Head Flow Testing with "Uncle Bob" McVay! Pontiac 350 Build Continues!

In order to make maximum power out of any engine build, you have to get the maximum amount of air in, and maximum amount of air out. The best way to figure out what that number is, is with a Head Flow Testing fortunately we got a guy! Uncle Bob McVay of Street Racing Channel and The Old Man's Garage fame happens to have a Superflow head flow tester, all I needed to do was score him a Pontiac plate which I ordered from Brzezinski Racing. Let's get some head flow numbers! This isn't Engine Masters, we aren't Powernation, but we're gonna show you the ins and outs and every step of the way of this Engine Build!
For those who aren't familiar with this Pontiac Build yet, we are looking to convert our 1968 Pontiac LeMans into a bracket racing car, and in doing that we're doing a 350 Pontiac Build! Most people when it comes to Pontiac power will say, toss the 350 and put a 400 or 455 in it's place, well that's the easy boring answer and we want to do something a bit different. We happened to score a set of Pontiac 62 heads and that essentially will allow us to make a 350HO which was actually an option at this point. Besides, I've already done a Pontiac 455 build before, years ago, it's what's in my 1970 Pontiac LeMans.
The plan at this point is to test the heads "as they are", then take them back to do some porting and polishing, then bring them back to retest. With the power levels we are looking for we need to get these heads in the range of 230 CFM to really give us a chance of pushing this Pontiac 350 Engine build over the 400hp mark and give us a chance at running 12s.

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

HOWdy AUSTIN & BOB, ... Thanks for taking us on the FLOW-BENCH ! COOP ...

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Thanks for watching and supporting as always Coop!

[@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369]

and a wonderful MULTI-Angle Valve-Job with a DELUXE "Back-Cut" under those BIG Valve Intake VALVES ! COOP ...

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Oh we're gonna throw as many tricks at this thing as we can I promise!

[@SammyKurts-ku2ht]

Real deal hot rod stuff !

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Yes Sir you got it!

[@travisrussell9107]

Look at uncle Bob, I been seeing him All over the you tube. Love his work

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

He's famous and getting famouser ;)

[@dondotterer24]

Talk to Bill Little from Canada. He knows his stuff. He builds stock and Super Stock engines.

[@HeadFlowInc]

That’s exactly what I’ve seen with those d-port heads stock. 200-208 cfm 1. Do not dig behind or beside the valve guide boss, it’s really thin and will break through. 2. Widen the short turn 3. Waterfall radius the short turn. 4. Careful throat & bowl work 5. Quality valve job 6. Ram Air 4 intake gasket match head/intake *** Should net 250-260 cfm intake side 👍👍 Highly recommend the Performer RPM intake over the “single plane” it’s not going to be a high winding engine. 3000-6500 max most likely shifting at 6200 or less.

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Thanks for the input, if we could get anywhere NEAR 250cfm this thing should perform great! I actually DO have a Performer RPM here as well, that I could throw up against the Torker II to see the difference. We're hoping to get our peak power up into the 6000rpm range maybe a little higher. Definitely going a bit outside the box of what most people look for in a Pontiac build. Nice thing is also we can dyno test all these goodies together and see what does what!

[@thomasj.kappjr.929]

Bob is awesome

[@ricknorris6943corvair]

Love head work. I did a lot of that with my Corvair racing engines. At least they are aluminum with one less cylinder.

[@stevenmcfarland923]

Just food for thought the big valve heads with the small bore you may be better off with a smaller intake valve. Just a thought. Keep up the good work. Have fun.

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

These are ESSENTIALLY the same heads that came on the 350HO so they should work out ok, we'll do everything we can to help them breath as much as we can.

[@paulsherman6450]

Uncle Bob -- The Mad Scientist!!!!

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

He's not Mad juuuuusst yet! ;) Wait until we get further into this build ;)

[@greenmirror5555]

Find some pontiac 301 heads check out the intake ports! lol! the return wave coming back up will do some real damage to that incoming flow number.

[@Mr688895]

Great stuff. Thank you for doing that. Great to have some more real world data on cast heads.

[@pockets5628]

Zero deck the block and use a .039” head gasket. On your small 350 bore, maybe you can notch the cylinder bores how a big block Chev is, to unshroud the valves? Those large valves are too big for a 350 bore size really. Use Ferrea valves with undercut stems and a backcut on the intake valves.

[@davidbisnette7673]

Being someone with a Pontiac 350 I appreciate the info your channel is producing , Thanks

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

You're welcome David that's one of the main reasons I'm doing this. Almost no one bothers to do Pontiac 350 content let alone a full build like this. MOST people if it's worn out would just throw it away and put something bigger and better in, that's the way for this one!

[@oldschooltwist18]

if i remember correctly on your video when you picked those heads up, i believe i posted they would flow around 211 as thats what my 16 heads flowed w no work done.

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Check and verify! Now we have real world numbers to start from with these and hopefully we can get a 10-15% flow increase from some work. If so, we're narrowing in on our goal!

[@user-jr4sw5cy2i]

I'll be watching, Austin!

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Please do! It helps pay the bills we are rapidly adding up!

[@bluesman7475]

DCI ram air heads flow 370cfm at .500. You can low buck your build, but I can not see 12 second times with a 350 motor. My SD-455 back in the 70's ran 12.20's and I don't see you getting more power from a 350 based build unless you call Butler for a big bore and stroke kit

[@georgegrimes3615]

Why don’t you just go find a junkyard 455 put that in? You’re already ahead of the game

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

A number of reasons honestly, 1st being even if I could find a junkyard 455 I wouldn't trust it. 2nd because I already have a 455 powered LeMans so don't really need 2 of the exact same car ;)

[@RustyZipper]

Who doesn’t need two of the same car? 🤣

[@58sportsuburban]

Have you tried to find a junkyard 455? Even if you did, it wouldn’t be cheap. I’ve been looking for one for my 1970 lemans sport. Im not paying $2,000 for a core

[@WilliamCole-bk8ew]

Have you had a chance to get the specs from a 350 HO engine from 68 Pontiacs ? If so, what power & torque did they produce?

[@gatorred157]

ok Austin the flow numbers mean something important ok funny car of bob taska the one part nhra took it was changed color after flowed & had the numbers ( they went in the pits and took all the blower mounts a manifold like part for the dodge hemi engines he had) i was about to pack up & leave a team running 2 top fuel cars had a few spares with flow numbers! he from texas & won the title a few times! we don't know how it work on your funny car but they fit! it was tunning the cars fuel system why he needed the numbers from the flow bench!

[@user-zc6dn9ms2l]

so just cleaning it up without opening it is worth the trouble

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Oh yes absolutely, just get in there do a tiny bit of cleaning up and you'll see a solid result in flow increase. Now the big question is does that flow increase translate into a power increase? :)

[@70sport37]

You might start to try and find head gaskets for the 350 . Don’t listen to the experts telling you to build a 400 or a 455 as if We’ll you know wtf !

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

We're going to throw every possible trick we can at this thing to make it work, and make it work well, with the understanding that it's most definitely an oddball. NO ONE builds "high powered' Pontiac 350s, and there's probably a reason or two for that ;) The thing is, I already HAVE a wonderful 455 in my other Pontiac so... I don't really need 2 of the exact same engine.

[@user-zc6dn9ms2l]

240 ? You'll need to drill hole between intake port . No i would not remove it . Would weaken the head

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

We're not going to get crazy I promise, but we ARE going to do some work to improve flow and volume. You can see in this testing even just doing a small clean up gained us 2% flow, if we can get another 10% that gets us to 230ish. Worth the work... hopefully

[@user-zc6dn9ms2l]

shared intake port .on 350 ? I got to say , ya it's not been attempted yet on non stock

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

Might have to sacrifice the old heads to give it a try ;)

[@dondotterer24]

Those plates are expensive. I'm guessing $ 450 or more?

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

It certainly wasn't cheap, but I'm not afraid to invest in ability to test and verify! Also means we'll be able to do MORE Pontiac stuff in the future ;)

[@brianholcomb6499]

Stop wasting a good machinists time! Nobody will know what you have for cubic in! You can tell them whatever you want! Very few can tell the difference, so why waste time building small cubic in, when it does have enough head to rev anyway! I’ve seen this garbage too many times 🙄🙄🙄🙄! Did he tell you what it’s going to cost to redo those heads yet?

[@AutomotiveAdventuresWithAustin]

You do your engine build your way, I'll do my engine build my why. I already have a very stout 455 in my 1970 LeMans, and other Pontiac motors, I don't need another one. This is different and unique and something you don't typically see. If you don't like it you don't have to watch, it's my time and money :)

[@58sportsuburban]

And what do you run, besides your mouth?

[@58sportsuburban]

And those heads would cost over $3,000

[@tdog6437]

Wonder what the 6X4 head flow compared to the 428 head would be. Yes I know they are 87cc but I'd rather fight with compression than flow when it comes making power with factory heads. Maybe someday you can make a video on old verses newer pontiac heads, any pontiac nut would love it I know I would. JS 😊

[@58sportsuburban]

@johndillinger8482 A good set of aluminum heads cost at least $3,000 to purchase. Plus the cost of porting. How much did you spend on your ported heads?