077 aluminum heads
 

What do you guys think about a set of aluminum 077 gm heads? rectangle port with valves, studs, guide plates and have been ported for $750.00 dissassembled. 225 /188 valves. do you think they will flow better than my 14097088 iron heads with tons of work done to them? And if so, is this a good price? thanks

Re: 077 aluminum heads
 

I am not a bigblock guy at all, but if that is for the pair of bare castings, that is still pretty cheap! However, if it's not the ultimate head that you want,, it's a waste. As far s what flows better,, if neiher have been on a flow bench,, it's a guess. I've seen "tons of work" not help sbc heads one bit (in fact hurt low lift volocity and flow so bad it makes them useless for anything other than WFO at the track) and I've seen it turn them into some really sweet heads. So again were back to the flow bench.

Re: 077 aluminum heads
 

Flow benches give you a lot of good info, but they are not the end all be all.. To Marv's point there is good info to be had with them, but flow numbers do nothing if there is a huge valve with bad valve angles and hogged out ports compared to a head that has a little less flow numbers yet smaller port/valves to keep velocity up. Reversion can be the enemy at low RPM. Add to that, the cam profile needs to be matched to the heads, intake and exhaust.

With out comparing the full setup it's a crap shoot.

Re: 077 aluminum heads
 

I would take them to a machine shop first and have them checked.As mentioned porting can hurt if not done correctly,your also dealing with 40 yr old technology,there are some excellent heads out now at decent prices that may flow better,with more advancements than the 077s.

Re: 077 aluminum heads
 

Those are the "winters" big block heads. They were produced as a racing piece and where the shiznit in the 70's. Even against some of todays stuff, they perform well, esp the factory iron rectangle ports. I think the intake ports are like 295cc or so, and a C-shaped exhaust port. Of course, if you know your 088's perform well and are happy with them, the only advantage you'll likely reap would be the weight reduction. Depending on what's been done to your 088's I'm not sure you'd be blown away by swapping heads.