Cast Iron Cylinder Head Checking with "Uncle Bob" McVay of McVay Automotive!

Today we're up at McVay Automotive near Mount Vernon Ohio working with Mr Bob McVay of Street Racing Channel & The Old Man's Garage fame checking out our recently acquired Pontiac cast iron cylinder heads. Before we start ordering parts and truly moving the build forward we need to know, are these heads any good? What CC are the combustion chambers? Are there any cracks?
Fortunately we can solve all these answers with just a couple hours of work at the machine shop. In order to figure out an accurate compression ratio you need to know a whole lot of mathematical values, a big one of those is the CC volume of the head. While this is a Pontiac Engine build, specifically a Pontiac 350 Build, these exact same processes work across every type or brand of engine. Even if it's a stock Pontiac Engine Rebuild these are some easy steps to ensure your rebuild goes right.
So what's our total value? Are these recently scored Pontiac 62 cylinder heads good? What kind of combination of parts are we going to need to get our new Pontiac Race Car running something close to a 12 flat? Let's see!

[@HeadFlowInc]

Facts: Those #62’s are factory rated at 72cc, in reality they should measure 75-78cc+ unless they’ve been surfaced before. Normally the oem “72cc” heads need to be cut +- .030” to get close to a true 71-72cc chamber.

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

The one head has most certainly been cut and reworked the other one, maybe it's also been cut a bit just nothing else done. Wouldn't happen to have flow numbers on a set of these would ya? ;)

[@turbotempest4095]

Hey Austin, according to Pete Mcarthy's book "Pontiac Musclecar Performance 1955-1979" the 1968 #62 head could be either 75 or 72 cc. which I find odd. Interesting that in 1969 the #62 head is listed as 72 cc only. So, if one is a 68 head and the other is 1969 head there's a slight chance the 68 had 75 cc chambers whereas the 69 would be 72 cc. 62's were used on 400's and 428's in both years. On a 428 HO the head produced 390 hp. Side note - The book says min chamber vol allowed for NHRA is 65 cc.

[@christophergriffin8344]

Checker springs might help🤘

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

That's FAR too fancy for me! ;)

[@jeffjarquin5600]

Almost all 62 heads are 74-75cc's they are great heads on a 400 and up. You need a set of 16 heads

[@davidbisnette7673]

Good that you are showing, learning takes time and money, and takes more than one try to get it right

[@davidgough1161]

Austin, you have hat head like me today! Cool information, good to learn something else today.

[@timothyheller2580]

Austin I have a. 030 over 400 with the 62 heads I have to run 93 octane gas but car runs great I have acrane cam .467 intake. 494 exhaust lift at zero deck trw pistons

[@wadepreston5298]

Keep up the good content buddy!!

[@jeffjankiewicz5100]

Glad the heads are good, Onward through the fog!😁

[@VATION3RD]

I have 10.0:1 compression flat top pistons in my 383 with 64cc heads and I run 93 octane pump gas with no pinging or cluttering...

[@vida22aj]

Good job Austin!

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Look at me, doing real work! :)

[@rustyrobinson8027]

Thanks again 👍🇺🇸

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Thank YOU, appreciate the continued support!

[@ws2664]

WOOOOOOAAAAAAA!!! Does OMG Bill know you're taking Bob away from doing his work to do your heads? When he finds he's going to kick your butt.

[@kennyhayes8488]

I would have took that 455 an and made a bad ass street engine out of it.im a Chevy guy I have a 2014 all aluminum LS3 I run it's the badest engine I have ever had .I have run Chevy 454 Mopar 340 Ford 429police and that LS3 is my favorite.i don't know nothing about a 350 Pontiac but I know that 455 can be a bad ass engine.my cuzen had one and with a little work it was running low 8s.it came out of a Pontiac la 1970 I think.had JE pistons aluminum low rise intake mid 600 lift comp cam 850 dubble pump Holly .stock heads with work did to them .that thing had some power for what it was.it was in a 1972 firebird .Hope your 350 comes out good Bob is a grate engine builder so he will fix you up.love your videos

[@davidbisnette7673]

Enjoying the Pontiac content

[@scottnangle246]

Just call Don at DCI OR learn more and watch his podcast - stick with Poncho Experience

[@mikecolemire3692]

Use the red grease, that stuff will seal anything.

[@vincevalenti84]

you can put a water/methanol kit on there and have higher compression,they do have them for NA applications.Im thinking about one of those kits for my 360 mopar im building

[@gilbertwashburn7095]

Yeah they're goodIt'll be ready to scream when it's done have a great day thanks for the inspiration

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

That's a BIG hurdle we cleared for sure, now on to the block to make sure it's good. We're still going to be asking a whole heck of a lot from this lol 350 but, we'll do our best and it will at least be fun with an amazing sound!

[@lonnyself3920]

64 cc to get to 350 HO that's a 72 cc head you can take up to 5 mill off

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

We can definitely get there from here, fortunately they are good enough to work with. There's a whole lot of math ahead to make this thing work right for sure!

[@morty3320]

Austin it takes more than a thousandth to take a cc iut of a chamber probably more like .005" per cc im sure bob will know the exact amount

[@clintondean7352]

About 75cc chamber

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

= yup = LUBE your VALVE Seats before adding LIQUID - LOL COOP ...

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

HOWdy AUSTIN, ... BOB's yer UNCLE ? did you VASELINE yer VALVES ? Thanks COOP ...

[@user-yn6yh7of2m]

Uncle Bob when can we expect to see some T-Shirts with your business logo ?

[@robertmcvay5130]

I have them on my Facebook page thanks

[@wilga80]

👍

[@58sportsuburban]

If the heads came off a 400, they are 72cc. If they came off a 428, they are 75cc.

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

As far as I'm aware at least one of these two came off a 428, the other, not sure. But we'll make sure to get them matched up :)

[@dionrau5580]

Are they old ram air IIV?

[@user-vn8tn3sh5s]

I just saw a picture of a new Pontiac .it was a E V .no no no !!!

[@jesseduke694]

No way you are guna have a 12 second car with 350 ci & you was talking 8 to 1 compression??? If you have to use pump gas you could get away with 9.5 to 1 maybey 10 to 1??? But even then I don't think there is anyway you get a 12 second car with that!!??

[@georgegrimes3615]

What if they came off a 455

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

These heads are both 1968 heads and the 455 wasn't offered until 1970, these SHOULD be 428 heads.

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

LUBE = the difference between WIFE & GIRLFRIEND LUBE ? ...

[@davidgough1161]

The guides seem a bit scary! I hope you can get a seal.

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

They are a weeeee bit tight, also though the valve stems aren't perfect... and are decades old at this point

[@brianholcomb6499]

Stop assing around with old junk! Ask him how much it’s going to cost to rebuild that garbage! As someone that has done it more times than I would like to remember! You are way better off buying a set of Edelbrock heads & be done with them!