glassjaw442

I met someone at a car show last weekend who was telling me what to do with my 74 Hurst Olds Rocket 350 thats in my 86 442.

I believe he was telling me to get Heads from a 70 442(i think he said A heads?), I just don't remember which ones, a new cam, timing chain and carb. Also probably new headers and exhaust.

Any ideas on what I should do/get. I want to try to get around 300 hp. Maybe 1-2 grand on parts.

My timing chain is messed up right now so If I'm going to be taking the engine apart I may as well make it nicer. Also my engine is stock other than headers.

joe_padavano

The 442 used a 455 and while those heads will physically bolt to your 350, there's some custom work required. In addition, the big block 455 heads have the same large combustion chambers as your current heads, so you'd still be stuck with low compression.

The common swap is to install heads from a 68-72 Olds 350. These carry the numbers 5, 6, 7, or 7A. Be aware that there are 7A heads (note the size of the A) used on late 1980s 307 Olds motors. You do not want to use those. The early heads have smaller combustion chambers and will bump compression to something more useful. Get a Performer intake, good 2.5" dual exhaust, and a properly calibrated carb and 300 hp should be easy.

Of course, if your 86 still has the stock 200-4R trans, you'll be in the market for a new one before too long.

DennisG.

If you are gonna do a head swap, intake and timing change you might as well put a new cam in it. You could go with the matching Performer cam. Personally I would go with the RPM intake and cam. Early model q-jet and hei. Properly tuned it should run real good. Don't forget to buy the matching valve springs for what ever cam you buy.

glassjaw442

What is the differnece between the 5, 6 or 7 heads, which ones should I look for?
My car has 2.5" true duals already and yea it has the stock 200-4r tranny, what should I be in the market for? I've heard the 200-4r is stronger than the 400-4r. Will the stock tranny just not be strong enough for the more hp?

glassjaw442

Yeah, I was planning on putting a beefier cam in there. Thanks for the input, I'll look into those cams.

joe_padavano

Other than minor differences in the depth of the spring pockets (you might need to shim the springs, not a big deal) they are equivalent. The 5s were used in 1968-69, 6s in 1970, 7s in 1971, and 7As in 1972. 7s and 7As have induction hardened valve seats.

There's no such thing as a 400-4R. There IS a Turbo Hydromatic 400, which is just about the strongest automatic ever made by GM. Whoever told you the 200-4R is stronger in stock form has no clue what they are talking about. I've broken two behind a stock 307. You CAN beef the 200-4R - the Turbo Buick crowd pretty much has that down to a science - but you need to get the right aftermarket parts to do it.

glassjaw442

Alright, sorry that's what I was meant the TH400, not 400-4r. Thanks for all the info. Maybe I heard that the 200-4r isn't stronger but a better fit for my car since the 400 doesn't have overdrive? and my car is a street car. Anyways thanks again.

joe_padavano

Better fit, yes. First gear is steeper to help off the line acceleration and then you have the OD fourth. Worth building the trans to survive.

cutlassefi

Everything mentioned seems reasonable. But I'd like to put in my two cents worth if I may.

Yes, you can beef up the 200-4R no problem, I have one in my car. But make sure you change the pump to at least a 10 vane. It builds more volume and pressure and along with valve body/shift kit changes will actually make the tranny live longer.

Cam? The Edelbrock stuff has a tendency to be a bit lazy (old grinds). and Engle/Mondello isn't the only cam out there for an Olds. I had a Crane Hyd Flat tappet, an Engle Hyd Flat tappet and finally got a custom Erson Hyd Roller, all with similar lift and at .050 specs. Wouldn't trade the Erson Roller for anything, except maybe another Erson Roller.

joe_padavano

I'm going to disagree here. More vanes will smooth the pressure pulses, but it doesn't really raise the pressure. There's also one school of thought that the additional notches for more vanes actually weakens the pump hub. In reality, I suspect either will work fine in this application.

DennisG.

Yes there are definately alot better grinds out there. I only mentioned the Edelbrock grinds for simplicties sake. Would need alot more details like final compression ratio etc to give a better suggestion.