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Opinions/suggestions on heads

J

jonward786

Member
Taking the 289 from my 68 coupe in to the machinist tomorrow for a rebuild. He's very busy and says it will be 2-3 weeks until done, so in the meantime i am looking for ideas on a decent set of aftermarket heads that will replace the stock heads.

Ive been poking around corral.net classifieds and haven't come across anything yet. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good set of heads for a mild, daily driven 289? Want to pick a cam and head combo that will match up well with my existing weiand action+ and holley 570. I just reeeeeeally dont want to reuse those stock heads. Any suggestions would be great. Id like to hear what some of you guys have done with your 289s to wake them up a little.

Thanks in advance
 
I would keep your eye out on Craigslist and see what you can come across. If you are going for an original look I know a lot of people (myself included) have used the 289 heads with bigger valves and the 69 and 70 351 heads are a popular choice too. Assuming your 289 is original to your 68' don't use those heads, the chambers on those are pretty big and won't help for building compression.
 
I went with the Edelbrock E-street heads on mine. Like 'em. I've also got a set of built 302 heads that I replaced if you are interested. A friend also called me the other day with a 5.0 roller setup with c4 (minus intake an EFI...dangit) that he's wanting to part out. It has gt40 heads on it supposedly in great shape but I haven't seen 'em.
 
I used to have AFR 165 heads on my old 306 engine. They were decent heads and performed well with my combination. I chose them so that I would not have to fly cut my pistons. If I were to have that same engine again and were to change heads I would have chosen Trick Flow 170cc heads. They would perform very well on a small cubic inch engine. My new engine is 333 cubic inches and since I am running a blower I wanted a bit larger head that I could take full advantage of the flow. I did not care about fly cutting pistons with my new engine since everyting is new so I went with Trick Flow Fast As Cast (FAC) 190 heads. They will flow better than AFT 185, closer to AFR 205's actually. Overall TF is a better designed head than the standard in line valve heads that are much more common (AFR, Ford (except Z heads), Dart, World Products)

I came upon this conclusion after listening to my cam guy (Jay Allen at Camshaft Innovations.com). He also helped me design a custom cam for my specific setup. The cam ran about $100 more than an off the shelf grind but I know it will work well. The nice thing about Jay is that he charged me the same price as Summit for the heads but put in much better Ferrera valve and LSX springs that were matched to the cam he made. If you are serious about having a combination that will work well give Jay a shout out.

http://camshaftinnovations.com/
 
You said you have been on corral.net so I'm sure you seen the "why are procomp heads so cheap" BUT I am a firm believer in procomps. A mechanic/big time racer here flowed a set and they flowed excellent for their price he knows whats up. He has ran under 6 seconds in the 1/8th with a 276 cubic inch, naturally aspirated motor. Everyone says don't buy them because of casting flaws. Before you buy tell the seller you will only buy if he guarantees quality with no problems. They almost always will say if you see a problem send them back and I will send you a new set no charge.

You can find a set for 649.00 assembled and free shipping. Everyone who is complaining about them is because they are half price of their heads and are showing great numbers.
 
Jon! Long time no see.

For what it's worth, I love those Trick Flows we installed on my motor. But if you're trying to save a buck, consider those E-street heads. They'll work fine with a mild torquey cam.

I wouldn't run Pro Comps or anything similar. Yes, they work, but the metallurgy and quality control sucks. The aluminum is poor grade, the threads aren't helicoiled, and you don't want to have to inspect every square inch of a brand new set of heads for defects.

Another option is to source a set of used heads off corral forums and have the machine shop go over them.
 
When collecting parts to build my motor I learned quickly that aluminum heads are pretty expensive and unless you're building a race car to me it was hard to justify the cost on a street car.

I kept an eye on Craigs List for a while and found some GT-40's. It was a sweet deal where the guy had bought the heads had them rebuilt / slightly ported and then decided to go a different direction, he had never even installed them on a car. He sold them to me for what he paid the machine shop....can't recall now...maybe $500 or $600 but it was a pretty good deal and included the 1.6 rockers in the picture attached..and yes, I did get rid of the Chevy orange before installing them on the motor. :lol
 
"RustyRed" said:
I kept an eye on Craigs List for a while and found some GT-40's.
Click to expand...

+1
For a street driver, the GT40s flow well enough to handle any reasonable cam. The aftermarket options are good, but any cam big enough (220 or higher at .050) to really use them would not be what I would call a mild daily driven car (220 or higher at .050).

I bought a roller block to get the roller setup and a spare block. I considered the heads as free, but say they cost 1/2 of what I paid - $50. I bought the cutters to do the 3 angle seats on ebay (guides were good), and the Manley Street Flo valves from Summit. Altogether, I have around $300 in a set of heads that bench flow well. I'm sure I've given up a few CFM by this route, but with the 224* cam I have ( little bigger than I should have, really), it won't be noticed - peak TQ should be 4000 rpm or so, with a fair idle & decent economy. Very similar engine to a 289 I owned that got 22 mpg on the highway.

The engine is being built for a driver, so high RPM flow isn't important; Torque and economy are. I can make up the acceleration I lose from the lower RPM range with a 4R70W (or AOD) and 3.5 gears, which I want anyway for economy.
 
Those rocker arms don't appear to have poli-locks on them. I would suggest getting them if they don't. Also, you know that you have to run guide plates and hardened pushrods, right?

Nice deal, though ... very nice.

What brand are those rockers? I don't recognize them.
 
RustyRed's heads should have pedastel-mount rockers; shouldn't need poly-locks and all that jazz? But those rockers aren't giving me any clues.... :lol
 
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