reworking stock heads or buy aftermarket?

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MoparOrNokar

HammerTime
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I have my motor dis-assembled. I was having timing issues and vacume leak that i couldnt find. Now keep in mind that i am on a poor man budget. Cylinders, piston skirts, crank bearings look good. Pistons have dents from valves. Idk if this was from previous or current set up. Also bent pushrods. The pistons have one dent each. Nicks on the front and back pistons are on the far outside valves and the 4 inside pistons are are hit toward the inside. I did a timing set, all new gasket set, and plan on replacing the stock cam while its apart. Which is another question i have about a cheaper lobey cam. A friend has a brand new set of edlebrock aluminum heads with 2.02 stainless valves for $1000. My iron heads are 1.88 valves. Would it be more economical to rework my heads to bigger valves or buy the eddys? I only plan on running this setup to get me thru summer and then taking it to a 408 stroker. Any input is helpful
 
Buy the edelbrock then you are that far ahead when you build your 408! Use them for now, then plop them on the 408 when its done.
 
I was in your same position a couple years ago. I went with the eddies and I'm glad I did. Better to go over board then to not be prepared.
 
If you're talkin about a band aid motor to get you through the summer, I think that answers your own question. Cheap Cheap Cheap.
 
If you put those Eddies on, and a 220* or so cam, you may find the torque sufficient enough to postpone the 408. You will also likely solve your bent stuff issues.It doesnt take much to float stock 360 valves.
$1000 aint cheap, but considering the amount of repairwork your current heads will need, and the fact that they (the iron ones)will likely get shelved and not used on the 408, and the Eddies are a really good starting point for a 408; kinda makes it, for me, a no-brainer.
If the Eddies are in good shape, could be a great deal, cause how much are they costing you, over what it would cost you to repair yours,mild bowl work,quality valve job,high-lift capability, and extra springing; and then,throw em away?Yup, close to nothing.
Plunk down the greenbacks and never look back.
 
It's interesting that it's only the exhaust valves that have hit the pistons. Did you build the motor or someone else?
I'd be checking other components to see what's going on with the existing setup to make sure it doesn't happen again.
 
I personally would not use the Edelbrock heads if you are planning to put those nicked pistons in your engine. In fact, I would avoid using those pistons no matter which heads you decide to use.
 
PO built the motor. He said it was .010 over bore. Im wondering if he didnt just over size ring it and use the old pistons. That is possible with just a .010 over right? All other components look good. What would cause just the exhaust valves to slap? The only numbers on the cam are in the casting and they are L30. The only thing i dont have faith in right now are the heads but even then to the eye the valves and springs look ok. Again the timing chain had a ton of slop but never jumped a tooth at all. The cam looks a little suspicious with burnt looking lobes and pitting on the lobe edges.
 
the exhaust valves hit the pistons, do not just throw on a new pair of heads. .010 over is unbelievable, that will require +.010 pistons and +.010 rings , what size bore and stroke and cam are we talking? common oversize is +.020, +.030, +.040, and +.060. a ton of slop in the timing set retards the cam-exhaust valves closer to pistons, measure the cams lift
 
Putting standard pistons in ten-over holes is very possible. however the piston slap would be incredibly noisy, and it wouldnt go away. It would be unmistakeable.
Lets talk about the pistons for a sec. Are they location specific? That is do they have big n little valve pockets or eyebrows on the top?If they do not then there was an old trick we used to do. We would take the oem pistons off the rods and spin them around 180*. In those days pistons had offset wristpins to help quieten piston slap on cold mornings. By reversing the pistons the thrust went ever so slightely to the other side, which we were told would free up some hp.Perhaps this was done in your engine.It would make sense.
My brother had some wild buddies back in the 80s. They would go out bushpartying. He tells a story about this one time. They got bored I guess, and decided to see how much abuse a 318 could take. They bricked the gas pedal wot and went back to partying.When they finally got tired of the screaming teener, one brave lad went over and shut it off.It never restarted.Well thinking it was a sure goner they gave it to me. Of course I was 10 years older and had tools. After a bleak compression test, I pulled the heads. And dont you know it, every single intake was bent, and had scarred the piston.As I recall it the exhausts were ok.I replaced the heads with some recondition ones I had,changed the oil and she was ready to go another round.Thats tough.So thats my thinking on the piston scars. Buff em smooth if you feel the urge.
 
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