OK. Here are the questions and than some more questions. I would like to get to the bottom of this so I can start buying parts for my 350. 1. A number of people on the board have stated that you could bolt 340 heads on a 350 or vice versa, but the intake pattern is different so it would really help. Or could it? The question is Could you actually bolt the Rover aluminum heads onto a 350 even though the intake/exhaust are different?(Get Burton machine to make a different X-Factor with the intakes in the right spot.) 2. Will a 340/300/215 intake fit on a 350? I know the intake pattern is different, but would it fit? Is the space between the heads different? Are the water passages/ oil passages different? Are they the same as a 68/69 but different than a 73+? Again would they work in conjuction with the correct heads on a 350 block? 3. A number of people have pointed out that the cams are different between the 340 and 350. The step bearing being one reason and the different valve order being the other. If you could use the different heads and intake from the Rover why couldn't you just get a special grind I am looking to start building my 350 and want to know what can I get from the 340/300/215. I am willing to use the heads, intake and make a special cam. I am also willing to use the heads and pay Gotta350 to make a special intake if I could use the aluminum heads. Please help me get to the bottom of this. Thanks,
I don't know anything about 340/350 parts interchangability but am wondering why you would want all that hassle when you can get 350 heads ported to flow well? There are several cam grinders around, but there are also many good grinds off the shelf. I guess I would need to know more about your specific goals to be of much help. Mark
Well - If the 340/200/215 heads would bolt up than a whole list of high performance parts really are available if we either make a special cam or a special intake. The weight savings of aluminum heads is a plus. The ability to purchase out of the box heads that have better flow numbers is another. People want bolt on performance. If it can be achieved than the SBB will have a better following. Kinda the same reason you built the "X-Factor" instead of doing a bunch of work to the Poston, TA or Stock intake. At some point it is cheaper to purchase it than pay to have it improved.
Yikes! I love contemplating swaps and combos, but here is MHO: The 350 has nice intake ports and great power potential with known and proven builds. A twin turbo will make zany hp and make up for any weight savings possible from a aluminum head - no matter how exotic! Ted
No. I believe the rover has a different bore center. incorrect. the most favored "stroker kit" for Rover uses the 300 crank. you could bolt 340 heads on a 350 or vice versa, but the intake pattern is different so it would really help. would not help. if this can be done, you would have to use the 340 intake as well as the heads. and note, you would almost have to use a 340 and only a 340 intake if you wanted something "off the shelf". the 215/Rovers and 300 all have shorter deck heights ( though also different from each other ) than the 340 / 350 so you'd have to fabricate spacers if you wanted to use one of the smaller ones. If you could use the different heads and intake from the Rover why couldn't you just get a special grind sure, you can get any kind of a custom grind you want ... if you're willing to pay for it. the problem is, there's no way to get a 340 grind onto the blanks they use for Buick 350 cams. most people think it would be cheaper to get adapter bearings for the Rover/215/300/340 stuff than to have an entire custom cam made. and want to know what can I get from the 340/300/215. I am willing to use the heads, intake and make a special cam. cheapest would be to find an entire 4v 340. not very plentiful, but when they come up there's usually little demand for them which means they don't go for that much. then you could play mix'n'match at your leisure. if you can get the 340 heads/intake to work then you can start worrying about making the Rover stuff work. the Rover stuff over here is all for <5.0L engines so the runners/ports might tend to choke off your high end on a 5.7L. the big cube Rover stuff is both very expensive and overseas. I believe the heads will bolt on, but why? because it's the same engine architecture? we would like to think that the water and oil passages are compatible but that may be wishful thinking. Could you actually bolt the Rover aluminum heads onto a 350 even though the intake/exhaust are different? you should. see the previous answer. also, search around in some of these SBB threads. i think it was Greg that was posting pics of the all of the 1st gen head stuff side by side.
Bob I have a '71 and '73 350 and I can get a 3.9 liter rover for $100. I guess I could start there just to see what lines up and what doesn't. I could also watch for a 340 engine or intake manifold. I know what you mean by the Rover being smaller and parts potentially choking out the 350, but that would depend more on the valve sizes and the intakes available. I guess if no one has gone down this road I might as well. I guess it will be a learning experience. I might even find a way to get out of the box parts that bolt together for a higher performing 350. You might think I am crazy, but TA wants to charge $1500 to really go after a set of iron heads. At some point it might become cheaper to use boxed parts for the smaller engines.
340 heads dont flow better than 350 heads waste of time if you ask me but they should bolt on if you where going 215-300 with 350 heads and custom cam/intake might be worth it but still more costly then sending your heads to pae or gesslar
TA wants to charge $1500 to really go after a set of iron heads. cheap compared to just the purchase price of a pair of Wildcat aluminums for a Rover. then you've got to get them imported to the states. it's not that i'm trying to discourage you, i just want you to know that looking at this as a way to do it "on the cheap" is completely bass-ackwards unless you're going to stick with the junkyard Rover stuff. OTOH, aluminum heads aren't available for a Buick 350 at all, so i guess 10 grand could be looked at as a bargain. :ball: and parts potentially choking out the 350, but that would depend more on the valve sizes and the intakes available. don't discount the runner cross sections in the heads themselves. it wouldn't do you much good to have a Hugh Jass custom tunnel ram intake match up to a nice big reversion step when you bolted it on the head.
Just have street/strip porting done on your 350 heads: $600 at PAE,and they have proven results time after time with 350 heads http://www.paeenterprises.com/paeframe.html Jim Wise is also really good with these heads http://www.trishieldperf.com/ There are others with 350 head porting experience but your money is best spent with the people who have spent the most time porting these heads. Then a good 3 or even 5 angle valve job and you will be burning rubber. There is no way that adding the 215-340 heads is going to help save money, but too bad.
This is interesting and some one needs to play around with the 2 motors and answer these questions. Get th 340 and find out for the rest of us. You may be on to some thing . This would be helpfull for 340 guys that could just put a 350 under their heads and intake for more power in the early cars. Just have a cam ground to make the 340 heads work on the 350. Cool project. Dan
I am going to try it. I am going to also do it on the cheap(junk yard stuff) because all I really want to know if what fits and what doesn't. What if it could be done and aluminum heads that already exist could be used?:eek2: What if I can find a way to help out the 340 guys.:beers2: A junk 340, junk 350 and a junk Rover V8 will answer a lot of questions. I have an extra 350 and can get a siezed up Rover V8 for less than $100. All I need is either a 340 intake or whole engine and we can determine what does and doesn't fit. It won't be a complete waste of time because we will get the answers to a bunch of these questions. Maybe the 340 guys will find out there is a ton of performance parts out there.
Matt, there's a ton of info out there regarding what can be done on the Rover side; first I try to learn what I can with Google's help rather than the hard way. Here's part one of a three part article regarding the Rover parts and larger displacements: http://www.roversd1.nl/sd1web/capacity.html This page specifically shows lots of parts comaprisons: http://www.roversd1.nl/sd1web/capacity3.html Devon
Hope it works out well, it would be cool if the alum heads would fit. The intake would be a non issue though, not much point in using that since the stock 350 is restrictive enough as it is.
The intake would be a non issue though, not much point in using that since the stock 350 is restrictive enough as it is. c'mon Sean, you know better than that. if he's going to go with Rover heads the only way he's going to get a non-custom intake on there is to use one from a 340 ... unless he fabs spacers under the intake from the Rover. and he was trying to get away from the custom stuff.
This is going to sound all wrong and I have not tried it. 9:1 350 (or 300/340) 300 heads with 1.625" intakes 90% throats 11/32 stems fabricated valley cover/manifold spacer Willpower P76 single plane intake Holley 4776 600cfm mech. sec. Crane f238 + 6* try-y headers hei ignition, not too much timing (maybe 38* total) Maybe 13.5@100mph 3600lbs *cam bearings *shorter valves - will need custom pushrods on 340/350 block *water/oil passages - don't know
How about 340/300 iron heads on a 350, assuming the special cam bearings are available and the oil/water passages line up. 350 short with special cam bearings for 340/300/215 cam. 340/300 iron heads. 1.82" intakes 210cfm @ 28" 1.5" exhausts 159cfm @28" Crane F266 cam 266*/276* @.050" lift .546"/.564" lift 102*/114* lc Solid lifters and adjustable roller rockers. Homemade sheet metal tunnel ram with pent roof and holley 750 double pump. 4 into 1 step headers 1.5"/1.625" with 2.625" extensions, 32" from end of primary pipes. Homemade "Y" coolant return tapped into core plug holes in front of cylinder heads. Smokey Yunick style. 2500rpm converter, 12 bolt, 4.1 gears,T/A cover and 26" slicks * extension tubes on secondry carb jets.
Sonny Seal was using a custom tunnel ram and two 750 cfm carbs on his NA 350 that made about 560 hp using ported iron 350 heads so I think the 350 heads will work the best without an option for an aftermarket head.
The 350 heads will always have more power potential than the smaller heads. There is no question about that. But that does nothing to help the guys who want to retain the early port layout, and there are advantages besides. Using the smaller heads puts the horsepower where broken (stock) connecting rods won't be a problem. 360ft/sec intake velocity will occur at or before 6000rpm. Additionally, the smaller valve allows for more lift relative to diameter which is more conducive to the dynamics of a ram induction and the Buicks small base circle diameter camshaft. It also avoids serious loss of low end response inherent in big vale, big cam combos. I agree that it is an impractical excercise, but the alternative "sensible economically rational " thing to do is to stop thinking and get a chevy. Never.
You might want to call up TA and ask Mike where he stands on the 300/340 aluminum head project. He told me that it'd be a simple thing to go from the V6 head to that one as the port layout is the same. Then of course if the 340 head can be used on the 350 he'll probably sell them as fast as he can make them. Jim
