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Thought? Opinions?

Couple guys have run these with decent success.

Chambers are slightly smaller than what you likely have now, so a slight increase in compression




I highly advise against vortec heads. They suffer from a lot of valve train issues and cracks between the valves. Dont drink that kool aid.
 
Couple guys have run these with decent success.

Chambers are slightly smaller than what you likely have now, so a slight increase in compression




I highly advise against vortec heads. They suffer from a lot of valve train issues and cracks between the valves. Dont drink that kool aid.
I looked into the vortec heads but I already have a good amount of money on my intake/ carb setup so I need to go with old style sbc heads.

Right now I think I have the worst heads that I could possibly have that GM made on this truck.

I've been looking for old double hump heads and people want a ton of money for them around this area. For what I'd spend on those, I'd be better off getting these summit heads.
 
I looked into the vortec heads but I already have a good amount of money on my intake/ carb setup so I need to go with old style sbc heads.

Right now I think I have the worst heads that I could possibly have that GM made on this truck.

I've been looking for old double hump heads and people want a ton of money for them around this area. For what I'd spend on those, I'd be better off getting these summit heads.
Pretty much every stock head is going to cost you more to rebuild than buying an aftermarket head. The offerings aftermarket are better than any production head

The most desirable part of the camel hump (461/461x/462/186) is the chamber. 64cc v 76cc. But honestly the flow numbers aren't that good. Vortec head flow slightly more, but have all the above mentioned issues.

Those heads you listed (or similar) are one of your better bets. I'm a compression snob, so I'd be looking for closed chambers
 
General consensus on any aftermarket head is to let somebody in the industry look at them and make sure everything is properly assembled...

Too many stories of people slapping heads on out of the box and having to pull them right back off.

I have no direct experience with these heads you've listed, but I feel like a little double checking is worth the cost, definitely cheaper than having to do it twice.
 
As always, something obvious stands out and makes me wonder what I'm missing.

72CC heads? Isn't 64CC an "upgrade"? I see they have improved combustion chambers, but 165CC with "big" valves, and .520 lift seems like a really odd combo.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-152123

There are a LOT of heads to choose from, what do you want to do? Small runner is going to keep low end torque up, but big valves and bigger cam is going to shift the powerband higher, which means better flowing heads would work better.
 
As always, something obvious stands out and makes me wonder what I'm missing.

72CC heads? Isn't 64CC an "upgrade"? I see they have improved combustion chambers, but 165CC with "big" valves, and .520 lift seems like a really odd combo.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-152123

There are a LOT of heads to choose from, what do you want to do? Small runner is going to keep low end torque up, but big valves and bigger cam is going to shift the powerband higher, which means better flowing heads would work better.
I'm not wanting to build a race car but I want it to go when I hit the gas. I don't recall the cast number on the stock heads I have but they were one of the worst GM heads made. I'm also building this engine on a strict budget, there is no way I can afford to get a set of heads for $1k. I'm open to other options, I just happened to find these and seemed like they would be a lot better than what I have. Right now I feel like I've got a 4 cylinder in this K5.
 
I'm kind of surprised they have such a small selection of heads, but your limitation I interpreted as "way under $1000" does kind of limit selection. I also stayed away from the Promaxx heads, as they didn't get good reviews. I'd accuse them of being Chinese, but I have no idea if these are either:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-151124/overview/make/chevrolet

Yes, require a new intake, but assuming carbed, shouldn't be but $100.

Your options open up quite a bit if you bump the price up to just under $1000. Edelbrocks, etc.
 
I'm kind of surprised they have such a small selection of heads, but your limitation I interpreted as "way under $1000" does kind of limit selection. I also stayed away from the Promaxx heads, as they didn't get good reviews. I'd accuse them of being Chinese, but I have no idea if these are either:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-151124/overview/make/chevrolet

Yes, require a new intake, but assuming carbed, shouldn't be but $100.

Your options open up quite a bit if you bump the price up to just under $1000. Edelbrocks, etc.
I suppose if I wait a little longer I could get some better ones, this money is burning a hole! Haha!

This is the current setup I've built already. Holley 4160 and Edelbrock EPS Performer.

IMG_0465.JPG
 
I've run a few sets of Edelbrock heads. Work well enough
I may look into those too. I've been looking for old double humps too but all the ones I'm finding around here are trashed and want a ton of money for them.
 
I may look into those too. I've been looking for old double humps too but all the ones I'm finding around here are trashed and want a ton of money for them.
Yeah focus on the after market ones. And older set will likely need several hundred dollars in machine work to bring them back to spec
 
I may look into those too. I've been looking for old double humps too but all the ones I'm finding around here are trashed and want a ton of money for them.

Double humps are expensive because A) they are the best "racing" head for classes that require OEM heads but don't allow Vortecs. B) some people still think they are "good" heads.

Don't feel bad that you can't find any, or that they are pricey. As mentioned, to get used heads up to new head specs requires a bunch of money, especially if you consider pulling the press in studs and replacing with screw in, which almost all aftermarkets come with.

You'd be MUCH better off waiting until you can spend somewhere around $1000. In the "mightaswell" category, once you get to around $1200, pretty much any head that you'd want to run on a street truck is within your grasp. AFR, Brodix, etc. And that keeps you from having to take a gamble on the Chinese ones.

From back when I was looking, the Edelbrocks were not the "best" head out there, but they are on the lower end of the good head price scale, so I mentioned them. Also, they offered a fair number of different combinations (Vortec pattern, higher lift springs, etc) of complete heads. Your intake (bolt pattern) gives you the most options available for heads, but you'll just have to determine where your price limit is. I don't think I'd ever skimp on heads. Good heads "make" a lot of power. By being smart and bumping up compression and not going crazy on flow (depending on desired RPM range of course) you should have no problem finding a head that works well for exactly what you want.

I know there are other retailers out there, but I really like Summit's web page for ease of being able to select a variety of options to narrow your choices way down. For instance, I can't think of a reason I wouldn't go with a 64CC chamber on a cast iron head for a 350 that I wanted to run on 87 octane.
 

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