Recently had my truck at the transmission shop. While there a worker mentioned a head that he had on his shelf at home for 15 to 20 years. I bought it cheap.



Story is a guy put bigger valves in it

, shaved it, notice the TE tops are shaved off. Best I can tell the code is C6TE

Put really big springs with more springs inside them and then proceeded to lobe a rolling cam.


Took it off after that and gave it to him, he sold it to me yesterday, 15 to 20 years later.

I've been wanting a cam but don't want to break the engine open until its needed. At that time it will get a rebuild. Until then am i correct in understanding that this head with the 1.76 rockers will essentially do the same thing?
I understand I'd have to drop it off at a shop to get it cleaned, checked, reseated, weaker springs with adjustments.
Machine shop, new rockers, pushrods and adjustments. Am I on the right track here or do I have a new piece of fine art?

Also, what are the allen bolts that are circled in red underneath the #1 spark plug hole. I appreciate any and all responses as I'm a novice here who's just smart enough to admit it.

 

As long as it passes a magnaflux it should be OK to rebuild or whatever. Those bolts appear to be plugging the holes for the AIR injection...which was apparently removed from the engine.

 

Isn't the air injection generally on the intake/exhaust side?

Those are under the spark plug holes. I've never seen them before.

 

Now that you mention it...

 

Looks like the previous owner installed those allen plugs. It looks like they line up with small holes in the deck surface of the head.

 

They may be plugs for pressure transducers, which get installed on R&D dyno engines to measure real time pressure rise in the combustion chambers vs crank angle.

[edit: On closer inspection they do not appear to enter the combustion chambers. My next guess is that they may be an effort at reverse cooling, to minimize detonation. This fits more closely with a valve train obviously intended for high performance applications.]

I would take a chance on using it. But have the valve springs checked for installed pressure. I would not go over 110 lbs seat pressure with a hydraulic cam, or less than 180 lbs if using a roller cam.

 

Yeah, the holes in the deck and allen screws are odd. As long as it isn't cracked and there's still enough deck to be resurfaced they should be able to fill the holes if needed.

Assuming "bought it cheap" means less than $100 you're way ahead with it already having the screw in studs - although most 300 cam/spring combinations may not need them. Plus oversized valves and springs/retainers.

Can you tell if there's been any porting done? If not, even a little bit of work there helps. With bigger valves a bit of deshrouding in the chamber will also help. I would round off any sharp edges too.

It would be nice if it was a 240 head, with the smaller chambers which increase the CR to around 9:1. But it's better than the average core as far as potential.

 

If you look close at the deck surface of the head, it looks like they drilled out the coolant passages. And then installed plugs and drilled small holes in them.

 

Thanks for the replies and yes it was cheap.
I places a gasket over the holes and nowhere can I see any metal showing from underneath. The edges appear to be rounded but not sure about any porting. I think I can say with confidence that it is not polished.
My plan instead of a new cam is this,
Have the head cleaned with an angle job, port, polish, new springs and reseating of everything. Possible guideplates?...
My inquiry is about the rocker arms that give more lift with a stock cam. I thought I've read in the past that this accomplishes basically the same thing as a new cam but can't find the post now.

 

It's 9:30 on a Friday and I'm fondling a head. I may have a problem.

 

Opening the valve wider will let more air and exhaust pass, yes, but not equivalent to a new cam. It's a decent bolt-on option though.

Higher ratio rockers also change the effective rate of the springs so stay south of 100lb seat pressure to be safe.

 

Those intake valves look larger than the usual 1.94. I am curious about the line between the cylinders, where the gasket would be thinnest. If a gasket is going to burst that is the most likely place. I wonder what cr that head saw.

You go a a deal if it passes a magnaflux test. To have a head made like that would cost about 1k$.

 

It looks like the head has pushrod guide slots, not clearance holes. If so, you do not want guide plates.
Yes, Chevy 230/250/292 rockers give 1.75 ratio, essentially giving you 10% more lift without changing cam events appreciably. It amounts to the same as an RV / towing / mileage cam.

 

Not 100% accurate as I couldn't get a good angle but from the angle i could get the intake reads 2.14 and the exhaust 1.59.
Hopefully I'm dropping it off at the shop tomorrow. Have to track down some rockers first. I'm thinking they should be in stock somewhere in town.
I'm a little excited about it to be honest.

 

Not 2.14, 2.014.

That is a standard 2.02 / 1.60 SBC valve conversion. Personally. I think the 1.94 valves work just as well and are usually cheaper.

Whoever built that head had some serious HP plans in mind for it. Glad you can save it.