340 "J" Heads

[moparots]

Hey guys, I have the chance to guy a set of 340 "J" heads from a freind.
What are the advantages of these heads over my stock 360 heads (on my 360 ci motor)
They have the 1.60 and 2.02 valves allready installed and he wants $450 for em.........what do yall think .. Thanks ...Craig

[Clair]

Not a bad deal, if you think about what it would cost to buy some small-valve J's, buy new valves, and have the machine work done. They're almost the same in every way as the old X heads, and they'll work well. IMHO, there's no magic in them unless you need J's for a restoration. The price seems good, though.

Clair

[ohioDemon]

$450 sounds a little steep to me. i bought a set that were "587" castings milled.060 and had new 2.02/1.60 valves put in for $300

try to talk him down some.

[moparots]

Well, I gotta be honest fellas. The heads are on Ebay and they are goin up in price now as we speak..... soooooo, theyll be over 500 - 600 real soon and thats probly too much too pay for any thing sight unseen .............................+ shipping...
Thanks for your imput......

Now are there any other suggestions on heads, Pistons, cam, for a street/strip 68 Dart w/ a 360 block thats going to the machine shop next few weeks for cleaning and boring

[Clair]

You almost can't go wrong with a big-port version of the LA head. Try to avoid the ones with air injection ports like the plague, but many had the lump thing in the exhaust port without the air holes drilled. Mine are 974's (I think that's the #), and they came on the core 360 I snagged from a 79 Chrysler 300. I had a machine shop install the 2.02 intakes, and 1.60 exhaust valves I got from Mancini. When the cut the 2.02's, they also opened up the bowls with a "bowl hog", or something that sounded like that. Basically cuts the throat of the port in a taper right down from the valve seat. Takes a lot of the grunt work out of the porting. I also blended a bunch of stuff in the ports and did a port match on the intake and exhaust face sides. In a nutshell, try to find a J or newer head for the hardened seats, clean up the bowls, and you'll probably be real happy. Late 308 castings are supposedly the best flowing ports of all the OE castings, but are hard to come by.

Clair