http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=200164128698&rd=1 Wow. Knew these H heads were rare, but this is stupid money. 1971 442 W30 only. Almost as bad as Mopar or FE Ford parts. :beers2:
But you will know in your heart that you have something special. ou: Lets see for $15,000 I could have an all aluminium TA motor for my GN making 800hp.
Very few W cars have the original engines in them anymore, and the correct heads on certain ones almost double the value of the cars. Not all of them. Letter codes D (68-69 W30 and Hurst Olds), F (1970 W30), and H (1971 W30) are the good ones, with the H being the most rare. Have to be careful on F heads as an E (all 1970 455 engines except W30) can be made to look like an F by someone that's really good with a dremel and a little acid. Need to know the date codes and part numbers in the castings to be sure on them. Not so easy to fake a D or H.
Dave, Look at what the guy is expecting to get for them. Read what he says below. "Pair of H Heads. Nicely put together by Oldsmobile specialist Bill Trovato at BTR Performance www.btrperformance.com New valves (2.072 int and 1.625 exh), springs, retainers and bronze guides. Baked and blasted. Mag'ed. Head gasket surface minimally cut. Uncut intake surface. Stock ports. Stock bowls. No porting. Unpitted, uncut exhaust manifold surface. The real deal, no excuses, no BS. Auction will run to completion. If you insist on asking what it will take to end the auction, plan on something north of $15k. Otherwise bid on them to get them for less. Buyer to pay $150 shipping and insurance in 48 US States. Shipping outside US available at extra actual cost. Payment with money order due within 7 days. " He is going to get 15K for them or else. Dave, you should of bought a flat of them while you could before the stock ran out.:idea2: Jim:Comp:
Not only is that just stupid crazy. I don't like his attitude. "Just north of 15K..." I got your just north of 15K right here.:laugh:
Worth every penny if you need a set to fininsh a car. That is why 71 W-30 cars are bringing stupid money. I love it. :Brow: :Brow:
Have to be careful on F heads as an E (all 1970 455 engines except W30) can be made to look like an F by someone that's really good with a dremel and a little acid. Need to know the date codes and part numbers in the castings to be sure on them. Not so easy to fake a D or H.[/QUOTE] I wonder who would do something like thato No:
Back in the 80's a guy told me the f heads flowed better than the h's, so I gave away 2 sets of h heads to a buddy cause they were taking up space and he had just bought an olds. ou: ou: ou:
I wonder who would do something like thato No:[/QUOTE] I would say anyone who wants to make a serious F.A.S.T. Oldsmobile. Only good Olds combo that could really be competitive would be a lightweight 1970 442 W30 or a 1972 442 W30. The 70 should have F heads, but doing the Mondello thing to a set of F's would cut their value tremendously. But a set of E's can be easily and cheaply acquired and look "stock appearing" by making those E's into F's. All 1972's used GA heads and they're plentiful also. E and GAhead cores: $100-$150 F Head cores: $1500-$3000. H head cores: ?????> $5000
When "doing" heads, what can safely be done to them that won't alter their value? I want to put hardened seats in them which I know is OK, but my boy says to get them triple cut and ported/polished...the whole nine yards. These are correct F heads on my W.
It's all in "the eye of the beholder"....if you aren't going to be selling the heads seperately then what does it matter once they are bolted onto a running motor? E cores can be had relatively cheap so if you are wanting to port some to within an inch of their life, then get some cheaper "E"s...but it's doubtful you will need to go that crazy on your build. On some heads that are intended to be put on a restored car and run I wouldn't hesitate to block the other heat riser, have some mild porting done, etc. It doesn't take a whole lot to wake these things up a little anyway. Remember, it's a 455 so it's not like you are going to worry about massive port sizes and flow at anything over 5500-6000 rpm anyway. You might, however, think twice about cutting the heads for hardened seats as the Olds's require a shallower seat cut (I think)....at a minimum, it better be someone that's done a few sets of these before (send them to Greg Gessler or even Travato). I would also "stop" before reaching the point of installing roller rockers that required drilling out the rocker stands for larger bolts/studs and/or machining the pads under the rockers. There are decent rollers out there that use the stock bolt size. A good valve job should be done regardless EDIT: There's "free" horsepower in the multi angle jobs.. 3, 4 angle. Finally, assuming you would be running the stock intake anyway......Any porting beyond "Mild" will be a complete waste of time and money and metal shavings!
Amen. :bglasses: I don't know why people feel they have to put in the hardened seats. I guess if you were going to put 15,000 miles a year towing a humongous travel trailer up Monarch Pass in Colorado in July, it may be warranted. Even if you get a little valve recession on the exhaust valves, you can restore by putting in the new seats at that time. My guess is you wouldn't notice the difference anyway.
YUP. Spend the money elsewhere. If you happen to have the valve covers off it, check to see if yours has valve rotators rather than regular retainers on the valves. If it does, valve recession is accelerated using unleaded fuel. Depending upon how much the car's been driven since leaded fuel has been available only for off road use (racing, aviation), it may already have recessed valves. Assuming it's not extensive, I believe the only thing that would happen is a little less valve spring pressure, a slight reduction in compression ratio, and the lifter preload will go up. That has the effect of reducing the lift from the cam. Unless you're driving it all out, you wouldn't notice that. Biggest difference in performance would be from backing off the timing to protect against detonation with the crappy low octane pump gas and the relatively high compression of your car. 1970 was the highest year for it. At a minimum, run premium fuel all the time and never hurts to throw a little 110 Turbo Blue or Torco racing fuel in the tank. The little bit of lead in that raises the octane value a lot. Besides, it smells good, too. :bglasses:
The Parts Place is reproducing F, D, and H Olds heads for $2400 per pair. Now, there will be 10X more W30 cars than GM made......:bla:
ou: That may be so. But the price is still crazy (that would hold true for just about any collector part. There's value, then there's greed). And I still feel that the tone of that line in the ad came across a little arrogant. (That would also hold true for a lot of eBay sellers - don't even bid unless you have a score of - - -). Just my opinion.
