Mopar Small Block Head info:

Captainkirk said
Just my .02, John...but by the time you pay for a decent set of J's (most likely you would end up with the 1.88's as they only made the 2.02's through '71) and have them upgraded to 2.02 intakes and have the bowls and ports massaged...you'll likely be close to, or exceeding the cost of a set of Edelbrocks. Summit has them for around $750 each now. They come ready to run with 2.02's, flow better than cast heads out of the box, and weigh about half. They also have the 63cc chambers, which would boost your compression a smidge over the 65cc J chambers. They would top your 360 very well and tend to cool faster than cast iron heads as well. Again, just my .02...

That’s about what I’ve been seeing. Unless I take the risk of doing the machine work myself, like you said, it’ll be similar costs or more for the J heads. I found a .40 over 360 core with original crank and heads on here for $500 plus shipping though... Found it in the archives from last year. It’s an LA360 from ‘75. Uncertain to the heads, but I’m hoping they’re 974’s. The block and heads look to be in great condition, uncertain to the condition of the crank, but I assume it’s fine... All will go to the machine shop to get a once over at the least. It’s the same engine/head combo I have now, actually. There’s a set of .40 over coated pistons I can get for a decent price as well. I like the idea of the Eddlebrocks, but if I can get this engine and heads, I’ll probably try my hand at doing the machine work myself. At the least, do a clean up and then eventually buy the Edlebrock heads and add some cheap Harbor Freight tools to my arsenal. Lol. It’s a fairly “cheap” way to get the ball rolling at least and I only see positives coming from the four scenarios. 1) machine myself and fail... gain experience on the cheap and buy the Edlebrock or get lucky on the way with big valve J heads in good condition(most likely scenario). 2) machine myself and succeed... best case and least likely scenario. 3) put the iron heads on the shelf and save them for a later project/when rebuilding my current engine in my car now and buy Eddlebrocks. 4) machine myself and succeed and save them for when I rebuild my current engine that’s in my car now and buy Eddlebrocks. I won’t get into Cam selection until I have an actual build plan. I also have some more lines in the water for other engines that are complete with transmissions, but I like the idea of starting with a somewhat clean slate... Less chance for surprises and literally much cleaner to start. Lol.

I appreciate the input!