Help. Looking for some SBC heads

[djunkie]

I'm looking for a set of L98 heads for a small block Chevy. Casting ends in 083. Also casting that ends in 217 will work. The 217 heads came off the older Mercruiser 350 mag motors. They've got the center bolt valve covers and the center intake bolts are straight down instead of at an angle like the others. Need to be complete and rebuildable if possible.


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[Cole Trickle]

I'm looking for a set of L98 heads for a small block Chevy. Casting ends in 083. Also casting that ends in 217 will work. The 217 heads came off the older Mercruiser 350 mag motors. They've got the center bolt valve covers and the center intake bolts are straight down instead of at an angle like the others. Need to be complete and rebuildable if possible.


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Work an extra night and buy some afr's..lol

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[Deleted Account]

Work tonight..lol

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I fixed it...

 

[djunkie]

Work an extra night and buy some afr's..lol

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Right. No need for $2k heads for the power I'm trying to make. Not to mention I've got a fuel system that will barely support 250-275hp.


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[Cole Trickle]

Right. No need for $2k heads for the power I'm trying to make. Not to mention I've got a fuel system that will barely support 250-275hp.


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Your gonna need more....when i go into my engine 70 hp isnt going to be shit

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[djunkie]

I fixed it...

I am.




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[djunkie]

Your gonna need more....when i go into my engine 70 hp isnt going to be shit

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You also don't drive that everyday. If I wanna feel more power I'll just go drive my boat that makes over 650.

Plus going from 140rwhp to 225rwhp should be enough noticeable power for my work truck. Oh and on a budget with decent mileage and smog legal. LOL.


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[Deleted Account]

I am.




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I'd run that Ottawa into the ship and then see what happened...

 

[djunkie]

I'd run that Ottawa into the ship and then see what happened...

It's a Kalmar.





Made by Ottawa.




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[Deleted Account]

I drove the shit out of those... When I was 15...:champagne:

 

[Classic Daycruiser]

these work really well (Vortec), and good on gas. Same bolt pattern as the l98 (I believe) $350each (new) on ebay all the time

 

[djunkie]

I drove the shit out of those... When I was 15...:champagne:

For what they pay me I'll drive the shit out of this till I retire. Come February I'll be out of this though and back into another machine that's just a little bit bigger.


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[djunkie]

these work really well (Vortec), and good on gas. Same bolt pattern as the l98 (I believe) $350each (new) on ebay all the time

I'd love to run Vortecs but they don't have heat risers built in for the egr to function.


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[Classic Daycruiser]

I'd love to run Vortecs but they don't have heat risers built in for the egr to function.


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I went through all this with my 1983 chevy suburban. it had a 305ci pos and I took a 350 4 bolt block, and used the vortec heads (3 humps on the heads I believe), and the GM Performance 12496820 - GM Performance Vortec Low-Rise Intake Manifolds hooks up to all the old smog stuff. I had a mild cam, and a 4 bll rochester carb, and a 700r4 transmission. It put out close to 350 horsepower. Towing the boat we got around 16-22mpg.

Passed Arizona emissions.

 

[djunkie]

I went through all this with my 1983 chevy suburban. it had a 305ci pos and I took a 350 4 bolt block, and used the vortec heads (3 humps on the heads I believe), and the GM Performance 12496820 - GM Performance Vortec Low-Rise Intake Manifolds hooks up to all the old smog stuff. I had a mild cam, and a 4 bll rochester carb, and a 700r4 transmission. It put out close to 350 horsepower. Towing the boat we got around 16-22mpg.

Passed Arizona emissions.

Did you dyno it to get those numbers or are you guessing the hp? I have a fuel injected motor. First year of the TBI on these trucks. They need the egr for smog. There's ways to make it work with the Vortec heads but it involves externally plumbing it from the header. It's a pain in the ass and from what I've read it's hard to get it tuned properly. The gain compared to what I'd get over using L98's really isn't worth the hassle.


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[Classic Daycruiser]

by the way, I used an iron block, and the iron vortec heads, and the aluminum manifold. Used all the original hardware from the 305, including the rochester 4bll carb, every thing bolted on, except for one of the A/C brackets on the front of the manifold.

 

[djunkie]

by the way, I used an iron block, and the iron vortec heads, and the aluminum manifold. Used all the original hardware from the 305, including the rochester 4bll carb, every thing bolted on, except for one of the A/C brackets on the front of the manifold.

I know all my accessories will fit, But how do you know how much hp it made?


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[djunkie]

By the way, a stock late 90's (fuel injected) vortec 350 with roller cam only made 255hp at the flywheel. A stock bottom end 350 with vortec heads, a mild cam, and a quadrajet ain't making 350 hp.


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[Classic Daycruiser]

Honestly, the shop I took the block and crank, did all the machine work , is next door to Lopers performance in Phoenix.

They helped me spec the out the motor for my need, towing a 21-28' boat to the lake. They did all the machine work and parts for the short block, I bought the heads and manifold from http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/start.cfm They guess a-mated the hp around 350. no dyno.

From what I read, 350 hp is on the low end of the setup scale, and typically this setup produces over 400hp, (if your looking for more horsepower). I just need it for towing, so gas mileage was a big factor....$2700 later, I had a really nice setup with a custom A/C bracket. I ran that setup for 7 years before sell it.

Assembled it in the garage over 3 months, and installed it in 3 days.

 

[djunkie]

Honestly, the shop I took the block and crank, did all the machine work , is next door to Lopers performance in Phoenix.

They helped me spec the out the motor for my need, towing a 21-28' boat to the lake. They did all the machine work and parts for the short block, I bought the heads and manifold from http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/start.cfm They guess a-mated the hp around 350. no dyno.

From what I read, 350 hp is on the low end of the setup scale, and typically this setup produces over 400hp, (if your looking for more horsepower). I just need it for towing, so gas mileage was a big factor....$2700 later, I had a really nice setup with a custom A/C bracket. I ran that setup for 7 years before sell it.

Assembled it in the garage over 3 months, and installed it in 3 days.

LOL. Ok. I'm not new to the sbc world. I've built quite a few and I've done a bunch of research for this build. I've also done quite a bit if research on the vortec heads. Your claim is hard to believe. Anyways, if you know anything about the GM TBI fuel injection you'll know in '87 the egr played a huge roll in how this setup worked. Well Vortec heads have no heat riser provisions. It can be tuned out but then it won't pass emissions and I'd also lose quite a bit of highway mileage. The heads that are currently on this motor are GM' swirl port head and while they make great torque and decent fuel economy they don't produce much hp. Stock for this truck is around 190 hp. By going to the L98's with the very mild RV cam I'm gonna run and the few mods to my fuel system it should be a gain of at least 60 hp to the wheels. I have seen the dyno sheets to back it up.


So, back to the thread at hand, anyone got some L98's laying around they wanna get rid of for cheap?


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[djunkie]

Bump. I know somebody has to have an old set of these stashed in their garage somewhere.


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[Outdrive1]

Dave I have this set. I'm pretty sure the valves are 197's or 202's. They had a recent valve job and mild port job. I had them in a stroker motor.

 

[Classic Daycruiser]

LOL. Ok. I'm not new to the sbc world. I've built quite a few and I've done a bunch of research for this build. I've also done quite a bit if research on the vortec heads. Your claim is hard to believe. Anyways, if you know anything about the GM TBI fuel injection you'll know in '87 the egr played a huge roll in how this setup worked. Well Vortec heads have no heat riser provisions. It can be tuned out but then it won't pass emissions and I'd also lose quite a bit of highway mileage. The heads that are currently on this motor are GM' swirl port head and while they make great torque and decent fuel economy they don't produce much hp. Stock for this truck is around 190 hp. By going to the L98's with the very mild RV cam I'm gonna run and the few mods to my fuel system it should be a gain of at least 60 hp to the wheels. I have seen the dyno sheets to back it up.


So, back to the thread at hand, anyone got some L98's laying around they wanna get rid of for cheap?


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Didn't L98 heads come in iron and aluminum. I had a 1986 corvette that came with iron heads, and later that year they introduced the aluminum heads. I assume your looking for the Iron heads for a truck?

 

[djunkie]

Dave I have this set. I'm pretty sure the valves are 197's or 202's. They had a recent valve job and mild port job. I had them in a stroker motor.

Well I just looked those up, pretty much they're exactly what I have on my motor right now. Those castings show they came off the early 90's efi motors and they are the swirl ports. I'm trying to get away from the swirl ports. Do you know exactly what porting work was done to them?

 

[djunkie]

Didn't L98 heads come in iron and aluminum. I had a 1986 corvette that came with iron heads, and later that year they introduced the aluminum heads. I assume your looking for the Iron heads for a truck?

Yes, the L98 iron heads. The L98 iron heads have 64cc chambers and the L98 aluminum were I think 58cc chambers. Those heads off that 86 Vette are what I want.

 

[Outdrive1]

Well I just looked those up, pretty much they're exactly what I have on my motor right now. Those castings show they came off the early 90's efi motors and they are the swirl ports. I'm trying to get away from the swirl ports. Do you know exactly what porting work was done to them?

I don't Dave, I took them as a core. I have a bare set of 291 (i think) bare castings, fuelie heads. They are set up for 202 and 160 valves and screw in studs. They've been magged and pressure tested.

 

[djunkie]

I don't Dave, I took them as a core. I have a bare set of 291 (i think) bare castings, fuelie heads. They are set up for 202 and 160 valves and screw in studs. They've been magged and pressure tested.

No problem. Thanks for checking. Honestly the larger valve heads really aren't gonna help me much as I'm really not gonna be making the power to need them. I'm just looking for a minor upgrade to what I have that's fits my intake and fuel system. If I was trying to make 300+hp than I'd be looking at aftermarket heads or I'd try and make Vortecs work. Honestly I should be able to hit my number with my stock heads but the L98's flow just a bit better and would help it make power to 5000rpm's. My heads hit a wall at 4k.


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[djunkie]

I know everyone is thinking why I just don't go with some real good aftermarket aluminum or some Dart sportsman heads but my main reason is necessity and money. I just don't need them. Think of this as just a stock rebuild on a worn out truck engine. I'm just upgrading to a little better factory head if possible, very very mild cam upgrade, better intake and bored throttle body, smog legal headers, and a custom chip. So far I've priced this build at right around $2k-$2,200 and according to dyno sheets I've seen from a reputable guy who has done a ton of these it should yield me a 60hp gain at the rear wheels. And thats with my current junk heads. The L98's should get me another 20-25hp. Thats huge considering stock this truck only makes about 140hp at the wheels.

 

[Outdrive1]

I'm not sold on the theory that not having the swirl ramps makes more hp. It's not uncommon to pay to have heads bowl blended, I thought that was the same concept? Maybe I'm wrong, I dunno.

 

[djunkie]

I'm not sold on the theory that not having the swirl ramps makes more hp. It's not uncommon to pay to have heads bowl blended, I thought that was the same concept? Maybe I'm wrong, I dunno.

The swirl ports make better torque and are good for mileage. But suck for making hp. I'm probably just gonna end up using mine. I should still be able to hit my number.


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[djunkie]

The swirl ports make better torque and are good for mileage. But suck for making hp. I'm probably just gonna end up using mine. I should still be able to hit my number.


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And honestly, if they were that great than how come they ditched them and came out with the Vortecs? The Vortecs make something like 40-50hp more right out if the box.


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[motormonkey]

The L98 alum heads dont have a heat crossover in the heads at all, I dont remember the irons.
I have a 87 corvette 350 rebuilt Ill sell you with the L98 alum heads and a comp roller.

 

[djunkie]

The L98 alum heads dont have a heat crossover in the heads at all, I dont remember the irons.
I have a 87 corvette 350 rebuilt Ill sell you with the L98 alum heads and a comp roller.

I was told the iron ones do. Not a lot of options for my setup without a lot extra modifications.


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[obnoxious001]

I was told the iron ones do. Not a lot of options for my setup without a lot extra modifications.


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I assumed you wanted aluminum when you mentioned the L98. I need to put together an engine for an 85 Vette, and was going to run the L98 aluminum heads when I do I think.

I have a set of take off, never run iron center bolt heads on the shelf,, need to get to them to check the casting number.

 

[djunkie]

I assumed you wanted aluminum when you mentioned the L98. I need to put together an engine for an 85 Vette, and was going to run the L98 aluminum heads when I do I think.

I have a set of take off, never run iron center bolt heads on the shelf,, need to get to them to check the casting number.

No I'd like to get the iron ones. No heat risers on the aluminum L98's so I'd have problems dealing with the egr. That be great if you can check the castings for me. 217's are the same head too.


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[mjc]

Have you looked at World Products

http://www.worldcastings.com/products/cylinder-heads/small-block-chevrolet-heads/

They are about $500 each new assembled. Don't know if they would work for you or not.

 

[djunkie]

Have you looked at World Products

http://www.worldcastings.com/products/cylinder-heads/small-block-chevrolet-heads/

They are about $500 each new assembled. Don't know if they would work for you or not.

Ya I've pretty much looked at everything that would work with the TBI manifold I got but honestly for what I'm building aftermarket heads will really not be needed for the power I'm making. If I was gonna shoot for 300+hp than ya I'd be going with something better. Plus I really don't have a whole lot of money for this build. I'd like to keep it at around $500 for heads. The iron L98's will work great with my combo.


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[Classic Daycruiser]

Yes, the L98 iron heads. The L98 iron heads have 64cc chambers and the L98 aluminum were I think 58cc chambers. Those heads off that 86 Vette are what I want.

Here's the corrvette that had the Iron heads. It was a 1986 w/ 1987 sawblade's so I could run 17 inch eagles. Had z51 suspension and the 4+3 manual transmission. Very fun car to drive on a track:skull

You should be able to find them, and really the Ironheads were not much of a selling point in the used corvette market (3 1/2 years). Pomona has a swap meet at the fairgrounds. You might find a good set there.

 

[djunkie]

Here's the corrvette that had the Iron heads. It was a 1986 w/ 1987 sawblade's so I could run 17 inch eagles. Had z51 suspension and the 4+3 manual transmission. Very fun car to drive on a track:skull

You should be able to find them, and really the Ironheads were not much of a selling point in the used corvette market (3 1/2 years). Pomona has a swap meet at the fairgrounds. You might find a good set there.

Yep I believe it was '85-'87 tpi motors that had the iron L98 heads. I think the Camaros and Firebirds also but not sure on that. I've been making a lot of calls but have been coming up empty. Might have to try and get out to Pomona and maybe even the Long Beach Vets swap meet and take a look. Only problem with the swap meet is you never know what your getting. And if they're bad then you may never see the person you bought them off of again.


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