Thread: 882 Heads

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Started cleaning one of these heads today and saw the number 882 stamped on it. Going to be putting a set of these on the 355 we're building (for fun and perhaps future use way down the road) since we have them. My caliper shows an intake valve of 1.94. I don't know much else about them. Anyone have any facts or opinions on these heads? Thanks Bobby,

Check here Chevy Small Block V8 Casting Numbers - Mortec

I have a set of these on my 76 Vette. They are 76cc chambers and basically smog heads.

This will be a good opportunity for you to begin to learn about flow. When comparing heads, look at the intake and exhaust flow at 0.400" valve lift first.
http://www.strokerengine.com/SBCHeadsFlow.html

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Exactly what I was going to say. If you are going to use a mild flat tappet cam the 882 heads are pretty good up to .400" lift. I am using a '76 Corvette engine with .010"/.010" reground crank and 0.030" overbore with the 882 heads shaved to 73 cc chambers along with a three-angle valve job. I also paid a shop to smooth out the exhaust ports. Tech1 and others have estimated I get about 290 HP. With a higher lift roller cam and almost any aluminum heads you can reach 400 HP with the high lift cam but if you use a flat tappet cam the 882 flow is one of the best up to 0.400" lift. I took the low cost path but the only regret I have is that weight could be saved with aluminum heads (and maybe aluminum-cast iron corrosion?). Since my car weighs almost exactly 2600 pounds with me in it and I have a 700R4 with 3.55 rear I can chirp the tires from low to second gear and at my age that is enough for me.

Don Shillady
Retired scientist/teen rodder

Good heads to practice porting on, OK for a budget mild small block if you're watching the $$. If the valves look good and they're not cracked anywhere, try some home porting and lap the valves. You can always upgrade later.

Here is a list of heads rated for flow with valve lift.

http://www.strokerengine.com/SBCHeadsFlow.html

You can see that the 882 heads limit the intake flow at 0.400" of valve lift but beat the earier 141 heads. You can also see the advantage of the later iron heads and almost every after market aluminum heads and some Dart heads beat the 882 at 0.400" lift and that allows use of a high lift roller cam. However if you use a mild flat tappet cam the cheaper 882 heads can be rebuilt with a 3-angle valve cut for good flow at 0.400" lift. Ten years ago the 882 heads looked good with a flat tappet cam but today roller cams and aluminum heads allow much better flow at higher cost than rebuilding 882 heads. How much do you want to spend? Another consideration is torque at low rpm. You can get heads with monstrous flow at high rpm but which will not have much ram effect at low rpm so again for street use the 882 heads offer good low speed torque at reasonable cost.

Don Shillady