I have bought a 455 with 1972 7 heads on it ( dont ask ). These heads are going to be sold.
They will be milled for straightness and pressure tested.
What will a pair of these heads in good condition typically sell for?

 

Check Ebay for the real market value, but cores are usually seen here for $150. You already have some machining done to them so the price goes up, of course. Only problem with that is, most people want just a core so their own machinist can machine them.

 

I cant find any on ebay, only a set of 8 smog heads and one 4A... None of which are anywere near desirable, like I understand the 7's are.

Good point about the machine work.. I havent had it done yet. Maybe I should wait a see. These are running heads that are in good condition.

I found one set of 7's eactly like mine on german ebay, though... they are priced at 850 Euro's, that's 1056 $ Going by that I am gonna be RIIIICH, hehe. I doubt they will be sold at that price.

 

What makes you think #7 sbo heads are valuable? They aren't.

 

I dont think they are valuable per se. I just meant they are more desirable than 4A's or 8's...
Aren't 7 and 7a's what everybody wants to put on their 403?

I dont know much about Olds engine yet... I have seen #7's and "7a's mentioned many times as part of upgrading a 403.???

 

The 7's are more valuable than 8's or other smog heads because of the smaller combustion chamber but the $150 is probably an average price.

 

Yes, they are direct bolt ons for the 403 which is a SBO as well. The reason they are more desirable on a 403 is the 403 was introduced to Olds in 1977 and as mentioned by others, those 403s had smogger heads, just like 73 and newer. If I was going to choose between 7 or 7A, I'd take the 7A because they have both valve seats already hardened. If I was going to build a performance engine, I'd just ignore heavy stock heads and go with aftermarket heads. 150 for a set of 7's is decent, but shipping would likely run that much too because they're no featherweights. I wouldn't spend any money on milling/machining the 7's you have. Leave that to the buyer to determine what they want to do with it. I'd sell them as is and be happy with any $$ they bring. If you check with others on this site who part out cars, there's not a lot of $ to be made on stock heads, unless of course they are H heads.

 

oh, they dont have hardened valve seats! dang... I can see that makes them less desirable.
I wasn't hoping they would bring a fortune though... I am in Denmark Europe and it would make no sense to ship them to the states :-)

I think I will just leave them as is and sell them for what they are: old stock iron heads without hardened seats, but with a small chamber.
Thanks for you replies! I learned something!

 

if theres a little a next to the 7 then they have hardend seats

 

Already stated in my last post.

 

Core 7a heads 1972's can regularly be had for under 200 bucks. #8 heads although less desirebale the only pit fals is the area under the valve is resticted but if you built a flat to zero deck sbo the #8's are the heads to have to keep compression in the safe zone for pump gas. I got 3 sets of core heads that literally make great shelves because I can't get anything for them. So I'm using them to hold selves up lol. Don't try getting rich on these parts sbo parts are worthless to be honest and you are lucky to cut your losses and a minimal loss if you decided to go bbo.

 

The need for hardened seats is debatable. AFAIK a lot of heads hold up just fine without them, my own 7 heads among them.

There's a large amount of Trans Ams in Denmark running 403s, you might be able to sell the heads to one of them.

What're you putting on the engine instead? I saw stock 425 heads for sale on smallblock.dk not too long ago, those would work well.

 

Yeah, It seems you see this stated alot of places... how the need for hardened seats is not that necesary.

I put them on smallblock and usabilforum, for a little more than a set of SBC heads usually seems to sell for.
These #7's sat on a 455 that fell onto my lap. Funny, I bought that exact pair of 425 heads to put on my 495 build.

Yeah, my main target of buyers would definately be the Trans Am crowd.
btw I found that the #7's have big intake valves.
1.995 in/1.562 ex.

 

I saw that, actually. The Olds market in Denmark is tiny.

What are those two engines going into?

 

These?
the 455 is mine and I am considering putting it in my ´78 Trans Am and do some ET's.
The 403 ( ? ) is just a friend of mine's. That one is freshly rebuild and will be going in a mid 80's Cadillac, if he finds one that has a 307.

 

Last set of heads that I sold were #7 heads. I was delighted to get $200 for them.

 

hehe, I would too :-) nobody runs smallblock Olds in my country. I am slapping them on my buddy's 403. The at least he can have some fun with them.