Ok I am still pretty new to this world but I will give all the info I can. I have a 383 ci engine with an edelbrock vic jr. intake and holley 750 cfm carb. I have probe flattop pistons but I am not sure what the compression ratio is. I Have H-Beam rods and not sure who they are made. The cam has about a 535 lift. I am wanting to make between 400-500 hp. I want to know what would be the best heads for my set up. From what I'm learning, smaller (64cc) combustion camber puts out more power than a larger (79cc), is this correct? ANY educational advice is welcome! I am willing to spend around $1000 but obviously if I can get what I'm looking for cheaper then cool! Any feedback and detail is much appreciated! Thanks for stopping by.

 

When you build an engine it should have the specific purpose in mind, what are you going to use the engine for? Compression does build power but it comes with a price namly the use of high octane fuel. Your static compression is determined by utilizing the piston specs, the bore size, the stroke, block deck height, head gasket thickness and cylinder chamber size. This doesnt tell the whole story though, there is somthing you need to consider its called dynamic compression. Your camshaft specs and rod length in combination with the static compression are used to determine this. What cam are you running?

 

I'm not sure what the specs are on the cam but I know know the lift is around the 525-535 range but thats all I know just because I put the cam in so long ago. And I believe that it is a Comp cam. As for the car itself I am mainly looking for it to be a street car but I would still like to run it down the track every now and then when I do get that urge! The engine is in the car and running now I am mainly looking for more power and I KNOW that I need new heads. Any suggestions?

 

What heads are you running now? Are you concerned about running high octane fuel? I would really try to figure out the compression first before I would decide.
A real good out of the box head is the AFR but you will not get them for $1000. There are alot of cheaper aluminum heads out there but the better ones are beyond the $1000 price range(complete) the other option is to look towards a iron head like the Dart its close to $1000. One issue you would consider is the aluminum heads are less likely to encounter detonation with a lesser octane fuel.