If I offended you, then sorry. I simply was recalling what was alot of the terms used in the early and mid 60's. Not saying you couldn't build a 57 block up and use later fuelie heads. Personally, SBC's are junk! Love their way of keeping the cam from walking! Timing chain and distributor gear. Sure there is a welch plug in the back of the block, but no thrust take up plate on the front. Chain loosens up and distributor gear gets chunked. Real smart Chevy!
Wow. This thread is frustrating. Thanks to Heathen, Andy, and Chevygassermadness for trying to actually infuse the converation with facts instead of wives' tales, conjecture, and opinions.
I had a 327 c.i. 365/375 hp shortblock in my '55 with what we called "double hump" heads---any ideas on what compression this setup had?? i ran medium grade pump gas and never noticed any detonation. car has been sold since '95---just curious.
11.0 advertised compression. I run one also, timing at 40 degrees total all in at 3000. I run 93 octane with no problems. The stock 30 30 cam has quite a bit of duration so that helps.
YOU MEAN MY 57 BELAIR FUEL INJECTION CHEVY WAS SHY OF A FULL LOAD ? DAMN-IT MAN. LIVE & LEARN ON THE H.A.M.B and the bowtie rolls on
Thanks for all the input. Here's what I "think" I've learned: The challenge is gonna be the heads. Can't put ALU comp heads on it because the valves are too big (2.02 or so) and will hit the engine block. Maybe could machine a chamfer in the block, but the geometric gets all funky and then who knows if it will work well. Apparently No One makes ALU heads with small valves (makes sense, no market for it). It's the challenge of the thing for me. The 265 was the beginning of it all, so this project (making a Mini Mouse engine) is all about having a bit of reverence for what GM did for us in creating the SBC. I just think it will be cool to find a way to build the best HP 265 and put it in my Nomad as it will be "different"??? Imagine, hot rodding an original (at least original type) motor to put in a shoebox and that being different. I can get something out of a performance intake, best gear combo, best carb setup, and getting just the right cam. It's the heads that are the banger!! It's not impossible, it's just a challenge. In the end it will likely be 57/58 PP heads and do the best polishing under the valves and the like. Just hoping for tricks someone can suggest specific to a 265.
<P>the 57 fuelie head was a 539 casting but was machined differently.It had dual valve springs ,inner and outer,not to be confused with a inner vibration damper.The end of the head casting could be identified buy the way it was machined. The casting I.d. boss, the rectangle with the little pyrimd was not machined,left ruff, but the other raised area near the intake area was machined .I have one of these heads that I`ve had for over 40 years and have not seen another since. I m 73 years old and remember these cars as a young man .Good luck but I`m sure someone will probably think I don`t know what I`m talking about.</P>
Well, Camp, I've had a single 539 casting head kicking around for a few years too. Maybe we should flip a coin and let the winner have them both!
SOUTHFORK,is it exactly as I have described ??? 539 power pack heads turn up at swap meets and on E BAY from time to time.
i have 2 sets of 539 heads and they both have dual springs but inside is a damper type one set has X cast on the head wayne
I have a set of '56, 265", -306 trough sparkplug heads out in the garage now and they cc'd at 60 cc's chamber and from 118 to 120 cc's intake port size. I mention this because the big deal with the power pack heads is that when they came out, their intake ports were opened up to right at 137 to 140 cc's!! And this made a 4-barrel 283 run like a "scalded dog" with no more than said -097 Duntov solid lifter cam and ramshorn straight down exhaust dumps!! And I know a lot about the old Duntov -097 cam because I DD it in my old junk301 for a long time back in the early '70's in my '67 SS/RS Camaro! I also have a set of real 327 "Fuelie" double-hump heads, the old STOCK big valve -461's. And fwiw, I THINK that only the SHP hi-po 283's got the medium valved -461x heads back then. Anyway, imho, the newer PP 283 heads are the one's with the big triangle on top of the middle of the rect flat. And I know the earlier heads had columns on the flat, but I'd have to look them up. Please try to pull up www.chevytech.net if it will pull up and take the time to open up each head number and read what they have posted on all of them. It's by no means complete, but still is excellent tech by me! One other point here is that for a flat-top pistoned 283, the old 305HO, -601 head is a dandy! It has 1.84"/1.50" valves, hardened seats, anywhere from 52 to say MAYBE 58 cc chambers so you HAVE to cc them!! Then right at 160 cc intake ports AND a double quench chamber much like the original "Fuelie" head, the big valve -461! And I also have a pair of -601's out in the garage that I measured so know! Mine came in at 53 and 55 cc chamber size! pdq67
I think that I'm talking about the '61 or so SHP 283 engine heads so they may have had the medium valve -461x heads on them back then. I do know that GM changed heads on them before the 327 came out back then so the earlier heads kinda fell by the wayside, imho. And I bet that if you look close, the old early 250hp/327's had small valve power pack heads on them, but that they also had extra high compression. I say this because the later 250/275/300hp/327's had -461 and -462, medium valve double-hump heads on them if not mistaken? As well as the great old -929 hy-cam, believe it or not... Dam -929 is a great old-school stock torque cam, imho. My new '67's 350 SS/RS Camaro engine had one in it stock. I switched it out to the 350hp/327, L-79 cam at 1200 miles and you talk about waking my 350 flat up!! pdq67
LOL Reality check from LA???? Now tell us what makes a head a fuelie head. There were plenty of fuel injection cars from chevy before 1987 (lots of them) so what is the mechanical characteristic you are referring to that makes a head a fuelie head after 1987? Not being flipant here, I actually want to know.
Well, kinda. If someone can tell me what it means to for a head to be a fuelie head (any year) maybe I will get my original question answered.
There was no such thing as a fuelie head until they started using special heads on the FI engines. Before that, the FI engines used 4bbl heads. I think the first big valve FI heads appeared with the 327's in 62. It has been a long time so sorry if wrong.
So what does the X mean on the 539 heads in 1957. I was told that it means that they are a "special" head like the 461X. Does anyone know for sure?
Medium dude here. The #520s also have the single triangle. Probably the easiest head to find with the triangle marking, but I am in Canada, so your mileage may differ. They are actually from '59-'61, IIRC. FWIW,Prior to the rules change allowing ported heads, these were the heads the 283 SS racers were always looking for, supposedly the best "legal" casting under the old rules. The difference would be really splitting hairs, and as PorkNbeaner has said, once a grinder hits them, it wont make a hill of beans difference. I always thought "fuelie" heads was a misnomer applied to 2.02 camel bumps, which were never on 283s from the factory.
My experience as well. These heads are commonly referred to as 52cc nominal, every set I have ever cced came out around 60-62 cc in stock form.
This is interesting, so it looks like they did have considerably smaller chambers. I have never had my hands on a set of #601s.
I have a friend with an authenic 57 FI Chevy, perhaps he may check for the X designation, but wasn't the X under the head, or not? All the info was helpful , thanks.
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