Can Old Heads Flow Like New Heads

[Scottrods]

I have a set of 842 Aluminum closed chambered heads dated for 69. They are going on my COPO/YENKO L-72. I have the correct Winters stamped 163 aluminum manifold and correct carburator. Here is the question; I need to keep the correct heads and manifold for the authenticity sake. What can I do to the heads and maifold to get them to flow better and perform better. I would love to have a sharp guy put these on the bench and get them to flow like a set of AFR's.

[larry_csa]

In your part of the country. You can send them to Darell Wikle. At Wikle performance in wichita, KS. (316)942-9500. But, be perpaired It is expensive. Intake alone is about 1,200 to get "FIXED"
Larry

[ssscamaro]

answer is yes depending what you are comparing too. My 074 heads for my supercar series/Fast class zl1 camaro flow 400+ cfm on the intake. My Fully ported brodix -2s done by airflow research in the mid to late 90s where about the same. Many top of the line "street sized" heads flow high 300s now.
Flow doesnt take everything into account but it is a good benchmark. If you are looking for someone that does good work at reasonable price try Mike Stark at CFM perfomance in Indianapolis. I trusted my $3000 NOS 074 heads to him and would do it again in a second. He is getting another 198 intake from me in a few days to work over for me too...
Ryan
ps my heads came back from him spotlessly clean!

[SuperNovaSS]

Are the 842s ported now? If not, you probably can find a set that have been converted to open chamber and had nice porting work done for much less than the ones you have are worth.

Jason

[markjohnson]

There's no need at all to spend crazy money to try to get a set of old Closed Chamber 842's to even come close to a modern set of Open Chambered AFR's. That's just never gonna happen. With your 842's you should concentrate on some bowl blending, port matching, chamber polishing & CC'ing, a good valve job and a good set of Manley 11/32 stem valves. This work along with the proper factory piston dome configuration and head gasket thickness and you'll make fine power. You'll get the most bang for the buck with these mods. Open Chamber heads are superior to Closed Chambers but that doesn't necessarily make them junk. NHRA A/Stock '69 Camaros have run high 9's with Closed Chamber heads with no porting, so they are capable of laying an impressive number down.

[69 Post Sedan]

If your trying to stay "authentic", 842 aluminum heads NEVER came on a COPO L72 motor from the factory in 1969, they came with 840 cast iron heads.

If you are set on running your 842 heads and they are unmolested I would sell them and find a set that have already been modified or go with a set of 074 heads...they will work better because of they are open chamber.

Kurt

[Salvatore]

Thats correct Mark, even faster in AA/S.

[iluv69s]

Hey Scott...
I have a set of ported 074 heads that are also 69 dated that I have been holding on to. They were assembled by Nickerson Performance in Bristol Pa. Dean is very adept at building big block Chevys as he has set a few records over the years,both at the strip and in boat racing.

I was saving these heads hoping to trade for a dated set of stock 842's for my 69 Indy. If You might be interested in some sort of trade, PM me, ok.

and good luck with your project !!! Thanks, Max

Hi folks...

When discussing &quot;unported&quot; NHRA stocker heads, I think we should all be, uhm, careful ...L-O-L. Acid porting has been in use for years (decades). Sure the heads have to meet a specific volume (port and chamber) and they have to look correct, but there are more than a couple of fellas out there who can make a set of iron heads look, well, stock and still flow, uhm... impressively. I can provide a name or two off the board (and I have one chap in particular I'd go to). Stock is a long ways from stock. And you might be shocked to find that some of the people you think you might know well (over even someone you think is very close to you as a pal) campaign cars that aren't so &quot;stock&quot;. You just have to keep your lips very tightly sealed (even to close friends) and open up your wallet (it ain't cheap). You might also find that some of the super fast &quot;older&quot; musclecars in Stock (the real rocketships) are rather fragile when they're set &quot;on kill&quot;, but I won't go there...[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

And hey, when it comes to stuff like acid porting, that's one reason why they put lines between the sentences in the Rule Book! Bottom line here is, the NHRA really doesn't have the resources to effectively police Stock.

Wayne (been there, done that). [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[Kim_Howie]

When you have 283 in SS/L producing 440 HP it's not stock.