Need help choosing head/cam combo

[rdalley]

Hey guys,

I am getting ready to build a motor for my 64 chevelle and need help picking the head/cam combo. It is a SBC 350 bored .030 to 355, 4 bolt main. flat top cast pistons. Holley 600cfm and performer RPM Intake. TH350 tranny right now but will be going with 700R or 200R overdrive.

This car will never see the track, autocross or anything other than the street and highway. I want a good strong motor, good torque, noticeable idle but still very streetable. I think better low end torque numbers are more important for this car than high horsepower. I wont need much over 5500rpm.

I have the original heads #462624 that are 1.72/1.5 valves with 76cc. I was hoping to keep it under $800 for the heads. Should I rebuild them or look for a vortec set to convert to? And what cam specs should I be looking at?

Give me some ideas!

thanks

[claytonisbob]

For $800 to $900 I hear patriot heads are pretty good.

https://www.patriot-performance.com/xcart/home.php?cat=40

As far as a cam... I'd like to know myself ;)

[Moose]

For $800 to $900 I hear patriot heads are pretty good.

https://www.patriot-performance.com/xcart/home.php?cat=40

As far as a cam... I'd like to know myself ;)

in the LSX world,, patriot heads are junk!! you pay for what you get.

The trick flow heads are great as well as the afr 165's for a 350..

For your budget, you may be best to send yours out and get a good valve job and new valve springs, and a good cam.

also shop craigs list and other places for a good set of used heads.

[claytonisbob]

AFR 165 for a 350? I was under the impression their 180s were appropriately sized for a 350.

Patriot heads seem to get pretty decent flow numbers, and while I agree they're definitely not AFR or TrickFlow, they're not bad... especially for a street car.

Just based on what he says the valve sizes are (pretty small) I don't know if rebuilding them would be the most viable option. Obviously it is if the money is tight, but you can spend as much on getting them refurbished as a set of Patriot or Vortech heads.

The problem with companies making LS heads is... the factory ones are pretty good to begin with, so making improvements is more of a challenge. Many first gen small block heads suck... unless theyre good double humps, or vortech heads. There is more room for improvement.

[slamdimpala]

There is a guy on ebay that sell aluminum heads for $500 or $600 cant remember which right now but they say that they flow pretty well. His name or shop is skip white performance. I think that some people have used them before and said for the price there pretty good. Thought this might help.

[Vegas69]

Do your research before you buy a cheap set of heads. I have seen some really bad experiences over on Camaros.net with EL cheapo heads. I'd consider some GM vortec heads or a set of used Dart or AFR's before cheapos.

[rdalley]

Thanks for the info guys. So far it seems like the vortec heads are the best bang for the buck for what I am trying to do.

[chevyIIpost]

Yes Vortec IMO are the best bang. Check out www.spdparts.com. As for cam choice small is going to be better for your daily driver. Don't get carried away with to much duration. You want torque in your daily driver over a broad rpm range. You mention an overdrive trans but did not state your rear gear ratio. I am assuming that you may have 3:08 now. IMO if you put and OD trans in you should change the rear gear to something around 3:42 may be 3:23 with a short tire. If you keep the 3:08 you will not like the drivability around town in OD as the RPM will be very low like below 1500. The vehicle gearing will effect operating RPM range thus cam choice. It is a package or system deal. The taller gearing you run the smaller the cam I would run. IMO opinion I would not waste money on most stock heads for rebuild. You will have almost as much $$ in a good reconditioning job and vortecs will out flow them hands done with more effient combustion chambers to boot. Also ask Scoggin Dickey about your intake if I remember correctly the bolt pattern and port height is diifferant and will cause you problems with your exsiting intake and vortec intakes are pricey. Valve lift is also limited with stock vortecs to .450" but Spd has upgraded heads for more lift.

[rdalley]

Thanks for the info. The vortecs seem to be my best option. I do havve 3.08 in it now but will go to 3.73 probably with the overdrive.

[chevyIIpost]

Good choice. That is my favorite gear for those trans. I like the 2004R best. It will fit your trans tunnel better has a better gear split and a little more over drive than a 700R4. The 3.06 first ger ratio is to low IMO and to big a diff between 1st and 2nd.

[rdalley]

I have been getting a lot of recommendations for ISKY's 270 mega cam. You have any cam recomendations? Here i sthe spec for the 270

http://www.iskycams.com/timingchart.php?product_number=201271&timing_chart_id=96

I ran it in my desktop dyno and it looked like what I want. Good torque

[chevyIIpost]

Looks pretty good. The 108 LSA will give you the noticable idle you want and the 221 @ 050 will build some cylinder presure. If you are squeezing the buget and not the horsepower/torqure to the limit I have built some budget engines using house brand cams from Summit and Jegs. You could probably find a close match and save a couple dollars. I would not cheap out on Lifters though. The foreign imports for half price just don't have the tolerance control to make a decent product IMO. I am also a fan of pushing the valve lift with rocker ratio like 1.6. A great rocker with a good price that is not talked about much is Scorpion brand http://scorpionperformance.com/newsite1/scorpion.php?category_id=1 Or just some roller tip units to cut back on the expense. I have not seem any stamp rockers give you the accual ratio. They always seem to come up short which cuts back on valve lift and some duration. I prefer to order my push rods last to set up the valve train geometry. Stock length never seems to be correct with a mix of parts and machining. Adjustable set up push rods are cheep and worth the time and hassle to get the rocker to ride in the middle of the valve stem like it should.

[green 69]

I also have a 64 chevelle that I'm starting to buy parts for. Like you I'm planning a small block overdrive combo. I'm going to by a zz4 long block and swap the cam out. I've been looking at the XR276 from Comp Cams. Looks like a great cam for the 1900-5600 range. This would be my pick if you wanted a hydro roller. As for the rear gear I would run a 3.73 with the overdrive transmission. Call Mark at Bowler Transmissions for a 2004r, he's a great person to deal with and knows his stuff.

Brian

[BBC69Camaro]

If you can take a look at the ports on a set of Dart heads side by side to a set of Vortec ones. You will end up avoiding the Vortecs, the port design is really crappy. Air doesn't like to make turns like that. Less air flow = less HP.