[Brent Flynn]

Originally Posted by 69birdboy

So I've got my heads off of my car right now and what started as a simple repair job has exploded into a "since I've got them off anyway..." situation. I want some advice as to what direction to take this thing.

My combo is 400 .030 over, cam 223/231 @.050 .465/.488 stock cast bottom end with crappy 411NP pistons (like 14cc valve reliefs and way down in the hole, they are awful). Edelbrock Performer intake with a 750 holley and small tube headers, th400 tranny with a 3000 stall converter and 3.23's in the rear. The old heads were stock #16 d-ports. I wasn't particularly happy with the power (ran 15.35 on my best run ever)

I'd like to pick cylinder heads to match the rest of the car. Was looking at either ported D-ports, e-heads or kauffman heads. My budget is relatively flexible but I don't want to spend $700 for an extra 5 horses, either.

Sorry for the long post, but I've read a bit on the subject and still can't tell what's the best route. Any thoughts, comments, ideas or suggestions from anyone are welcome and appreciated, thanks.

Rebuild the shortboock with good flat tops and new rods, turn/polish crank and balance.... your heads are fine if they are machined well and have good valves/springs and guides... Im runnin 11.50s with stock 62's/cast intake and qjet on a 455 with a cam thats very similar to yours... in your case, the Horsepower is in the bottom end and in the tune... you should easily go high 12s-13.00s with traction and 3.55 gear... for what a set of heads cost, you can do everything i just mentioned and have a much more reliable setup, then switch heads down the road. JMO...good luck!