452 Head question

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440seven

440seven

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Looking for some advice, been trying to research it but can't find much, thought someone could help.

I recently started a 440 build, got everything tore down, cleaned up, and got to looking at my heads. I've got a set of 452 heads they looked great but one has a crack, no problem looking for another 452. Found a member with one, then notice these heads have a single spring w/ damper on the int. side. Also worth noting each spring with a damper had cracked seals.

My question is was this normal or were these heads cut to fit these and could I find another bare head and use my existing hardware on it?

What kind of springs are these? I can see a some green paint on the ones with a damper if that means anything.
 
not a big deal. cracked seals are probably just old. what is your original hardware? heads generally do not need to be cut for a single spring with damper, probably just a different year stock unit. what are the head date codes, cast on numbers like month, day, year
 
By existing hardware I mean could I take my springs and valves out of my cracked head and use them on another head.(stock size valves) I'm still learning on these bb heads so I wasn't sure if all the 452 castings were the same with single springs and dampers, (have a set of junked 906's that don't have dampers) The 452's seem to have a different spring retainer also.

Not sure on dates I know my block is a 77, 40 over, so I know its been broke in to just wasn't sure about these heads and didn't want to buy another one and have to machine it.
 
We're dealing with some very old stuff nowadays. The factory standard passenger engine springs would not typically have had springs with dampeners. If it were me, I'd just buy a set of new springs for it. Preferably something with a dampener. Would you hurt anything by reusing what you have even though they are different springs - not if it's a stock deal. But if you're thinking of any type of performance cam then replace the srings.
 
and that's more likely what I'll do. Main thing is didn't wanna buy a head that didn't match the one I have. But still kinda curious as to what these springs are and what they came off of.
 
Any 452 is a match, and the 346 is a very close cousin. I actually run those interchangeably. Some engines had the better springs. 69-440-Cuda here might have the details - I think it's trucks/HD applications and maybe police/HP engines but I'm not sure. I pretty much always scrap stock springs on everything...lol.
 
I've recently pulled down 5x sets of 452 heads and there were several different spring and retainer types used. Might have been after market, might have been different year, might be different application (truck vs car vs something else) S/F....Ken M
 
I figured it would be something like that. My block is stamped HP but no windage tray. It's wild how so many of these "same" heads come with many minor differences. For instance, the heads that came with my block have the big chunk behind the guide boss in the pocket, the 452 head you sent me does not, actually makes it much less work for me grinding it out, so good deal. Thanks for the quick shipping by the way Punk.
 
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