452 head info

I have come across a set of 452 head that have been tanked(cleaned for the environmentalists out there) and magged and check oout fine.  They are for sale for 135.00 for pr Springs and valves included.  Does the added performance over stock 383 heads justify the 135.00?  

Yes! The $135.00 is probably less then it would cost to replace the ext. valve  seats in your 383 heads, and the increase in hp alone is more than worth the money. You will need to get newer valve covers also as the 383 heads were only 4 bolt and the 452s take 6. This is a good thing( better sealing at the corners)less oil leaks.   

ok, here is the next chapter of the saga.  I have recently talked with some people that are avid mopar racers and explained what I think it is that I want to do is. here is the response that I got from them and lets see if you concur or have other suggestions.  My goal, primarly street, local the occassional trip down the quarter.  But I ultimatley want to have the available torque to leave the parking lot of a cruise in and stand on it and kick it loose when I leave.  I have been told the following, keep my 516 heads, don't invest in the 452's at all.  If I decide to get crazy or run the 1/4 serious go with 906's.  Get a set of springs, lifters and a Cam fro comp cams #270H and advance it 4 degrees. advance my timing ab out 10 degrees. get an edelbrock RPM manifold with my Holley 780.  Change the 323 to 355's with a 24 " tall tire.  Run my headers and go for it.  

Your opinion ????  Trust me it is well received.  

Sorry it's been so long. Your friends have some good and some bad info. If you run the old heads and do much getting after it you will suck an exhaust valve when the valve seats start getting hammered(they are just to soft to run hard on unleaded gas). The 452s will give you low end and out flow the old heads up high, the only thing good about your old heads is the smaller chambers. But I would hope that you would rebuild your 383 before you put it in your car,if not you might is well stay with 512s until you do as the larger chambers of the 452s will cost you compression. The 270H looks like a good cam but  I have not ran one, I like the Mopar 284/484 I run in my 440, they also make nice 280/474. but I wouldnt run any thing bigger then the repro. magnum shaft with out going through the engine and running some good pistons. All in all it's up to you and your pocket book.  

So, what are your thoughts on this?  I eventually plan on totally going through the 383 at a later date or even getting a 440 as time and money allows.  For now what is to say that I cannot run the 516's or 906's with a fuel additive for lubrication?  is this a bad thing?  

You can run them with additive and should be okay for awhile, but you should keep the RPM of the engine under 6000 with the stock pistons. These old cast slugs are very good at lower RPM but tend to come apart over 6000 RPM. The new cam you walked of getting will rap over 6000 RPM easily and the stock pistons are very heavy and course cast. They start to crack at the wrist pin area and its all bad from there.