My brother has a 400 sbc short block that is in good condition. He has heads from a 305 (14014416) Can he run the 305 heads on the 400? seems like it would bump the compression up 1-2 points over 882 heads and it sounds like the 14014416 is not that bad of a head. Block 330817, 70 - 80, 400, 150-180HP, 2-Bolt mains Head 14014416 The motor is for a 60's burb that will not see a lot of RPM...mainly low RPM torque. Thanks in advance!
305 heads will raise the compression but have small ports and small valves so you're not really going to benefit from the higher compression ratio. You can spend a couple hundred bucks or more having them cut for bigger valves but you'll still have small ports. You'd also have to drill the steam holes in the heads to match the holes in the 400 block. That's fairly simple to do by using the head gasket as a template. There are LOTS of better choices out there to get a little more horsepower out of that 400. If it was me and money was tight I think I'd have the 882 heads angle milled & run a thin head gasket to bump the compression and do a cam swap if there's any money left over.
You will have to mod them with steam holes to match the block. 58cc head is kinda small and it will raise the compression.
It'll work but,,,, Sure! It'll smoke the tires at the touch of the gas pedal but it'll fall flat on it's face when the rpms come up. I had some set ups where the car would slow down approaching 5000rpm,, I've done that mod 5 or 6 times now. It's still good for a sled but not a Hot Rod!!! From the sounds of it,,it's what you're looking for.
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