516 closed chamber heads on 440ci

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cudaboy 67

cudaboy 67

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hello, i have a chance on some heads, yeh they preetty scrap value stateside but not much happening here in uk, these worth the effort? my engine a 66 <65 casting> 440,ali inlet, shumacker headers,holley 750 carb.my plan was to wake her up a little with some kb pistons,keep my six pack rods and forged crank,get these heads worked on and anyone suggest a cam to suit? car a 4 speed, street only.
 
Yup. The last three digits will be "516". They are not scrap heads. Especially if you install the larger exhaust valve....and depending on how nasty your engine will be some larger intake valves, too. 516s can be quite beneficial.
 
516's are the 915's little brother. Closed chamber, just smaller valves than a 915. I was trying to put a set on my 383 rebuild but a friend had a set of 915's cheap.
Tally- ho!
 
many thanks for the input, will check casting numbers in morning, the car going to be street,im told my shumacker headers only cope with 500hp so probobally not get full benefit from ally ones other than the weight loss and although not as easy to work with i reakon a well cleaned up set of iron jobbies and a cam get me there.even if these heads are same as what i already have can be getting them worked on without stopping me using car:glasses7: thats the plan! is there a general valve size to go for? i dont want a lairy cam as not want to loose drivability.
 
DO you have access to gas to run closed chamber? You will be increasing compression a good bit. Nothing to write home about with the 906s. Chrysler put them on everything from 383 2bbl grandmaw station wagons to 440 six pack Road Runners. They are basically a passenger car head and nothing more. But.....as usual somebody will be along to tell me how much better they are than any other head. Horse hockey. The ONLY HP casting Mopar EVER made for the big block besides Max Wedge stuff was the 915, which is the sister head to the 516. Do some mile port work to the 516, put the bigger 1.74 exhaust valve in it and you're there. But again, remember the compression ratio increase.
 
many thanks, would you go stainless valves or not? im going to take one of my heads off to do a static comp test and see what my bores are like,i have heard that i may have to pocket the pistons :D i dont want waaay too much compresstion where it becomes a mare to drive,just perk it up a little without touching block. a suitable cam will follow,and maybe port matching the heads to inlet manifold and exhaust..
 
cudaboy 67 said:
hello there, just looked, mine are 906 so with a bit of work these could be good and worth changing to a closed chamber
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Unless you're a dam good cast iron welder and have access to an oven then you can't make a open chamber head, any of them, into a closed chamber head unless of course you want to remove a ton of material.
 
demon seed said:
Unless you're a dam good cast iron welder and have access to an oven then you can't make a open chamber head, any of them, into a closed chamber head unless of course you want to remove a ton of material.
Click to expand...
hello, what i have done is bought some closed chamber heads to rebuild for my car without even knowing what heads i had on there at the moment,what i was saying was i had just discovered they are open chamber 906 on there which i will be dumping in favour of the others once spruced up, sorry for confusion
 
forphorty said:
http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/bb/62.html
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I think I may own the "516" heads in this article. They were purchased from him years ago, and the last time I spoke with him I mentioned them and he recalled them flowing in the 240ish range, just as the ones in his article do. At this level they are better than an average 452/906, and might give a little more compression. If the 516's the OP has are basically stock, I would think they would be a step backwards from his current heads.
 
hello there and thankyou for all the input, really appreciated! trying to find somone over here who can work on iron heads leave alone somone who knows what they are doing seems to be as rare as rocking horse s@@t. im 50/50 on buying brand new ali heads so i know i got somthing that will work and will save weight,what i was initially looking for was not to disturb my block/pistons and bolt on <yes i know have to find comp ratio on mine.>as it stands would these 516 heads with bigger exhaust valve and some porting work be more benificial than a set or ported 906 on my low comp ?
 
pal has offered me a head/cam combo, some flowed 915 heads with bigger valves and a 484 lift cam and followers said this should pick my comp up, whos guess what power itll make,bound to blow out some cobwebs!
 
StrokerScamp said:
DO you have access to gas to run closed chamber? You will be increasing compression a good bit. Nothing to write home about with the 906s. Chrysler put them on everything from 383 2bbl grandmaw station wagons to 440 six pack Road Runners. They are basically a passenger car head and nothing more. But.....as usual somebody will be along to tell me how much better they are than any other head. Horse hockey. The ONLY HP casting Mopar EVER made for the big block besides Max Wedge stuff was the 915, which is the sister head to the 516. Do some mile port work to the 516, put the bigger 1.74 exhaust valve in it and you're there. But again, remember the compression ratio increase.
Click to expand...

pal has offered me a head/cam combo, some flowed 915 heads with bigger valves and a 484 lift cam and followers said this should pick my comp up, whos guess what power itll make,bound to blow out some cobwebs!
hi there, many thanks for the help, think this the way to go! tubular uca and flaming river steering box arrived today so i got a grin on!
 
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