Howdy, Which are better the Olds 215 heads or the 64 Buick 300 heads? I'm considering a stroker 215 based on an Olds 215 I just found so I'm debating what kind of parts I should start being on the lookout for, such as a 300 crank or if I should replace the 4bbl heads with the 64 300 Al heads. Also are the rocker setups between the 300 and the 215 interchangable or should I just use a set of late Rover heads? Any other considerations to doing something like this I need to think of? Thanks,
Stock '64 300 heads have bigger valves and better ports, stock Olds heads have better chamber shapes and a better valve layout. Late Rover heads (1994+) only have a 28cc chamber, pre '94 is 37cc, and niether are that much better than the original 215 head, just very slightly larger valves and slightly improved exhaust ports. Maximum porting on Olds and 300 heads yeilds very similar flow rates. The valve trains don't interchange between Buick/Pontiac/Rover heads and Olds heads. With Olds heads on an Olds block you get an extra headbolt around each chamber (6) over the other 5 bolt 215 heads, and the 300 only has 4 bolts around each chamber, like all the later SBBs. The biggest chamber of the three sizes of Olds head is 52cc and a 300 head is 54cc. Handy sizes for stroked 215 engines. Rick(wrench)
