Look what I found when removing my valve covers.....

New motor 021.jpg

New motor 022.jpg

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I bought this yesterday, mostly cause it had 7a heads on it, performer intake and carter carb, (most likely will not use). It came out of a 70 Cutlass.
I drove it into his garage and we pulled it. When I got home I noticed it has one 7a head (drivers side) and one 7 head (pass side)...WTF is that unheard of or is it ok to mix and match?

I'm still stripping...I would guess there is a cam as well.....

BTW, it also came with a TH400...it shifted good if anyone is looking for one

 

The good kind of suprise

Someone else will have to comment on mixing these heads. I don't know if the castings were different or not.

 

that's awesome. a friend of mine just got a chevy Avalanche. they could not get the cover open at the dealer but he bought it anyway and got it home and got it opened. he found 4 new tires and wheels. it had aftermarket ones on it and the new take offs were in the bed. never know what you may find.

 

Happy Birthday indeed!! Now, whatca gonna do with them? I guess I'd be wanting to know just how far the guy went with his rebuild. You'll find out soon enough when you strip it down. Maybe a nice surprise in the cam??

 

Just checking in...
Does any one have any info on this? I have searched all over and never read anything about it.

Thanks

 

Your best bet would be to PM Warhead.

 

My 72 had the same head combination! 1 7a head, 1 7 head... passenger was the 7 on mine as well. I have owned the car for 10 years, the previous owner had it for 15 years, and said the heads were never off, so unless it was done when it was first bought or recently there after. When I pulled my heads, I still had the shim stock gaskets, so I think it was factory.

 

OK ,

Thanks guys...i'll keep moving forward......

 

The factory was not worried about the part numbers so much. If it was late in the year, it could have been a mistake (on the assembly line they will not grind the line to a halt just so 1 car will have "correct" part #).
#7 is a 1971 casting (starting in late 1970 for the 71 model year), 7a is a 72 casting. If this was found on a 72 car (as on oldss72), it could be understandable by checking the casting dates. But if the dates do not get within a month, a head has been pulled, and replaced (maybe even by dealer due to warranty issue). A machine shop will not even care, if they did these for a customer, and had more than 1 set available to them.

Other than the heat treating on the exhaust seats, the 7/7a castings are almost identical. It has a good 68-70 cc chamber, 1.875 intake valve, 1.625 exhausts (most all of them), with deep spring seats.

I would look for forged pistons, and a steel crank, if someone really knows Oldsmobiles.

Yours seem to have stock springs and rotators. See if the valve seals are intact, if not, it could be a smoker when it starts. See if you have any plastic "seal debris" stuck in the oil returns in the back side of the head's oil return holes.
BTW, I hate those rocker arms. Have seen issues in the past with them.
Hope you got a good deal!
Good luck!
Jim

 

Thanks for the info Jim,
I am taking the heads to a machine shop to have them checks and cleaned for now. As i am taking more apart, i cannot find out info on the crank. Checking the wikki site here I see things that match and things that do not. Here is what my crank has on it from what i can see
"N"
CFO (or CFD)
GF
81 12
393654 ( this looks like a 1974?)

There is also a mark near the flywheel, where the oil pan mounts with a stamped "7909"

Pistons are aluminum
TRW
L3079F
030

Cam info
CRANE Cam
HMV 272-2 (could be 212-2)
80-32-94

Anyone have any ideas or know what all this is?

Sorry for all the questions.....ask me construction questions...I can help you there.

 

happy late BIRFDAY BTW wasnt really here to say, BUT anywhos happy belated birfday


and I wished you were closer for I would be interested in the 400 trans from but shipping would kill any benefit of getting it

GL with your build

 

Belated B-day wishes from Lady and I, as well!

Most of these old cars are like time capsules and grab bags - you never know what you will find...

Most of all, have fun with it!

 

Well anyone can see that it is a recipe for shrimp-a-la-king

 

Looks like we have a spammer "yellowstonepart"
I wouldn't click on his links it could be a virus.

He has been reported.

 

Its Japanese.

 

Just curious if anyone has input on these parts? I would hate to put this back together and then have someone say "that cam or whatnot should have been this or that"

This is the way i bought this motor, so I did not pick them out, but if they will work well, I'll leave them be

Thanks

 

http://cranecams.com/?show=browsePar...tType=camshaft this is the cam specs and the pistons are forged i think,and nodular crank