[1963 white nova]

are these still good heads to run ?.........i mean there are alot of companies out there now that sell good or even better heads right? and by the way....looking at casting numbers which sets are better than others?

 

[77NovaRacer]

Can't beat the price I got mine for, $50 !

 

[1963 white nova]

excellent!!!!!!!!!!!! ive had a couple of sets...even had a set stolen.yep when you raise the hood on your car ....they say WHOAA double hump heads. i done a set with stainless 2.02 valves and 1.60 valves.ended up having about 500.00 when i finished them.,but i have never given less than200. 00 for a set

 

[MarkW]

http://store.summitracing.com/partd...838998+4294867081+4294840140+115&autoview=sku Even with the smaller valves these will be 30-40 horse over older heads. http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56505

 

[jason snyder]

yes they are good , but not usually cost effective . UNLESS you can get a rebuilt set for a few hundred . The only real benefit of these is the ability to raise the compresion on a smog motor . otherwise flow capabilites are similar to a early smog head .

I personally think the power limit on these is around 425hp ,with a good home porting ,and 350ci.

castings are 291,461,462,186,041,040,492, and the turbo 292 . some are x heads and they are on the rare side .

most desirable ,292,492,186,041 these have accesory holes .

good luck , and dont spend a fortune building old iron !

 

[77NovaRacer]

I just paid $50 for my pair, and the valves and seats are excellent, but they need new guides in the heads on only the exhausts.

 

[Lugnut79]

I got a set of angle plug 492's on my 355 that have been worked over by Competition Engineering. They have Titanium valves and and retainers, angle milled .125, and have some sweet port work done to them. I should hopefully be in the 11.90's this year with the current setup. I ran 12.27 last year and that was before I switched to an electric fan and waterpump, new MSD 6al instead of an old Accell BEI and a new Air gap intake instead of my old aluminum intake off a 64 vette. They're old technology but they still work sweet.

 

[Baddbob]

They don't have hardened exhaust seats so many won't live past 10K miles with good springs on unleaded unless you install hardened seats. Seats+guides+valves+springs+porting=$$ There's so many good heads available these days both aftermarket and G.M. vortec style that it's getting really hard to justify rebuilding a set of these old double hump heads.

 

[74 hatchback]

I had a set of the 186's got them for $100 a decade ago and redid them and got a new pair of sportsmans later and didnt feel any difference, so i like camels for the money they still do the job.

 

[Rroxon7]

Can anyone explain these...there on my 327 that was out of a 68 camaro...This is the first I've seen these kind of hump...Any clue's..???

 

[levisnteeshirt]

depends on who does the work to 'em

a good double hump port man can make a set do pretty decent. If your not going to put in alot of compression or go 383 or bigger or use a 4000 stall or bigger ,i think your better off with the smaller port heads.

The RHS pro-torkers look like a great alternative and are price competitive to rebuilding a set of early heads and have 2.02's. Here is some on Ebay with 2.02's ( some come with 1.94's so you gotta look careful )

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Smal...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

The Patriot Vortec 185cc heads look like a great alternative and price comparible too. Here is a pretty good thread on these
http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21016
bare
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Patr...c0.m245&_trkparms=72:1205|65:12|39:1|240:1318

kit with valves
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Patr...c0.m245&_trkparms=72:1205|65:12|39:1|240:1318

if your a die hard double hump man , here is a set to look at on ebay now
these are cut for big valves , screw in studs
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130309314357

if your into double hump heads , you need to get to know this guy , he has a great book for them
http://www.gofastnews.com/board/tec...-secrets-reduce-valve-shrouding.html#post5343
http://books.google.com/books?id=mm...a=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPA3,M1


BEWARE OF FALSE 461X HEADS, i had a set , if they are true 461X heads , thats what is cast into the heads ,, not if they have an X just anywhere under the bottom of the head. The 461X is from what i've always been told ( by an ex super stock engine builder that had a way of adding the X to other 461 heads , then ported them to 170cc so they would be legal ) measures 170cc port volume so it is better but not if you port a non X head

 

[Baddbob]

That double rectangle casting mark usually denotes a 441 casting with 72cc combustion chambers or at least that's usually what I find when I tear them down. If it is the 441 casting there's better airflow to be had modifying them compared to the double hump castings but it's tougher to get the compression ratio up with the larger chamber. They were a 68/69/70 casting I believe. I just did a set of 441's off of a 69 Impala 350 with 2.02/1.60 stainless valves, 20hrs port work, surfacing, springs, retainers, seals, guides, and installed hardened seats for my wife's budget 350 build-wish I would have sold them on ebay and bought some new IK-200's instead, but they'll run OK.

 

[77NovaRacer]

Can anyone explain these...there on my 327 that was out of a 68 camaro...This is the first I've seen these kind of hump...Any clue's..???

I have a set of those in my garage, they all came with small 1.7" intake valves.

3814480....60-67...283/327..70cc chambers, 1.72/1.5 valves

 

[bigdaddykane]

i prefer camel hump heads myself too. i have the original 186's on my 69 L-48 car. and i also have an extra pair of 041 heads with the letter X underneathe the intake runner so i dont know if there a true X head or not because its not at the end of the casting number though. but to be honest with everyone, its not that expensive to rebuild a set of fuelie heads. im just going to get new 1.94/1.50 stainless steel valves from Dynagear in a .003 stem over size and the hones the guides to fit them. that will save me a lot of bucks. and im gonna use a stock diamter valve spring 1.250 that will handle up to .500 lift cam and leave the press in studs in there. so it wont cost me much to do up these heads. it still will be way cheaper than buying a set of new vortec heads or something....and make decent power too!

 

[SMLBLK66]

i have a set of 492 angle plug heads i got given to me. yes i spent some money on them but they are a rare and very sout after head. this is gms first version of there bowtie head. my chevelle ran 12.60 on motor with these heads bone stock without any port work. changed them out for a set of edel. rpm heads and ran the same time. a good deal and a street motor they are a grat head IMO. i also have a set of 186's that are in excelent shape if anyone is interested.

 

[Rotorbolt]

These are good heads.
I got a NOS pair of 461 heads back in 1988. I put them on the 283 in my Chevelle and they've been there ever since. Still, the best running V8 I've ever had.

 

[bigdaddykane]

i have a set of 492 angle plug heads i got given to me. yes i spent some money on them but they are a rare and very sout after head. this is gms first version of there bowtie head. my chevelle ran 12.60 on motor with these heads bone stock without any port work. changed them out for a set of edel. rpm heads and ran the same time. a good deal and a street motor they are a grat head IMO. i also have a set of 186's that are in excelent shape if anyone is interested.

wow, 12.60 in a chevelle? what was the engine combo? like compression, cam specs, engine size? what year was the chevelle?

 

[Tubbed63]

For a race engine no they are not good. For s simple mild street/strip engine they are ok but you WILL go faster with better heads.

Let me give you an example. When I built my 383 I had a good fresh set of double humps. They were ported and had the 2.02/1.60 valves. The whole 9 yards. They ran ok but I knew they were leaving a lot on the table. I bought a new set of Brodix Track 1 heads and picked up a full half a second in the 1/4 in a 3600 pound car. That is A LOT of horsepower and torque to gain a half a second in such a heavy car. No other changes were made other than bolting on the new heads.


Here is the car I am talking about.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FY6kJmrQgI

 

[Lugnut79]

Tubbed,
What kind of exhaust did you have on that chopper? It sounds pretty cool. Or is it just open headers?

 

[The Big Al]

are these still good heads to run ?.........i mean there are lots of companies out there now that sell good or even better heads right? and by the way....looking at casting numbers which sets are better than others?

These heads in the past were the deal!
This was long before aftermarket heads became affordable.
they were also very easy to find at your local salvage yard.

problems with the heads!
They were made when leaded fuel was used. Unleaded fuel is very hard on these heads.
The valve seats are very soft, guide the same.
these heads were famous for cracking in the ext seat area, they do not like NOS if they have been milled.

Your obstacles!
Are they worth the cost???
If you find a set that are ready to go and need no work, they are a good head.

With port work, 2.02/5 & 1.60 pro flow valves they can be a great head.

Now if you do this and the cost of all the machine work and parts.

A STK Vortec head for under 600.00 a pair will greatly out perform these heads.

As for as being a head port to large! WRONG! DEAD WRONG!

IMO
Al