Has any one replaced the stock valves in a set of 350 heads with chevy, ford, Mopar or whatever other brand valves? I was talking to a machinest the other day that says it may be an option. Does any one know? Thanks.
Yes My machinist has also proposed that as an option. The intakes may have been Chevy and the Exhaust may be Ford. Don't quote me. I stopped listening when my head hit the floor. $ $ > O Lots of bling bling. (fully ported, new hardware, hard seats, bronze guides...........)
You're probally best off with the TA oversized valves. There is not much extra room for bigger valves, and TA's seem to be the biggest that can go in. The problem with other brands valves, is unless all dimensions are the same it will require some machining.
I guess part of the question here is cost. If any of the guides are bad and have to be replaced with new ones than any guide with the right outer diamiter and length should work. You could then choose a guide that has an inner diamiter that would accept the valve of another manufacturer which may give you more choices at a cheeper price.
Changing from 3/8" to 11/32" is no big deal...did several of those on SBC heads (alot of trucks came with 3/8"s exh. valves). The big issue will be the tip height!!:Smarty: Your machinist will need to find a suitable valve that is the same length as the Buick 350. He could always have a 1.94" valve turned down to 1.92". One nice advantage would be using SBC retainers/locks/springs. The LT-1 springs are the perfect spring pressure for most any hyd. cam. Cheap too!! In the long run...it might be easier to just order the TA Stainless Steel oversize valves.
Yes.. very possible. I have a set of STG 1 Alum BB heads here with Chevy valves. IN our case, it was NOT cheaper than the Buick stuff, but it is part of a development program we have going here with that head. I'm sure the SBB can also share valves with other motors.. Valve guide size, retainer/spring fit issues can get funky, but that's not too hard to work out. JW
Thanks every one for your input. Jim, What did the cost of such a change come to? Was it way beyond the cost of just ordering the stainless valves from TA? Do the BBB and SBB heads have the same valves or guides? And do you have any of the part numbers that you used for your conversion that would be helpfull in moving forward with such a project? Scott, when you say the LT1 springs have the right spring rate for just about any Hyd. cam, what would that be and how cheap are we talking for the springs, retainers and keepers?
TA's valves go for $225. Thats about $14 a valve. The cheapest valves you could find for another brand is gonna be $7. So parts wise you are saving $112. The cheap valves that you get will not be fancy like the TA ones. If you get ones that are designed like the TA ones, you will be talking the same $14 a valve, or close to it. So even if you go with the cheap ones to save a few bucks, after machining you won't save much and you'll have a lower flowing valve. Plus TA's are the biggest that can fit. We really don't have much room with the 350's small bore. that's my 2 cents....
I have a set of Manley Titanium 360 Chrysler valves 3/8 stem that are machined down to 1.880 and 1.500 that should work for your app... With the machining there is over $500 in these valves Id let them go for $240....They were intended for my motor howevre it runs well and I dont want to screw with the combonation that i have now!!!!
Chris I may be interested. Let me do some checking to see if they really will fit in the 350 heads and I'll get back to you. Thanks
Getting an alternate valve to fit in a Buick head is one thing, but if it will actually flow more air... well that's another. I tried installing Pontiac 1.77 valves in a 455. I cut the dia. to 1.75" but I liked the thinner 11/32" stem dia. of the Pontiac. At first glance it looked trick, after fighting with this combination on the flow bench, and not getting close to the flow numbers that I should get, I looked more closely at the backside of the valve head. It was flatter than a stock stage1 valve. I changed the guide to 3/8" and installed a standard stage1 valve, and like magic the flow numbers came back to where I expected them to be. Unless your doing alot of testing on a flow bench, you could be wasting alot of time and actually end up with worse flowing heads.
Thanks Graig: I appreciate the input. Will any amount of work on the stock valves produce the same flow as a set of the bigger un-modified valves?
