B heads on later engines

[2blu442]

Hey all
I'm dismantling a couple 1966 Toronados and am looking at the B heads. I know I've read that there's 39 degree and 45 degree angles in the cam/lifters of the 425's but have never really paid attention to it. Can someone tell me if the heads between the two can be interchanged? Do they need some modifications to allow the pushrods to go through the hole in the heads to the rocker arms at the correct angle on the newer engines? John

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by 2blu442

Hey all
I'm dismantling a couple 1966 Toronados and am looking at the B heads. I know I've read that there's 39 degree and 45 degree angles in the cam/lifters of the 425's but have never really paid attention to it. Can someone tell me if the heads between the two can be interchanged? Do they need some modifications to allow the pushrods to go through the hole in the heads to the rocker arms at the correct angle on the newer engines? John

All you need to do is open up the pushrod holes to accommodate the different lifter angle. In many cases Olds used the same castings for both lifter bank angles.

[Oldsmaniac]

You should be fine using B Toro heads on 39 degree big block engines as the Toro was a 39 degree engine. You run into trouble when you use 39 degree heads on a 45 degree block. I am not sure if 5/16 pushrods will clear without opening the holes where pushrods go thru in the heads. I am sure that 3/8 pushrods wont clear.....been there with G heads on a 45 degree 1966 425.

[2blu442]

Thanks for the help guys! John