I've done a lot of searching and read A LOT of posts but haven't seen my question answered, so here it goes. I have a 1955 287 V8 out of a Chieftain, its a bone stock engine and runs pretty good for its age. It does have a little smoke on start up and slight blow by until it warms up, I'm thinking its a stem seal/cylinder head issue. I have a set of 347 heads that were rebuilt a few years back for a different project. I know that the 347 heads will bolt on the 287 block and work. my question is, will i get any performance gain from swapping the heads? I did read that the exhaust ports are bigger so I'd have to track down some 347 manifolds. Other than that, simply from a performance stand point, is it worth doing?
Using a graduated cylinder figure out the combustion chamber volume of each head. OR 1955 287 192, 205, 216, 227 HP 518024 1.72 / 1.50 1956 317 192, 205, 216, 227 HP 522010 1.72 / 1.50 Standard head milled 0.072" also provides 10:1 compression (285 HP engine) per Factory Bulletin 317 285 HP (2x4V) 522845 1.72 / 1.50 1957 347 227,244,252,270,290 HP 523298 1.88 / 1.60 347 317 HP (F.I.) 52(4852) 1.88 / 1.60 Last 4 digits stamped on O.E. instal
Took a while....Yes putting on the 347 will increase your compression ratio Heads Year Model Head casting number Valve size (in.) intake/exhaust Comments Combustion Chamber cc 1955 518024 1.72 / 1.50 73.0 1956 522010* 1.72 / 1.50 192, 205, 216, 227 hp 69.6 522845 1.72 / 1.50 285 hp (2x4v) 58.0 1957 523298 1.88 / 1.60 227, 244, 252, 270, 290 hp 66.0 52(4852)** 1.88 / 1.60 317 hp (F.I.) 66.0 1958 528511 1.88 / 1.60 70.2 X 528511 O 1.88 / 1.60 T395A 65.0 XX 528511 XX 1.88 / 1.60 F.I. 65.0 1959 531395 1.88 / 1.60 74.7 X 531395 O 1.88 / 1.60 All 3x2 carb & T420A 68.6 1960 536109 1.88 / 1.60 71.3 X 536109 O 1.88 / 1.60 All 3x2 carb & T425A 66.8 X 535461 O 1.92 / 1.66 SD*** ???
Awesome! Thanks for the info. Time to tear into this thing and see what kind of trouble I can get it Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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