Hey 67SS396, got a question?

[jover]

Thanks for all the info as it came very useful. Took the big block apart yesterday, she looked real clean and had only spun a bearing on 1 and 4, nothing too serious. Crank turns real free now, I'll get it turned just for clean up reasons. Hey on the 045 heads do you have any suggestions on things I could do to bring those heads to life a little for this motor. I'll buy aftermarket if I have to, but would rather save the $$$ so I can put it into better internal parts. So if I could use those heads it would be great. My cousin owns a very reputable machine shop, and does just about anything I want for a fraction of the cost of what others would charge me, so your input would be real appreciated. Thanks so much. JoAnne

[67_SS396]

You're quite welcome!

It all depends on what you are wanting to do or trying to achieve. Is this going to be strictly a driver/cruiser or will it be more used for track time? If it's a cruiser, you'll be fine with the 045 heads. They are not very desirable since they are an open chamber "peanut port" head. They are good for low end grunt and torque, but not upper rpm blasts. They just can't flow because of the small runners and ports. For a cruiser, you could get away with a mild clean up and a quality valve job. I wouldn't sink a whole lot of time or cash into these heads.

Now if you want more of a performance engine and upper rpm blasts, I'd be on the look out for 049's, 781's or even at the least 290's.

Remember, all this is just my opinion. You don't have to break the bank to get desirable performance from a BB.