I will be soon looking for some aftermarket heads to put on my 350 bored .040 over. Since its leaking oil around the guides or seals in my heads I go on there and tired of it smoking alittle while idle. I trying to look for some performance heads that are reasonable since I'm only 17 and not making a whole lot of money. i was wondering what you think?

Thanks,
MAtt!

You could get Vortecs that have been drilled and tapped for '86 and prior intake manifolds. That way, you wouldn't have to buy a Vortec style intake to go with the heads, you could use your existing intake manifold. I'm merely in the research phases of this topic, so others will have to expand on my post to give you more information.

Maybe if you stated what your budget or the heads are someone could give you a good way to go. The Vortecs are a pretty good bang for the buck but, there are some hidden expenses. If you already have valve covers, rocker arms, manifold, it might be cheaper to just go with a decent set of aftermarket heads. If you are starting from scratch the Vortecs are worth looking at.

Some GM heads like the heads off a 97 firebird TPI motor, can be machined for larger valves, deeper spring pockets and ported for about $400 a pair (at a place near Ft. Worth, TX anyway). Otherwise the aftermarket is hard to beat in terms of performance vs. cost. Just know your valve lift goals before you choose a head. Also don't be fooled by bigger is better on port volumnes. 190 to 200 is about tops for the street. Otherwise, charge velocity slows down and you loose the Ram affect. High lift, minimal shrouding, and large valves combined with a reasonably sized port volume will really perform well. Chamber volume is highly important to the compression ratio. So match the chamber volume with the piston type, deck heigth and gasket thickness. Jegs and Summit are good places to shop the aftermarket.