Chevy 261 heads

[cantvalve16]

On another thread I talked about helping a friend with his truck. Well, he gave me the busted 350 for my trouble. The heads on the engine are 14079261. Looking those up on mortec.com shows me that they are 1986 350 truck heads.

Are these heads any good for a decent performance build? Would I be able to get an engine to somewhere between 300 and 350 horses? Any low buck improvements for these? Bigger valves, little porting? Thoughts?

I am thinking an ultra cheap engine for my next project. I am thinking of a name for this one: Project Cheap/Free.

[Caveman]

Re: Chevy 261 heads

What's your budget for this?

Honestly, it depends on what else you can get for cheap/free ;D

Like, if you can score a 383 stroker crank, you're in business....

But if you wanna spend zero, zip, nada... and wanna play with porting them yourself... just put 1.94"s on the intake, blend the bowls a c-hair, and just take the edge off of the short-side radius of the intake runner. If the valve guides on the exhaust are grossly huge, then maybe thin 'em a wee. Don't touch anything else...

Put some new bearings and gaskets in it, grab your nearest cam catalog, go to the bottom of the page and pick out a BIG 'UN!! ;D

[cantvalve16]

Re: Chevy 261 heads

There is no budget for this one right now. This is one that will probably sit in the corner under a bench until long after I get the Ranchero on the road. I'm not hunting for anything right now, but if stuff just falls in my lap I ain't gonna say no.

Your second idea is what I am more leaning toward if I ever do anything with this one. Just wanted an idea as to stuff like head cc, valve sizes (stock), and if they are as bad as the TBI swirl ports for performance.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[urwurznitmahre]

Re: Chevy 261 heads

86 truck heads,
should be standard sbc heads no tbi swirl tech..
vavles should be 1.94
most the 1.80 are in 305's
cc are more than likely in the 78-80 range..
ports are going to be for low end torque.
whats wrong with the short block?
spun bearing?

[cantvalve16]

Re: Chevy 261 heads

Haven't pulled it apart yet to find out. It still ran but made and awful knockin' noise. When i drained the oil to rob the filter adapter, I got a heavy metal flake brown color. Tons of copper in the oil and burned oil.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Chevy 261 heads

junkyard 350 it

[Caveman]

Re: Chevy 261 heads

Here's a recipe for cheap fun:

- New bearings & a steel shim head gasket
- The biggest wide-LSA cam you can find (it'll even out the idle so you can at least drive it around town)
- Bowl-blended stock heads (hey, you've already got 'em) --mill 'em if they're the huge-chamber type--
- The cheapest swap meet aluminum intake you can find
- Junkyard used tires to fry at the burnout contest