Thread: better heads??

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i am currently building my first small block motor! im building a 350 chevy for an airboat.. what im wondering which heads would produce the most horce power?? 305 heads?? 327heads?? or 350heads??and if i use the 305heads would i need to get bigger valves??? and if so what kind should i get? i appreciate all the help n will be signing in every day till i get some feed back!thank you have a good day. brandon

I'm no Chevy building expert, but I think one of the best stock heads out there are the Vortecs. They were used on a lot of cars over the years, but I think the best ones were from the late 90's (I may be corrected on this though) They use a different intake manifold bolt pattern, but if you are switching to a new intake anyway that shouldn't be a problem.

Next step up would be some steel heads like World Products, but these are going to set you back about $ 1000 a pair. Aluminum would be slightly more and would be the top of the food chain IMO.

The Vortecs, being the latest versions from GM, are superior to some of the older ones we rodders loved for years, like the double/camel hump 202's, etc. Aftermarket heads, even at a grand, are a pretty good deal compared to having stock heads reworked and rebuilt, and generally work so much better.

Now we will let the folks who really know this stuff tell us the straight scoop.

Don

GM Performance 12558060 are a great head for the price. They have 1.94/1.5 valves, 64cc Chamber, 170cc Intake Runner. They'll fit 1958 and newer SBC and give 20-40HP over stock. Remember they require a Vortec style intake manifold.

Should be $600-700 a set, maybe less on ebay or craigslist..

Dont know if this helps or not but you can get heads from some place lie Summit for 900-1000 dollars for aluminum.

The vortecs are really good heads for modest applications.....such as a airboat,definatly better than most non aftermarkett iron heads would be in stock configuration.

I wonder what the difference in weight would be apposed to aluminum heads....seems like weight loss would be benificial in something that floats....reduced drag from not sitting as low in the water possibly....not sure how a airboat hull works exactly.

Bang for the buck has to be the vortecs.....dont those air boats operate at pretty high rpms most of the time?