I have a set of 350 center bolt heads that i bought a few years back from the machine shop. They are not vortec heads from what the machine shop told me. can i use them on my lead sled at auto city? I have been told a couple differant things so. Does anyone know if these heads are any good, or would i be better off paying to get the old set of heads redone? I hope i can becouse the motor is already built and in the car. thanks for your help. RICH

i dont see any reason why they would not allow you to run the 87-95 style heads. they arent any different flow than the old perimeter style heads. the only trick would be getting some centerbolt valve covers to work on them, they are more expensive to buy, but i guess you could just make a set with some stock covers. as far as i can see it, you should have no problems as long as they dont break any of the three rules on heads, no aluminum, no camelback, and no vortec.

Nick J.

I used a stock set of valve covers and just welded on the tubes on the driver side and covered the hole on the other side.

Rich, most of the centerbolt heads are from pickup engines,or cars with the TBI (Throttle Body Injection) From the Pace Performance website listings for Goodwrench replacement engines, the heads are not good for performance applications, because of the high swirl feature. It makes for more low end power, but restricts the flow at higher RPM. I think you might be better off with a set of the older heads. I would certainly change the valve springs to something a little stronger, the pressure is pretty low on the stock springs to turn racing RPM. A set of Z28 springs is pretty cheap, around $30 most places. Competition Products has these for $27.95 - Competition Products Valve Springs Also, the centerbolt heads have a different intake manifold mounting, you would have to have an intake that matches the heads. I think I've seen where you can redrill the old style manifold to bolt to these heads, but I'm not sure on that, have never done it or seen it done.

CYLINDER HEAD SPECS:

CASTING NUMBER 14102193

SWIRL PORT INTAKE PORT DESIGN

64cc COMBUSTION CHAMBER

1.94" INTAKE 1.50" EXHAUST VALVE

VALVE SPRING PART NUMBER IS 3911068 (SAME SPRING USED WITH THE OLD 300H.P 350 CRATE)

INSTALLED HEIGHT 1.70" PRESSURE @ INSTALLED HEIGHT IS 80 LBS * PRESSURE WITH VALVE OPEN IS 267 LBS.

THESE SPRINGS ARE GOOD FOR .550" LIFT BUT CLEARENCE BETWEEN GUIDE AND RETAINER MUST BE DOUBLE CHECKED BEFORE ATTEMPTING.

7 BOLT EXHAUST FLANGE

CENTERBOLT VALVE COVER FLANGE

1987-1995 INTAKE MANIFOLD BOLT PATTERN WITH CENTER INTAKE BOLTS CANTED @ 72 ANGLE

THIS CYLINDER HEAD IS NOT A PERFORMANCE ORIENTED CYLINDER HEAD. IT IS CLASSIFIED AS A HIGH SWIRL HEAD THAT WAS INTENDED FOR GOOD BOTTOM END TORQUE AND FUEL ECONOMY. THE INTAKE RUNNER IS RESTRICTIVE BECAUSE IT HAS A RAMP CAST INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL TO PROMOTE HIGH SWIRL.

AC and Dixie have allowed guys to run them heads in the past. The intake can be modified to fit fairly easy.

Captain Cam, did the cars running them perform well? Can you tell us a little bit more about how to make the older manifolds fit? I have a pair of the TBI heads off a 350 out of my pickup truck, but was under the impression that they wouldn't do well, performance wise. If they are decent, I would be interested in the mods necessary to use a carb intake manifold with them.

Thanks,
Ed

im not the captain just the inspector(inside joke!), but ill throw in my answer

im not sure any of them will perform any better, but id imagine a good set of 87+ tuned port heads would do just fine against the competition. the intake situation is very easy to remedy, ive done it to street motors before. all that is necessary is to open up the 4 holes (2 each side) in the center of the intake. when most of the motors switched to throttle body in 87 and the carbs went away they re-angled the center bolts into the heads to clear the throttle body opening (ive heard other reasons, but this one is the most obvious). find something to grind with and open up those holes to a more straight up and down angle. if you really want to get fancy, grind a flat surface into the top of the boss so the bolt head pulls down nicely on the intake for a better seal. quite simple actually.

Not sure on your intake rules, but some aftermarket intakes like Professional Products actually machine a slot in the center 4 intake manifold through holes - they then provide inserts - one is for older heads where the bolt is perpendicular to the intake face, the other is if your bolt is vertical in the head. Just a thought.

these heads use to be in my camaro with tpi, i had to modify the intake to work with the heads. They worked really good on it, but you have to remember that the tpi motors are made to make the most power at lower rpms around 4500 rpm it made most of its power. the car with a mild 355 and only a performance chip, with 3:23 broken posi and bald goodyear street tires and a built 700r-4 ran a best 13.60 in the 1/4 spinning the tires threw the 60 foot, and starving for gas. Then they were on my old 72 nova with the same 355 and a performer rpm intake and 750 holly and i never took it to the strip but it performed really well. i have the motor all together in my lead sled and it runs good, just dont wanted to make sure i was not wasting my time, that was the only heads sitting around that didnt need any work. I have some work left to do and hope to bring it out this year.

I have ran center bolt heads for the last two years with a lot of good results. car was usually a front runner at any track i went to. I just opened the center four holes like nick said to make the intake fit. If your concerned call the tech and ask the ahead of time. i never had a problem at dixie or A/C.

Yeah i know your car runs good, i seen it in action many times. Thanks just wanted to hear from someone thats used them before. I had someone tell me that they had the techs at a/c tell them they could not race becouse they had center bolt heads, but maybe they had vortecs and just didnt know, or they have no clue what there talking about. I have been told of a few cars now, Thanks again.