Cylinder Head Decision?

[Rusty Nail]

I think so.
Consideration of the 268H is worthwhile: says a guy that has one topped with 882s.

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[bucket]

Would this cam on a 355 with 882 heads make a pretty good towing motor? If so I'm sure my brother could use it anyway.

I ran a very very similar cam in my K5 with 882 heads, it would have been a decent performer if it weren't for my highway gears and 33's. It was a little slow to get going, but it pulled well after that. 3.73's should have worked well.

So what kind of towing does he do?

 

[77 K20]

Ok guys thanks for the good advise. I'm going to order a pair of vortecs and I'll deffinatly look into another cam. The 383 has been an after thought. I was going to build a 350 origanly but when I took the engine apart the crank was all rusty and somebody did a crap job polishing the rods, that's when I decided to just get a new rotating assembly. Also the pistons were .100 domes. Ive got a few blocks around so ill probably usr the cam and 882 heads to build a mild 350 and sell it.

Keep in mind vortec heads do not have the heat crossover plenum under the carb/TBI. This makes it run like crap when it is cold.

I have the GM HT383 with vortec heads and a little baby cam. I have tons of torque but in temps of mid 30's and below it ran like crap for sometimes up to 30 minutes. I then changed out the intake manifold for an Edelbrock that had a heat plenum built in (but you had to externally plumb it). First one leaked coolant. Installed a second one. It leaked coolant. I'm the king of sh!t luck though it seems when working on cars.

Ontario gets cold... just want to give you a warning and you can do some research if you are planning on driving it in winter.

 

[paulrowe]

We share a little Massey compact tractor and tow around a 7000lb dump trailer once in a while. Never really over 7000. Although who knows cause I'm not weighing the dirt.

 

[paulrowe]

What about those Edelbrock E Street heads? Has anybody used them before? I can get a new set for $1200 Which is pretty good for rip off Canada. Although crossing the border and going to Ohio is a good option for me too. I've always wanted to go and check out Summit or Jegs.

 

[77 K20]

My dad had bought the 290hp 350 that GM offered and it was horrible for towing. Changing the camshaft didn't do much, then re-geared the truck. Still didn't help..
Then he bought the aluminum E street heads with a smaller chamber to up the compression. Made a huge difference for him. He was very happy.

 

[HotRodPC]

My dad had bought the 290hp 350 that GM offered and it was horrible for towing. Changing the camshaft didn't do much, then re-geared the truck. Still didn't help..
Then he bought the aluminum E street heads with a smaller chamber to up the compression. Made a huge difference for him. He was very happy.

I think I remember you posting up about that engine of your dad's. Seems you guys fought with that for almost forever until you finally did the heads. I wondered if their might have been something wrong with the original set of heads, cuz I had that same engine with headers and Eddy intake and carb. It was no power house but it ran and held it's own fairly well with 3.73's.

By all means, I'm not saying the 882's are good. I'm not a fan of them either. Smog riddled, small breathing runners and big combustion chambers. They're an 80's engine low perforomance head. Only things I can say good for them is you can run 87 pump gas, hardened seats for unleaded gas and the later ones on these crate engines aren't as prone to cracking as the older OEM factory production engine heads were, but then I really wonder if your dad didn't have a set of bad heads since such a difference was made after the head swap.

 

[bucket]

What about those Edelbrock E Street heads? Has anybody used them before? I can get a new set for $1200 Which is pretty good for rip off Canada. Although crossing the border and going to Ohio is a good option for me too. I've always wanted to go and check out Summit or Jegs.

If you make the trip, do Summit for sure. WAY more to see in their giant showroom.

 

[MikeB]

Ok thanks I'll look at the scat stuff then. I'll put the eagle order on hold.

Good idea. I went with an entry level Eagle 350 kit (approx $675 back in 2015), and wasn't impressed. Crank is OK but not perfect. Pistons are dished Speed Pro hypers, but compression height was lower than stock. Rings are Hastings--probably just cast iron--and they needed filing to get the correct gap. I never had that problem with the basic Sealed Power moly rings.

For another $400 I could have bought a SCAT kit with their 9000 series crank, better rods, and D-dish pistons with stock compression height. One of these days I may do just that, only I will go to 383. Trying to save money always ends up costing me more.

 

[MikeB]

My dad had bought the 290hp 350 that GM offered and it was horrible for towing. Changing the camshaft didn't do much, then re-geared the truck. Still didn't help..
Then he bought the aluminum E street heads with a smaller chamber to up the compression. Made a huge difference for him. He was very happy.

Yes, heads are where the power is, but the base Goodwrench and 290 hp crate engines have not-so-great heads. Also, the 290 hp cam was a terrible choice by GM for 8:1 compression, if that much.

I'd have no problem using the E-street heads on a street machine. I've always had good luck with their Performer RPM heads with relatively modern 64cc chambers. The 70cc versions are (or used to be) the old open chamber D-shape.