Howdy. I'm here supporting my Wife's 67 Buick Special Deluxe. It was originally equipped with a V6 according to the VIN. We bought it with a 300, then decided to upgrade to a 71 350 (converted to HEI). Bought the 350 on a whim as they seem to be difficult to find. Bolted it in, topped off the fluids, set the timing, yadda, yadda, it won't start. It seems to have intermittent spark, but that's not why I'm posting. Did a compression check only to find that cyl #3 is spraying coolant into the combustion chamber with every crank. Pulled the head, found that the #3 exhaust valve seat is cracked. The casting number is 1237650. Can't find them (reasonably priced and in decent shape) anywhere. So, now for my question: is there a reason I can't swap out for ANY other matching set of SBB heads? I ask this because I see that these heads oil through the push rods. Is that Buick thing or just these heads? Thanks in advance.
Buicks up to 1969 oiled through the block and rocker shafts. From 1970 on they oiled through the lifters and pushrods. If you have hollow push rods, you can use any matched set of heads on your 1971 350. Earlier heads are better than late model for a bit more compression. Depending on how low your pistons are in the cylinders, the factory 8.5:1 is likely lower when calculated. Where are you located? Buick parts are a little harder to come by, but they are out there and sometimes you get lucky. I recently rebuilt my 1971 350 due to leaks everywhere. Everything was standard except the cam, lifters and timing chain were worn out. Good luck
Ah thanks. I'm looking at a set of 69 heads on ebay that look like they oil through the push rods. Is there a way to tell? I know, that contradicts what you just told me. I do have hollow push rods. I'm in NEPA where EVERYTHING is either rusted junk, or cherry with no drive train. Link to ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1653889589...xA14ORJ2SHwk7Jrtlvy/H19Q==|tkp:Bk9SR9alkuXVYw
The casting number comes back 1972-78. You can also tell they were running them with an air pump intake gasket due to the extra gasket hole above the water ports. Definitely not 1969 heads. They also have several broken/stuck bolts. My guess, they are pulled off an engine and will need freshening at least, a valve job and surfacing as well. Here's a chart of Buick casting numbers. Quite handy Buick casting numbers Here's a single 1971 heads (can't verify without casting numbers) that looks to be complete and no broken bolts. Likely also needs to be freshened. I can't tell if the #1 valve is a little burnt but you likely have spares 1971 Buick 350 head
Welcome. I'm in MD (just south of Balt). & have a set of '72 heads on a 75k mi. engine that I know for sure ran well. I'd take $100 for 'em. Unfortunately no plans to head up that way until early July. Could ship but prob. another $100-125 for that. Could probably find someone passing through that'd bring 'em closer.
Thank you all for the replies. @knucklebusted, yes, I saw that ebay listing, as well. That head looks rough, but at least it's a direct bolt on. So, here's a question. If I were to pull the passenger side valve cover and look at the casting number, would it MATCH the driver side? The reason I ask is because if they're supposed to match, then I'd be leery about installing mismatched casting numbers.
As far as I know, matching castings in 350s isn't nearly as important as it is in a 455. Pretty much any 1970-up head will work. Since yours is 1971, the castings are almost identical. No real difference in compression ratio, valve size or port size. You can use the 1968-69 heads but you'd need to block off the deck hole. Really easy to do. Someone that knows more can chime in but I fairly sure you can use any of the casting numbers listed on the chart for 70-up with no performance difference. The difference in compression ratio was in the height of the block deck and the dish in the piston.
The listing for the two heads, look like they are a mismatched set, maybe a 69 and a 70's. For nearly $200 bucks (price, tax and shipping) and the looks of that crusty head, I would wait and see what GSFred has, or go meet Dano. He's a stand up guy, and his parts are very good.
Starting in 1970, Buick changed to oiling thru the pushrods, your 1971 350 HAS pushrod oiling. Oiling thru the pushrods is the (has been) the industry standard for pushrod engines for years, its not a "Buick" thing
