Typical .039 gasket. 7.72 to 1 compression, 6.43 to 1 DCR .064 quench.
Felpro 1094 gasket 8.07 to 1 comp, 6.71 to 1 DCR .040 quench

72 CC heads
Typical .039 gasket. 7.98 to 1 compression, 6.64 to 1 DCR .064 quench.
Felpro 1094 gasket 8.36 to 1 comp, 6.95 to 1 DCR .040 quench.

64 CC heads
Typical .039 gasket, 8.57 to 1 compression, 7.12 to 1 DCR .064 quench.
Felpro 1094 gasket 9.02 to 1 comp, 7.48 to 1 DCR .040 quench.

56 CC heads
Typical .039 gasket, 9.27 to 1 compression, 7.68 to 1 DCR .064 quench.
Felpro 1094 gasket 9.8 to 1 compression, 8.12 to 1 DCR .040 quench.

 

I would fish around for a used set of L98 aluminum heads, take them to a head shop and get them checked out.....if necessary replace the springs with new ones....Z28 springs IF I REMEMBER RIGHT....