new chevelle with BBC heads that I can,t identify

Grumpy · Jul 2, 2017

[qoute]Doing some research on the 71 Chevelle I picked up today. The block casting number says its a 454. The head casting number 14092360 is giving me conflicting info. Some say it's an oval port head and some say it's a peanut port. My big block experience is very minimal so I was hoping some experts could chime in and tell me if they are worth keeping or make boat anchors out of them. With my luck I'm guessing I got lied to by the guy I got the car from. [/quote]

14092360...86-90...oval...OPEN...454 Truck, "peanut" round ports

Obviously the heads have been swapped previously at some point, thats not ideal , but the heads are far from useless, if your willing to do minor port and bowl clean-up,
and correctly match components, to maximize potential.
yes you could be ahead with decent aftermarket heads ,
but most of us don,t have the deep pockets to buy everything we would like too.

read the links and sub links below
a day or so spent doing reading and research,
(reading links and threads)
will frequently save you thousands of dollars and weeks of wasted work.
if you want a fast dependable car you will need to either do the research required to know exactly how and why things should work, or pay someone else to do the work that has taken that time and effort.

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/casting-numbers-vin.93/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-peanut-port-big-block-combo.2900/#post-61085

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ing-parts-and-a-logical-plan.7722/#post-51341

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...started-on-a-1970-era-bbc-engine-build.13073/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/block-prep.125/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...2-bbc-rebuild-but-think-things-through.13604/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...7-bbc-cylinder-head-choice-and-options.13247/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/the-planed-bbc-combo.11131/

Grumpy · Jul 2, 2017

yes , you can use the standard oval port intake manifolds on the peanut port cylinder heads, it will bolt up and work, its certainly not a perfect match but they work fine, and if you want to take the time and effort you can get an exact match with some epoxy and a die grinder used in the intake manifold ports
the most common mistake made by many people is that they fail to look at an engine as an interconnected group of component sub systems and they don,t realize that changes to a single component, no mater how much potential that component has is not going to allow that component or change in the potential to be realized until all the matched and supporting systems have similar potential.
EXAMPLE ,
the heads may be capable of flowing (x) on a stock engine but with careful selection of a cam with the correct duration and lift, and with a tuned header, and matching valve train mods along with some port and bowl clean-up the resulting improvements can be significantly more impressive.

worth watching, just for the tips on new head inspection

Grumpy I will start reading the links in a minute. Just your opinion if you had a car like mine and you were trying to use as much as you had at the time to make a fun car mostly designated for drag strip use what cam, intake manifold and carb would you use?

The car is a 71 Chevelle with a truck 454 with 360 casting heads , th400, 12 bolt posi rear with what I think are 4.10 gears. 275/50-15 rear tires fuel cell and battery in the trunk. If I can set this thing up to where I'm getting the most out of it I think it might be fun for a while and get me more motivated to put together a better setup while still being able to have fun with it.

Id suggest you read all the linked info first,
I don,t know what your budget limits are but if the plans to keep those peanut port heads,Id get a 3 angle valve job, open the ports and bowl area,and un-shroud the combustion chambers, Id suggest a 10.5:1 compression ratio and a .040 quench, Id suggest a good reworked single plane intake,thats had the plenum and runners reworked, a good roller cam and lifters , in the range of 240/245 degrees at .050 lift , around .580 lift and a 106 LSA and a set of adjustable roller rockers with a rocker stud girdle, and long tube open headers.
keep in mind correctly setting up the shocks, the tires and suspension, and weight reduction, will be critical to good E.T. and launch times

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...alves-and-polishing-combustion-chambers.2630/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...r-piston-dome-or-port-volume.2077/#post-44568

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/mc/manifolds/chevy/victor-bb.shtml

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/porting-can-help.462/page-3#post-59145

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/bare-minimum-tools.11026/#post-51823

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/bbc-intake-manifold-choices.12949/#post-67671

new chevelle with BBC heads that I can,t identify

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.