Originally Posted by 67 chevelle (Post 8005087)

If your buying heads for a small block , vortecs are the way to go , dart iron eagles are nice also , check your combustion chamber volume , the heads you listed are 72 cc[low compression , most performance 350 heads are 64 cc

Originally Posted by Steeveedee (Post 8004730)

Lots of good advice! My take- I've threaded a head for an individual threaded stud in the past, but that was mostly on old iron, not necessarily something that had been to the machine shop. I'll be honest and admit that I've never heard of a hot tank being too hot, but even with some raised boiling point from the lye, the tank can't be hotter than 260º, which temperature I've seen even big blocks survive, if the coolant was kept liquid. I've had mine to 230º while towing my trailer up a long hill, with no ill effects. Both metals have essentially the same thermal expansion coefficient, though, so I have reservations about that one being a stud pulling reason.

Originally Posted by c20pickup (Post 8005491)

ive been looking at aftermarket irons, and vortecs did cross my mind, but somewhere i thought i remember there being more to the conversion than just the intake and valver covers, i could be wrong though. i know im shooting for a 64cc head, because from what im told that will give me 10:1 comp with the flat top pistons i have. i just wasnt sure about intake runner size and all that good stuff

Originally Posted by GRX (Post 8005797)

And don't forget the self-aligning rockers with Vortecs.

Originally Posted by GRX (Post 8005673)

Hot tank, no. Oven, too hot, yes. Most shops had to switch from lye tanks for environmental reasons. We did years ago. Sure do not miss the caustic tank. Have scars on my arms & missing nose hairs from that crap.

Boogered threads mean replace the stud. Puller tools can be bought, or perhaps you can borrow one locally. Drill and pin the new one as suggested above. And remember that factory style swedged rocker nuts are only meant to be used once. Buy a new one or go ghetto and smack the nut with a hammer or squeeze in a vise.