350 upgrades

Hi all,

First I want to say hello to everyone out in Pontiac Performance land.  First time posting to this forum.

a little about my car:
1969 Custom S
- 350 ci ( i think it is XS or YS on he block )
- i have the ram air III exhaust manifolds with D-ports
- stock intake manifold,  2 barrel rochester

I'm looking to do some upgrades on the top end but i'm not positive which route i should go.   Should i try to find some ram air heads and intake manifold or should i go with something like edelbrock for the heads and intake?

also, if i upgrade the heads and intake, will i have to upgrade the crank too?  

i'm new to pontiac engines ,  and well...engines in general, so any help is appreciated.  

No you will not need to up grade the crank or the bottom end as long as it is still in good shape.
I would recomend get a set of #13 heads and have some work done to them like a 3-5 angle valve job and possibly port work as well by the way what is the casting numbers on the heads that is on it now.
I would also recomend a edelbrock performer intake.
I would recomend getting a performance cam as well if the cam in it now is stock.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

i believe the number on the heads is 47.

and ya the engine is pretty much all stock except for the Ram Air exhaust manifolds.  stock cam, and all that.

The car already runs really well, and i've been using it as a daily driver, but i'd like to get better performance and gas mileage out of it.  that is the reason i'm looking to go the 4 barrel carb route.   and if i'm gonna do that, i might as well do the heads too.  i also plan on changing over from points to electric but using the conversion kit to keep the stock appearance.  

Ok the 47 heads have 1.96/1.66 valves and 73cc chambers so the CR wont change with the #13 heads but they will flow a lot better due to the larger 2.11/1.77 valves.
I have a set on my pontiac 350 powered regal and it has really woke the little 350 up alot team that up with a .458 lift bracket master2 lunati cam&lifters and a edelbrock performer intake and a new timing set and this should wake up the 350.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

wow.  thanks for the advice.  i'll have to research what you just told me as it doesn't really make all the much sense to me yet.   like i said, i'm still learning.  but that is why i bought this car.  i wanted to learn engines.

i'm sure i can get the cam/lifters and intake any old place, but where does one acquire a set of #13 heads?  

i did a quick look on ebay, but didn't really find anything.  also, do the #13 heads have D ports?   The reason i ask, is my ram air 3 exhaust manifolds have d ports.

thanks again.  

You will have to look around on ebay or craigslist and see if you can fined a set. I got mine from a local pontiac guy which is no longer in business.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

wow, i found a set of #13s.  apparently they are quite popular and fetch a pretty penny.

could you point me in the direction where I can look up the specs of different GTO heads that might work well with my set up.  specifically a set of 670s from a '67 Grand Prix.  I found a local guy with a set of those.  

Ya the #13 heads are ram air 3 heads and were used on cars with auto transmissions.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

The #670,#16, and #62 heads all share the same size chamber and valve sizes as the #13 heads  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

Pontiacman has everything right on how to wake up a 350. If you have trouble finding heads, check the local craigslist adds. I found my #62 Ram Air III heads on CL and had them rebuilt along with my 350 motor. Only thing I can recommend is if you want to go beyond top-end, install a 2,500 stall torque converter and maybe some rear-end gears. I would keep those Ram Air III manifolds since they flow just like headers almost  

Great advice everyone.  As for the ignition, pick up a Pertronix Ignitor II with the matching coil.  It all installs under the stock rotor and cap and will help power all of your upgrades.  If you are looking for economy and performance, the original Quadrajets are great, but very temperamental.  Talk to Cliff Ruggles at Cliff's Q jets....he literally wrote the book on Quadrajets.  If you don't want to mess with it, get an Edelbrock and slap it on.  Good luck man.  

Thanks all for the advice.  I'm on the hunt now for a good set of heads.  Does anyone know the average price to get heads worked over?  I am gonna ask around at a few shops here in town, but I'd like to know ahead of time what the general price would be for basic maching.

thanks again.  

This is the going prices in my area for head work.
resurface heads 35EA.
valve job 100-125 aset
knurl guides $3 EA
replace guides $8 EA
The Q-jet is a decsnt carb. but I prefer  holley carburetors over all the rest.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

Your welcome.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

If you are going to get the heads reworked, take a look at getting the hardened seats to run of today's Unleaded gas.  Edelbrock makes a nice set of heads if you are drowning in cash.  If you go stock, consider a mild porting job.  Pontiac heads flow great stock, but a little more HP never hurt anyone!