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What heads should I go with?

K5kidd

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Michigan
So winter is coming up and I have some special plans. I just have a sb 350 in my k5 right now. I don't have alot of cash because this truck does a good job of keeping me broke. Haha. But I want to put a 383 kit rotating assm. I have all roller crower valve train and a circle track cam. I dnt know the exact specs on cam because it was given to me new by a friend. I think it has over .56 lift. I also have a 671 little field blower given to me by a good friend. All I need is some blower carbs and heads. But I'm still young and dumb. I'm not trying to create the biggest baddest. There will always be bigger and badder. But Im just looking for a set of heads that will get the job done. Some people told me to just use the stock heads. This is just my daily driver. I don't have the money to spend a few grand on heads. What I'm really looking for is something that will get the job done and do it well. I still want the power. I don't want to choke my motor out or make it not breath right for what I use it for. I drive it on the roads mostly and every year I race it at the mud drags. It's not a balls out racer. I do it for show once a year with friends. Please point me into some direction. All help and tips is greatly appreciated. Or if you have a set of heads willing to sell?
 
Winter time in Michigan, a 671, a cam with .560" lift, and daily driving dont sound like a good combination.
 
Winter time in Michigan, a 671, a cam with .560" lift, and daily driving dont sound like a good combination.


671 obstruction of vision on a daily driver doesnt sound like a good idea...


A 671 on a 350 is gonna fill up anything you put on it with air no problem. They use the damn things on big blocks... Anything from 195 AFRs to camel humps or vortecs.
 
671 obstruction of vision on a daily driver doesnt sound like a good idea...


A 671 on a 350 is gonna fill up anything you put on it with air no problem. They use the damn things on big blocks... Anything from 195 AFRs to camel humps or vortecs.

I have a 3" body lift. If I put a small cowl on the hood I can keep the blower slammed on under the hood. And I have a stud gurdle for a sbc. I'm not gunna run alot of boost. Maby 5-8 lbs and I'll be a happy camper. I'm just gunna run the blower 1:1 or maby even under drive it.
 
A blower and circle track cam don't go together and even the circle track cam by itself isn't what you want for a wheeler.
 
I have a handfull of cams. I don't know the specs anymore off the top of my head. I was first told to find something with low end torque. But I want a fairly linier power band. Not sure what type of cam? I have compared the "4x4 cams" with stock ones and they are pretty much the same. I have the same circle track cam in my "zL1, 427,with l88 heads, and 750cfm double pumper carb and intake. I love the set up.
 
I have a handfull of cams. I don't know the specs anymore off the top of my head. I was first told to find something with low end torque. But I want a fairly linier power band. Not sure what type of cam? I have compared the "4x4 cams" with stock ones and they are pretty much the same. I have the same circle track cam in my "zL1, 427,with l88 heads, and 750cfm double pumper carb and intake. I love the set up.

First i'll bet you don't have a ZL1 engine (do you know what they are) but even if you did it doesn't make a bit of difference in what you're wanting to do with the other engine. Is the "427" in a car or truck?
 
I was thinking the same thing Scott. Not many people with the highest level of BBC un-obtainium, cant afford a pair of decent SBC heads
 
you have a ZL-1????? lol **** I should have wore my hip-boots before coming into this thread.


Listen to 4x4High he knows his stuff

Skip the blower and the big cam, run some 9.ish to 1 pistons with Vortec heads and a nice mild cam , Use a quadrajet on a dual plane intake with a nice HEI . and have an honest 300hp that you can actually drive
 
First i'll bet you don't have a ZL1 engine (do you know what they are) but even if you did it doesn't make a bit of difference in what you're wanting to do with the other engine. Is the "427" in a car or truck?

I don't care what you believe. I inherited an entire engine garage. I have the motor cuz I have the original 1976 "chevorlet power" hi proform. Engine manual that came with it. I was going to use that motor in my truck but I want to save it and put it in a car that I will restore and dedicate it to my father. I know what the engine is worth. I built it with him. I was just telling you about the motor so you knew what I had. I wasn't bragging. I was just informing you I liked the set up. Now I'm on my own and I've never built a motor entirely on my own. I figured they guys on the k5 fourm would be nice enough to help me out a bit.
 
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you have a ZL-1????? lol **** I should have wore my hip-boots before coming into this thread.


Listen to 4x4High he knows his stuff

Skip the blower and the big cam, run some 9.ish to 1 pistons with Vortec heads and a nice mild cam , Use a quadrajet on a dual plane intake with a nice HEI . and have an honest 300hp that you can actually drive

Hey thanks, I'll look into the cams today after work. But I got a few sets of pistons. And 1 set of h beams and 3 sets of I beams. I don't remember which ones are sb rods. But should I run h beams for touque? Ii want to run a blower still. I do agree and run as low of compression as I can get away with and just use flat top pistons. But I need to find some blower carbs.
 
Strange, I thought the ZL1 was a 1969 only option of which only 69 Camaros and 2 Vettes (well, they say there might be 3 now, unconfirmed on the 3rd) were ever produced.

What is the number stamped on the block? Where are the original heads?
 
Strange, I thought the ZL1 was a 1969 only option of which only 69 Camaros and 2 Vettes (well, they say there might be 3 now, unconfirmed on the 3rd) were ever produced.

What is the number stamped on the block? Where are the original heads?

Il take a pic. Tonight.

But Im asking about the small block. Lol
 
Il take a pic. Tonight.

But Im asking about the small block. Lol


Yeah, we all know you need some SBC advise. :waytogo:

Any heads under a 6-71 on a DD will work. Not sure why you'd do that to a DD truck. Seems 6-71s are either for show or racing of which you don't seem to be doing either with this truck. The cam is wrong on a few levels, which Scott pointed out. It's gonna run like ****. :eek1:


The fact is you brought up the ZL1 in a 4x4 forum with a lot of gearheads reading it. An "ultra" rare motor like that needs to be talk about, admired, skeeted on.

What did you expect when you told everyone here you own a 1 in 72 dream?
 
Strange, I thought the ZL1 was a 1969 only option of which only 69 Camaros and 2 Vettes (well, they say there might be 3 now, unconfirmed on the 3rd) were ever produced.

What is the number stamped on the block? Where are the original heads?

68 ZL1 camaros were made in 1969. The 69th is a 2012. It has the same SB 427 As the corvette ZR1, jut slightly detuned. It went at Barrett Jackson for 350k.

If you have a ZR1 block, we're jealous.
I'm with YellowK20. I feel like a .560 cam will hardly run when it's any kind of cold. Vortex heads and a mild cam will make more usable power then a lot of people believe. A blower, in my opinion, will be more of the cool factor then anything. I think that if you go with the blower, some AFR 2.08s will suit you well. But as stated before, just anything will flow with 6psi in them.
 
68 ZL1 camaros were made in 1969. The 69th is a 2012. It has the same SB 427 As the corvette ZR1, jut slightly detuned. It went at Barrett Jackson for 350k.

If you have a ZR1 block, we're jealous.
I'm with YellowK20. I feel like a .560 cam will hardly run when it's any kind of cold. Vortex heads and a mild cam will make more usable power then a lot of people believe. A blower, in my opinion, will be more of the cool factor then anything. I think that if you go with the blower, some AFR 2.08s will suit you well. But as stated before, just anything will flow with 6psi in them.

No, there were 69 ZL1 Camaros produced in 69 and 2 vettes. There is a 3rd vette with documentation claiming to be a ZL1 but it has not been verified through GM documentation.

All this came at a price: $4,160 for the ZL1 engine alone, pushing the car's sticker to a stratospheric $7,200. Chevy needed to build 50 to satisfy the NHRA, and actually built 69. There is GM documentation for 69 of them.

I'm not talking about anything made after 69.
 
No, there were 69 ZL1 Camaros produced in 69 and 2 vettes. There is a 3rd vette with documentation claiming to be a ZL1 but it has not been verified through GM documentation.

All this came at a price: $4,160 for the ZL1 engine alone, pushing the car's sticker to a stratospheric $7,200. Chevy needed to build 50 to satisfy the NHRA, and actually built 69. There is GM documentation for 69 of them.

I'm not talking about anything made after 69.

Me and my dad removed his motor when I was 7 years old. It cam out of his 69 396 el camino ss. We replaced it with a 653 merlin.
I come from an overkill family. That's why I'm using a blower.
 
I don't care what you believe. I inherited an entire engine garage. I have the motor cuz I have the original 1976 "chevorlet power" hi proform. Engine manual that came with it. I was going to use that motor in my truck but I want to save it and put it in a car that I will restore and dedicate it to my father. I know what the engine is worth. I built it with him. I was just telling you about the motor so you knew what I had. I wasn't bragging. I was just informing you I liked the set up. Now I'm on my own and I've never built a motor entirely on my own. I figured they guys on the k5 fourm would be nice enough to help me out a bit.

You dont have a ZL1 motor end of story. GM made 69 of them. You might have a GMPP or aftermarket all aluminum big block but trust us all when we say you dont have a factory ZL1 engine, because it would be worth around 800,000 dollars considering the ZL1 the shop I work at left restored worth 1.1 mil.

If you really have a GMPP mill its probably an L88, LS6 or LS7 crate from back in the day.

But honestly unless all these cams you have have the lifters they were broken in with set aside and marked then theyre all junk cause youve got about a 50/50 chance youre gonna lose a lobe installing new lifters on them, unless theyre all roller.

What you should do is call COMP, or Crower, or Crane and tell them what you plan to run. The intricacies of cam selection are many, not that we couldnt point you in the right direction but still. Blower car = cam with mid lift and low overlap to prevent boost leak.
 
Me and my dad removed his motor when I was 7 years old. It cam out of his 69 396 el camino ss. We replaced it with a 653 merlin.
I come from an overkill family. That's why I'm using a blower.


Are you saying some one replaced the factory 396 with a ZL1 block and then you and your dad pulled it out or are you saying the ZL1 came in the El Camino from the factory with it?

Because if you are saying it came from GM that way you couldn't be more wrong. :haha: It never happened.
 
You dont have a ZL1 motor end of story. GM made 69 of them. You might have a GMPP or aftermarket all aluminum big block but trust us all when we say you dont have a factory ZL1 engine, because it would be worth around 800,000 dollars considering the ZL1 the shop I work at left restored worth 1.1 mil.

If you really have a GMPP mill its probably an L88, LS6 or LS7 crate from back in the day.

But honestly unless all these cams you have have the lifters they were broken in with set aside and marked then theyre all junk cause youve got about a 50/50 chance youre gonna lose a lobe installing new lifters on them, unless theyre all roller.

What you should do is call COMP, or Crower, or Crane and tell them what you plan to run. The intricacies of cam selection are many, not that we couldnt point you in the right direction but still. Blower car = cam with mid lift and low overlap to prevent boost leak.

Don't forget the 2 COPO vettes that came with them, well possibly a 3rd but I don't think so.
 
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