edelbrock E-street heads?

[77 K20]

anybody have anything to say about them? Thinking about putting them on my 400. Block is stock but have a mild cam and 2.5" ram horn manifolds.


There is a choice of 64cc or 70cc combustion chambers.
2.02" intake
1.6" exhaust
185cc intake runners
idle to 5,500 RPM
aluminum


The cam I have is: Camshaft, Hydraulic Flat Tappet, Duration 222/222, Lift .447/.447, Chevy, Small Block, lobe separation 114


These heads complete are $990.

I use 91 octane already as that is my only choice for ethanol free. Would the 64cc be too much, or just play it safe and get the 70cc.


I know about the vortec heads and don't want to replace the intake manifold, valve covers, and possibly have issues with the angle of the spark plugs with my exhaust manifolds. I just bought and installed a edelbrock intake manifold.

Or is there a better choice for a 400? With the e-street heads I'll have to have steam holes machined into them- but that is likely the case no matter what ones I buy.

Found one article about "cheap" heads:

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_1209_eight_budget_sbc_head_shootout/viewall.html

The article was more about horsepower and upper RPM power, but I still thought it was interesting.

 

[77 K20]

So does anyone have any input of 64cc or 70cc chambers?

I was thinking just get the 70cc ones since they are the closest to stock. Any guesses what the compression ratio might end up?

I've heard the stock 400 was anywhere from 7.5:1 up to 8.5:1

 

[HotRodPC]

If it were a stock 350 with dish pistons, I'd prolly go the 64cc's. Being it's a 400 and OEM cc is 76, I think I'd prolly go with the 70cc's, especially for that low flow of a head with a 5500rpm range which means you're not going to be using a biggo cam with them. Of course there is the option of porting them later on and increasing the flow. So if you intend to keep what you have, yeah, I think I'd go 70cc. You're still going to get a good compression boost even at 70cc.

 

[bucket]

I'd go with the 64's. You run higher octane already and the aluminum heads will have a harder time creating spark knock compared to iron.

You can drill the steam holes easily yourself. The instructions from Edelbrock should give a pretty good idea of how to do it. They used to have it in there anyway.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

Agree ^^^^^^^^ 64cc better quench , (Still not great) and higher compression , ++++++

 

[77 K20]

Had multiple warnings from some of my mechanic friends about "sealing up" the top half of the motor without knowing the age of the rest of the block. I hate doing things twice...

So looking at multiple options- one of the mechanics I know has a 406 shortblock lying around with all the machining done to it. I'd still need heads, but the cam shaft I just got along with the intake will go right on it. Waiting on hearing a price of how much he wants.

There is a place in Spokane that can build a 383 for around $2700. Might drive over there and pick up that if the 406 falls thru. Don't exactly have the money to do this with the shutdowns at work, but need to have my truck running again.

 

[Green79Scottsdale]

Do compression and leak-down tests before you do anything. They tell you how good the rings are sealing against the cylinder bore. If those show good results then you should have no problem just swapping heads. Part of your mechanics friends thoughts come from old wives tales, IMO.

 

[bucket]

If the cylinder walls are in good condition, I have no trouble bolting on a new top end.

 

[77 K20]

Not sure how a compression test would do any good right now with a bad head gasket. What ever cylinder or cylinders with the bad gasket would then have almost 0 pressure, right?

I went ahead and ordered the 64cc Edelbrock heads. Jegs has them for $924 but then get $100 off my next order of Edelbrock parts. So that means I get the head bolts basically for free.

Then I guess I'll make my final decision when I pull the old heads and see what the pistons and cylinder walls look like. Hopefully they are good... if not my backup plan is I know of another 400 block with a new crank and crank bearings for $250. But then I'd need to dump more money than I have right now for pistons, rings, connecting rods. (the block is .040 over)

I did find some information from a book "How to rebuild your small block Chevy" by David Vizard. There is a chart in there that shows what a stock engine with a stock thickness head gasket will have for compression with different heads.

For a stock 400 it shows:
8.2:1 compression w/ 76cc stock heads
8.7:1 compression w/ 69cc heads
9.1:1 compression w/ 64cc heads
9.7:1 compression w/ 57cc heads

The book also says the stock 400 has 24cc dished pistons. I typed this info here for people doing future searches as I found it very difficult to find this info.

 

[HotRodPC]

Yeah, I'd agree with the 64's. I didn't realize the 400 had a 24cc dish.

 

[Jims86]

406 should be a monster, if done right.

 

[Green79Scottsdale]

Not sure how a compression test would do any good right now with a bad head gasket. What ever cylinder or cylinders with the bad gasket would then have almost 0 pressure, right?

I went ahead and ordered the 64cc Edelbrock heads. Jegs has them for $924 but then get $100 off my next order of Edelbrock parts. So that means I get the head bolts basically for free.

Didn't know you had a bad head gasket. Very interested in how this turns out. Always looking for ideas to mess with the truck!

 

[77 K20]

I have an update- I ordered the 64cc heads for myself but then work started going to hell. A few layoffs and the outlook isn't too good. Had a very hard time throwing a lot of money into the truck at this time. Normally to fix up the truck I'll work overtime for "play money".

So I asked my dad if he wanted the heads for his truck. He installed them on his 350 and so far loves them. He hasn't towed with it yet, but has a lot more power in 3rd gear when going up hills. Gas mileage has also improved from 10mpg to around 14. He said it would be better but hard to get good gas mileage when testing it by driving up all steep hills in western Montana.

His cast iron heads only have 20,000 miles on them so I had a machine shop drill steam holes and they are to be installed in a few days on my truck. I just need it up and running for hunting season.

 

[77 K20]

Just putting some updates on some of my old threads.

I had the old 290hp/350 heads put on my truck. It runs well, but still haven't put many miles on it. I didn't get to go hunting last year- as work sent me out of state from mid October until... now. I'm still out of state (June 13th). I have 3 more days of work left, then heading back home. I WILL use it then.

My dad towed his 5th wheel with the e-street heads last week. He loves them. He now has enough power to go up hills. The truck no longer runs away when heading down the hills (an engine that has higher compression can hold itself back better). And his gas mileage has went up quite a bit. 7 mpg towing to 10.9 mpg. 10 mpg empty to 13-14 empty.