70 440HP heads

[Mopar001]

I'm going to get the heads redone on my 300. Here's the question. Should I do the bear minimum, which is cleaned up, ground and reseated and use a lead additive in the gas? Or go all out with new valves and seats to run unleaded gas. This car will be driven a few times a month cruising around town. Which is the best route to go and why?

 

[commando1]

NO BRAINER..
New hardened seats...

 

[1978 NYB]

NO BRAINER..
New hardened seats...

x2.......not even a second thought. That'll last longer than you will.

 

[1978 NYB]

Sorry..........for me assuming everybody here is old farts like me and Stan.

 

[coronet66jj]

i had several big blocks that i drove daily for years with no problems with the valves, depending on how you drive the car it probably isnt critical to install hardened valve seats.

 

[detmatt]

I saw no problems or issues with the original heads on my '67 and I thought I would with close to 136K miles on them. I have no idea how many miles were driven without lead in the fuel but if they were mine and I had them off, I'd go with new valves and seats every time.

 

[Big_John]

IMHO, I don't think it is that critical for a car driven on a limited basis. If you expect a 50k mile life (very conservative estimate) on heads without hardened seats and drive 2k miles a year... that's 25 years worth of driving. If you put a lot more than miles than that on your car, judge accordingly. I personally think that 80-100k miles is more accurate for a car that is taken care of on a regular basis and not subjected to things like heavy towing.

Amoco lead free gas was sold around here until sometime in the eighties and I've known people to say that's all they ever used in their high mileage cars with no ill effects. They advertised being lead free for many years before other gas went lead free.

Hardened seats are better though and I would put them in if I were having the heads done. But then again, I have new valve guides and install better seals too because I'm a little more anal than most. I'm just saying that I believe they aren't as critical as some think. The Mopar heads have a pretty decent valve seat to begin with and aren't as vulnerable to wear as some of the other brands.

It should go without saying, but I'm gonna say it anyway.... They have to be put in by someone that knows what they are doing or they will cause all sorts of problems.

 

[commando1]

Oh, for cripe's sakes, it's only 88 freakin dollars. End of discussion.

 

[coronet66jj]

that seems cheap for quality work. $88? consider the consequences of a poor job before you decide is my way to look at it.

 

[commando1]

This is BuFu County. That's what we pay here.
He does everybody's work down here.
No one's ever had a problem with him.

 

[Big_John]

Oh, for cripe's sakes, it's only 88 freakin dollars. End of discussion.

Good point. I haven't priced that around here lately, but I would say that is cheaper than I would expect to pay. A lot cheaper.

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[coronet66jj]

This is BuFu County. That's what we pay here.
He does everybody's work down here.
No one's ever had a problem with him.

you just gotta be right huh bufu

 

[commando1]

Those were the facts. You got a problem?

 

[Big_John]

I can read the invoice better now that I'm not using my phone.

That's a pretty cheap price for head work all the way around. What surprises me is that you didn't need valve guides for the exhaust valves at minimum. Every set of 440 heads I've ever taken apart (and I've taken apart quite a few) had too much play in the exhaust guide.

 

[commando1]

BJ: I bought an entire 440 that "supposedly" had a recent rebuild. I didn't care if it was true or not. I assumed it was BS.
I decided to use those heads for my New Yorker and when I pulled them they looked to me like they had just been done (incl. guides). Without saying anything to the shop, he said "These heads were just done, but someone used the wrong seals".
So........
That's why.

 

[Mopar001]

Ok Stan, If I go this route, can I use unleaded or unleaded with a Lead additive? And why would I have to use an additive anyway? Trying to learn, please bear with me.

 

[detmatt]

The lead was in the gas as a lubricant, if you change to hardened seats you do not need the lead at all.

 

[Big_John]

I don't think you need the lead additive either way.

IMHO, it's another snake oil product.

 

[Big_John]

BJ: I bought an entire 440 that "supposedly" had a recent rebuild. I didn't care if it was true or not. I assumed it was BS.
I decided to use those heads for my New Yorker and when I pulled them they looked to me like they had just been done (incl. guides). Without saying anything to the shop, he said "These heads were just done, but someone used the wrong seals".
So........
That's why.

OK, that makes more sense all the way around.

 

[Mopar001]

so does that mean hardened seats on just the exhaust side, or both intake and exhaust?