I have a 383 w/ bad oil eating heads and I also have a 305 w/ good stock heads. Can I put the 305 heads on until the 350 heads are rebuilt? The 383 uses stock length push rods are they the same for the 305? Thanks joe b.

I used to work part time at a machine shop and the turn around was a day or two max for a set of heads. Save your money on gaskets and time and just rebuild the heads you have when you get them off.

you could put the 305 heads on there, but i wouldnt attempt it. You would have to check for valve clearence, compression, and such as the 305 heads have smaller chambers then 350 heads.

Yeah my 305 is a LU5 from a Firebird and it has 58cc combustion chambers giving the engine about a 9.5:1 compression. If you use the same heads on a 383 then you could have some really high compression, like 11:1 or so and you would need an octane booster or racing fuel. Yeah unless you can't let the vehicle sit for a day or two then I wouldn't recomend putting 305 heads on it. Also as mentioned before, you might run into valve clearances and also your cam may excede the max lift for the heads especially if they are stock 305 heads.

i know a guy that put 400 heads on a 350. it ran really strong just got real hot at the same time, the water jacket doesn't quite line up the same so they on lasted about 6 months.

putting 400 heads on a 350 isnt the same as putting 305 heads on a 383. 400 heads are ment only for 400s, they have special steam holes, but you can take a 350 head, drill it for steam holes, and put it on a 400. Not the other way around.


You might as well have said "I knew some one that put 351w heads on a 351c" it would have had as much signifigence.

My buddy raced stock cars and he did it all the time, it can be done, but like some people said it will increase your compression. I'm not sure to wether or not he had to modify anything though.

putting 400 heads on a 350 isnt the same as putting 305 heads on a 383. 400 heads are ment only for 400s, they have special steam holes, but you can take a 350 head, drill it for steam holes, and put it on a 400. Not the other way around.


You might as well have said "I knew some one that put 351w heads on a 351c" it would have had as much signifigence.
I read an article about doing that very thing, putting 351 Cleveland heads on a 351 Windsor motor, I can't remember what the hang up was, the Windsor had a weird placed head bolt or something screwy. Anyway, not that anyone was interested in knowing that...:(

the difference betweeen the cleveland heads and the windsor heads is the coolant passages. the original boss 302 had cleaveland heads on it from the factory. if you find a set of 4bbl cleaveland heads, you can almost put a pack of camel nonfilters right in the port. not too good for lowend power. but it screamed up top. I know...nobody asked

yeah, its all coming back now. It was the coolant passages. Weird set-up. But yeah, the Cleveland 4V heads were pretty damn huge, its a wonder that they ever ran on the street.