512Lac

Hello, Im doing a head gasket on my olds 350 but im not sure which vehicle i get the parts from. the block is stamped 395558-2 and the cylinder heads are #8. i am replacing the cylinder head gasket,push rods,lifters, valve stem seals, and cylinder head bolts and exhaust manifold bolts. if i can be pointed to the correct vehicle to source the parts from that would be awesome. Thanks

olds 307 and 403

Any 68-76 Olds V8 use the same head gaskets except the 260. Say a 1973 Olds Cutlass, it will work. Be aware you will be dropping your 7.9 to 1 compression to about 7.5 to 1 with aftermarket head gaskets.

512Lac

Is this something i should be worried about on the loss of compression? the engine is a stock engine in a daily drive only after martket is the edlebroke high rpm intake 7111 & 1406 edelbrock carb.

olds 307 and 403

You should be fine, the cheap Fepro head gaskets will give you around 7.7 to 1, not the end of the world on an otherwise stock daily driver.

MDchanic

But, of course, once the heads are off, you can take them and get them milled about 0.090" and gain about a point of compression, instead of losing half a point, and improve both your performance and fuel economy.

- Eric

80 Rocket

A little off topic, but how far have people milled there iron heads. I believe Mondello always said .060" was the limit, but others have gone further with success.

MDchanic

0.060" is conservative with low compression heads.

And remember, the first 0.030" just brings everything back to where it was before you added the thicker head gasket.

- Eric

olds 307 and 403

If he does that, he should swap the stock turd cam and get the machine shop to use a cutter under all the exhaust valves.

MDchanic

No argument here.

- Eric

512Lac

so should i torque the heads to 80 ft lbs or 130 ft lbs if using parts from a 73 cuttlass

MDchanic

85 foot pounds is the specified torque for the 1973 Olds V8s.

- Eric

512Lac

Thanks

Sugar Bear

If you are planning to install the springs and seals yourself go for it; but, no matter who assembles them be sure to vacuum test/seal check the final valve job before putting the heads on the block. This is literally a five minute procedure at a machine shop that cannot be done unless the heads are assembled, it confirms that the newly done seat grinding and valve grinding make a proper seal. Ask them to show you how it is done to learn.

Good luck!!!

joe_padavano

This thread is from 2016. I hope the engine is back together by now...

Of course, it's not like I can claim that my projects never drag out for years...