Well, I finally completed the head swap. Stock 72 small valve heads to new Al stg 1 heads. All I can say is Wow! Even from a roll, if I punch it I am instantly at 5000 RPM. It is like a different car. The short block is a stock, cast piston, low compression, TA 212, rebuild. This is my third GS, I was a little unhappy with its performance. This fixed the power problem. Thought I would share with my fellow BPG'ers. Thanx for all the tech. help.
Yup,got the same heads,day and night difference,i was so amazed,John did u do any work to them or just bolt on out of the box? Thanks
I decided to go the same way... a ported set of the aluminum heads, and a TA288-94H cam. I can't wait to see how it runs... should be a lot of fun.
Does anyone know the combustion chamber cc volume. I was wondering if the CR would stay the same on an undecked 71 block? And do you need to run any special antifreeze for the Al heads? Thanks in advance. Allen uzzled: 71 gs from the Windy City
I think the Aluminum Stage 1`s are 64cc heads,it will increase your compression from your `71 heads that you are running now,and i dont think u need any special type of antifreeze. Thanks
Yup,hey Steve whats the specs on ur cam?i was just wondering what the difference between my cam and urs is? Thanks
288-94H- advertised- 288-294 .488 lift on both lobes (stock rockers) 230-240 duration (@.050") on a 114 center. I plan on running it straight up, with 10.67:1 compression in a 464. Which cam are you using?
I`m running 290-08H cam,238 int. 248 exhaust @ .50,525 lift with 1.6 rocker,i`m using 1.65 roller rockers so its about 540 lift,112 lobe seperation,i think Scotty@ Pee Gee Perf.didnt install mine straight up,i think he advanced.running JE flat top pistons.
That's a lot of cam! What kind of flow numbers are you getting on your heads? What kind of horsepower do you estimate?
He really didnt do too much work just some clean up,it flowed something like 315 on the intake and i think it was 208 on the exhaust,i have the flow sheet floating around here somewhere,how about ur heads? Thanks
I don't have any yet... I plan on buying all the stuff this week to have them done. I want to get 320cfm out of them and 225 on the exhaust. I estimate about 550 hp out of it with this kind of flow. Where is your motor peaking out, as far as rpm? I looked at that 290-08h cam, but it seemed to push the horsepower peak too high in the RPM range. I guess advancing it would help this, but I have also heard that if you have to advance a cam, it is the wrong cam for the application. I don't know how true that is. I know some guys like Weise and others on here like to advance them. Anyway, with the cam above running straight up, it has the correct dynamic compression, and it looks like it will make a lot of hp and torque, so that is why I chose it. Thanks for the info.
I'm sure most folks know this, but for those few reading that may not, be sure that you "degree" the cam......I'm a relative novice, but have already seen way too many cams that weren't ground to exact specifications, so they had to be advanced or retarded in order to make them work well. Putting them in straight up didn't work!
hello Hey guys. I had West Coast Racing Cylinder Head do up the heads. They did a competition valve job, worked the bowls (there was a fair amount of Al right on the runner side of the valve seat), the floor of the intake (before the valve seat, I think it is called the short "arm" or "radius" or something), and the intake port was not enlarged, but worked on most of the way back towards the pocket. These guys have done some of my Dad's BBC heads and my brother's BBC boat heads. The work was beautiful. He was familiar with the TA heads, he actually was working on a set of T.A. stg. 2 heads at the same time as mine. Stem height was identical to the stockers I removed (I put the same valvesprings back on). This cost $500 even, including intake plenum cutting (and this is exactly what he quoted me before the job). The valves were new Sealed Power that I got off a BPG guy for $100 or $150 (while ago). The heads were $1420 to my door. I know it is kind of weird to put these heads on such a mild short block (kind of like putting perfume on a pig), but I am in the process of setting up a hot short block, and I was tired of having a car that was loud, bright orange, and not fast enough to make me smile. Another interesting part is how different the car sounds, the exhaust pulses are so much harder & more pronounced, I love it. It is funny, my 8.5 Auburn posi was starting to get weak, after a few days of punching it, I think the posi is just gone now. I have had 2 69 GS's with forged high compression piston 455's, big cams, and fully done up stage 1 heads. This motor, with low compression cast pistons, a small cam (TA212 that is fine with the stock single valve springs), feels fast like 69's (and a 73 Century GS has got to be heavier than a 69 GS). Thanx for the feedback, ask any quesitons, I love talking Buicks. Here is West Coast Racing Cylinder Head's web site; www.proheads.com
Hey George, is that the car that was in a magazine and is now on e-bay? Smartin, I'm sure you would feel a big boost in power, the closer to stock your current heads are, the bigger the boost. It does take a while to save the $$$ to come up with the $1420, but once ya got them, ya' gat a new set of BBB heads that will be awesome on anything from a small cammed daily driver like mine to a strip car (I am actually talking to myself right now and just pretending I am giving financial advice to others).
Castings are $1395 from TA.. I assume that is castings and shipping.. But stay tuned... hint, hint... JW
