buying new heads whats the best for the price?
 

have a 327 engine.
i thought some dart iron eagle heads could be nice
ore some edelbrock heads ore what?
What do you guys think would be the best for a street car?

I put Dart Iron Eagle heads on my '81 350ci (plus a crane cam) and boy did they wake my corvette up.
I'm glad I did it & I would encourage you to do it too.

oh, here's what I bought:
Dart Iron Eagle Cast Iron heads - 200cc intake port / 64cc chamber volume / 2.02/1.60 int/exh values - Street performance, excellent replacement for stock heads.
Comp Cam Extreme Energy Cam Flat Tappet - #12-268-4 - grind # CS XE268H-14 - 224 intake 230 exhaust @ .050 - 0.479" Intake @ 0.05, 0.48" Exhaust @ 0.05 lift - lobe 114 (Very important if you need vacume for headlights) - lifters # 81216 $64 push rods # 781216 - Timing chain gear (got newer timing set both gear & chain #3100 )

I do wish I had gotten a roller cam, but it seemed like alot of money at the time, but it would have given me more H.P..

This is a daily driver (my wife) and is very dependable & streetable.

:flag:

how are you going to drive it???? street, street/strip etc.

Best for the price??? Pocket ported, camel hump heads with good 3-angle valve job, port matched to the intake. This assumes that you already have the heads. If you don't and can get a used set reasonable, they're still great bang for the buck.

These can be made to work as well as the exotic heads, maybe better for our applications.

Vortec heads are a bargain, but if performance is your ultimate goal, find a really good out of the box street head.

-Steve

:iagree:
What CR does the 327" SBC have now, and what cc chambers are the current heads?
What camshaft are you/will you use, what intake/carb/exhaust, etc.?
What kind of gas are you willing to feed it, elephant-urine, or 'good' 93-up octane gas?
Are you contemplating a future, serious, bigger (355/383/406) build-up, and are these heads to be used on that motor, too?

Too much has changed in head technology to reuse the old camel hump heads. Spending $50 or $100 for a set and then dumping $300-$500 in them, is not the best for the price. New off the shelf heads will probably out flow them plus offer additional opportunity to increase the flow later (if needed or desired).


Since I am putting a complete 383 together, I went with new GMPP Vortec heads along with the GMPP aluminum intake. I picked up the heads for $200 each and got the intake for $165. About the only other thing necessary to get, besides an intake, when switching to Vortecs is a set of center bolt valve covers.
There are a lot of heads choices out there. Depending on you cubic inches, cam, etc; some will be a better choice than others. At some point in time you got to consider where you'll want to be in horsepower, torque, rpm range, compression, fuel requirements, and mpg. At that point you can then start selecting the components to get you there and budget accordingly.
Asking what are the best new heads for the price is similiar to asking what is the best number of bedrooms for a house. There is no exact answer because it depends on a lot of other things; such as how many kids you have or are planning for. Choosing the wrong answer only means you over spent or you're going to have to dish out money again.

:iagree: Yea, what he said. Lots of head for the $.

The only issues with the Vortec setup are;

1. Does not look stock for the car with those special valve covers (if it matters to you).

2. The Vortec heads can be a limiting factor if you ever want to upgrade to high RPM/high lift cams. They will only accept a medium lift cam before you need a trip to the machine shop.

Other than that, they are a great setup. The Dart Iron Eagle 180's will look a little closer to stock and can grow with you if you decide to upgrade anything. They accept the regular manifolds and other pieces. Just a few thoughts.

-Mark. :chevy

Have to disagree. My MILD 331 CI with 9.5:1 and camel hump heads recently dynoed at 293 hp and 293 ft-lb AT THE WHEELS ON THE CHASSIE DYNO using camel hump heads. This is using stock jets in the 600 cfm Holley carb and the engine has never been professionally tuned. Lots of guys with far more radical set-ups (including both Vortec and more exotic heads) wish they could approach that kind of power. Most ZZ3 - ZZ4 owners only report 225-250 hp at the wheels.

My set-up:
331 CI, pump-friendly 9.5:1 CR
K&N 14"x4" air filter, Corvette drop base and lid
Holley 600 dp, choke horn milled, nickle plated
1" Aluminum open spacer, exterior polished
Edelbrock Performer RPM, port matched, exterior polished with all extraneous castings and lettering removed
Homemade lifter valley splash shield to keep hot oil off manifold bottom
Camel hump 1.94/1.50 heads hogged out to 2.02/1.60, pocket ported, port matched, pump-friendly hardened seats, 3-angle valve job
Comp Cams 1.52:1 roller-tip rockers
Crane Cam Vintage Muscle 327/350 hp cam, 222 degrees @ 0.05, 0.447" lift (with 1.50 rockers)
Doug Thorley headers, dechromed and ceramic-coated
2.5" mandral-bent exhaust (including tips), 2" cross-over just before rear axle
DynoMax stainless Ultra Flow mufflers
Mallory Hyfire IV CD ignition box triggered off Accel points
Mallory high voltage chrome coil
Mallory spiral-wound coil wire
Mallory solid copper plug wires
Champion plugs
37 degrees total ignition advance
Carter high-volume fuel pump
Melling high volume oil pump
Polished aluminum high flow water pump
Flex fan with polished aluminum spacer
Polished aluminum one-wire 100 amp alternator
Muncie M-20 CR 4-speed
3.70:1 positraction

Car recently did 293 ft-lb and 293 hp @ 5,500 rpm on the chassis dyno. Engine pulls to 6,200 rpm and does over 200 ft-lb from 1,900 rpm. This was prior to some clean-up work around the junction of the carburetor and base of the air cleaner that smooths the flow through this area and should be good for a few ponies. Car has run 107 mph in the high 13's (bad tires) at the quarter. Car is extremely streetable and could probably even run 87 octane if it had to. (I can't get the engine to ping no matter how far I advance the ignition.)

I've just done some modifications in the area of the carburetor/air cleaner base interface that substantially smooths the flow through this area and I would now expect about 300 hp at the wheels.

The secret to power is in the details and air flow!

In the cold climate of Sweden you need a heated crossover intake. This greatly limits your choices. Stock, Edelbrock, World Products all have the exh crossover cast into head. Most after market don't. Nothing wrong using stock with performace improvements (pocket porting, bowl blending, chamber polishing, etc.). Edelbrock has great quality heads that work great and perform well but not the highest flow numbers - maybe thier just honest. Edelbrock also sells a 60cc chamber head for more c.r. squeeze with your 327" but it takes a late model intake and vlv covers. I like World Products - everything stock bolts right up, thick, heavy, with modern chambers - and flow better than any stock Chevy heads before the vortec L31 (which doesn't have a heated crossover). And the WP torquer can be found in a 58cc chamber too - but be careful here and research your c.r..
Bought my WP torquers from Performance Chevy Products, (602-254-9586) Phoenix, AZ. $850 with pocket porting and free painting. They sell Edelbrock and rebuilt ported stock heads too.
Don't know what shipping to Swden would be? :crazy: Maybe aluminum heads would pay for themselves on the way there. :jester cardo0
BTW how did a 327" motor get into your '74?

it was the owner before me that put it in there.
its a nice engine pretty high rewing
i shall also change the intake,have a torker intake on it now
thinking about the edelbrock performer rpm,ore what do you guys think?
also i never drive the car in the winter,and its not cold here in
the summer,lays around 75-85.
the freight cost is alittle high but its cheaper then buing them in sweden


:cheers:

I have a similar cam and the camel humps ported. Madrel exhaust etc. I had it the intake gasket matched as well.

Can you tell me what you did at the carb interface to increase air flow?

Thanks.

I really can't figure out what you want to do? If you don't care about cold engine problems then try some of the stock alum corvette heads (I think they were called L89s) but have them pocket ported and 3 angle vlv job. Scriggins Dickey (scdp2000.com) out of Texas will sell them PP. They will bolt right up and use your intake and headers but don't have the crossover passsage. Don't know why you want to use a dual plane with a high reving 327"? Try a Edelbrock victor junior for more rpm. :seeya cardo0

Dart Iron Eagle are the best bang for the buck..

I have Iron Eagle heads on my mid 11 second '68..

:iagree: Dart Iron Eagles Rock!

I use the Corvette drop-base with a 4" K&N and a Holley with a milled choke horn. The drop base air cleaners have an open valley between the curvature of the base plate and the carb mouth where the metal is rolled under. This gap of over 1/8" creates a turbulant area around the carb perimeter as the air flows up over the base plate curvature and "slams" into this dead space hitting the outter diameter of the carb throat. I filled this area with an o-ring that I made out of a thick, low-voltage electrical cable and now the radius of the air cleaner base flows directly into the carb mouth minimizing this turbulant area. The cable was secured to the base plate with gasket sealer.

Car craft recently ran an article on this interface area and found that on a 500 hp big block, a difference of 10 hp was found by smoothing the air flow in this area. Their (and my) carb had no choke horn and the increase would probably be less if it did.

Additionally, I machined a little "nose cone" out of aluminum that screws over the air cleaner stud and streamlines the air flow over the screw pad. This is a similar idea as used on my '91 L98 nose clone where the air enters the plenum (but much smaller).

While these are not earth shaking mods, consider that at the hp levels that the engine is making, every 2 cfm is worth about 1 hp at teh wheels (i.e., a 600 cfm Holly with 300 rear-wheel hp). (Certainly the mods are worth AT LEAST 10 hp when bench racing! :jester )

Like I said, the secret to power is in the details and air flow. Besides, doing cool things like this is what makes it a hobby and not just a car. :cool: