What to look for in a used set of camel hump heads?

I'm looking at buying a set of 462 camel humps that have 202/160 valves and would like some advice. A guy locally has them for sale and he says they came off a running motor. Question is...are there any obvious signs to look out for as far as damage/wear goes when looking at these things? The guy's asking $200 for the pair.

 

Well, look for the obvious cracks around the exhaust seats, bring a true straightedge and check for warping. The last thing would be to pop a retainer and spring and check for bronze guides, if there are no new guides, wiggle the valves to see how much play there is.
For argument sake, ***ume they need guides, valves and seals along with a touch up of the seats. Ask your machine shop how much for that work and add it to the purchase price. You may be better off to buy a new set of vortec heads when all things are considered.

 

Well, the biggest one is cracks in the material between the valves. Another thing to look at is how far recessed the valves are. If they are recessed down, it indicates new valve seats will need to be installed. Look for broken bolts, and stripped threads. Everything except cracks can be repaired easily, but it will cost money to have done.

When I buy a set of used heads, I always allow room in the budget for milling the mating surface, new valves or a valve grind, new guides, and new valve seats. If any of these things aren't needed, then you got a bonus. Last time I had a set of heads re-done that were "well used", it cost me $400 to bring them into top shape.

 

What he said. I have a friend pulling his hair out trying to save a used up set now. He's about to pull them off for the third time to replace all the studs.

I have a hard time justifying used up camel hump heads when so many low miles late model heads are out there that make better power, for the same money. If bolt holes and valve covers matter, look at World Products, Eagle or RHS.

 

I have a really nice set available. These were ported by the world Famous Joe Mondello and have stainless valves, good springs, guide plates etc. Ready to bolt on. asking $500.00 for the pair. The port work is beautiful on these.
If you want to stay with old school looks and excellent flow, these are the heads for you

 

open them up and check between valves. I had 2 out of 6 I bought cracked in multiple chambers.
$200 + $400 to bring them back to life, or $849 a pair for dart heads. Fine line to walk.
Ended up I went with sportsman II on the last one I built. but they were $650 a pair from midwest motorsports back then.

 

Buy a set of aftermarket heads flow better, better combustion chamer hardened seats better guides ,better seals, double humps are good for a restoration. they were a good head 30 years ago.

 

I do want to stick with the old school look as far as bolt holes and valve covers go as they're going on a small journal 327. Also, I am on somewhat of a budget so I thought these might just be the ticket. Provided that I can clean them up and just bolt them on. When the guy says that they came off a running motor, that's not to say that the heads still don't needs some work. There are certain things that I'll be able to see, it's the things that I can't that worry me. Still kind of up in the air over what to do....

 

Fi**xr, I've been there. I always regretted it. Take your time and save your money. Buy the best you can afford and spend your money once.

 

They're used heads, so don't expect to get new heads for the price you're paying. But you should look them over as best you can. If you are building a budget engine that doesn't need to run 100k miles, they should work ok as long as the guides aren't shot, seats aren't receded, no cracks, they're not warped, etc.

See if you can work out some kind of deal to have them inspected by a machine shop, and whether or not you buy them is based on what the shop says they need.

Most worn out engines still run....they don't run good, but they run.

 

Totally agree. I'm not expecting new for what I'm paying...but money is money and I work too damn hard for it to throw it away no matter what the cost.

I am expecting to have to put some kind of money into these things, I just don't want to end up with more in them than what they're worth.

This guy seems pretty reasonable so I'm going to try and see if he'll let me take them somewhere and have them checked out, or else buy them conditionally. Although, if I bring them back and tell them they're F'd, not so sure how I'll go about getting my money back!

 

This is very true....

 

what's the casting date on those 462's???

 

You know what, I don't even know. I can check tonight when I go have a look at them.

 

Cool. Thanks!

 

You can try a simple test with carb cleaner, spray into the ports, exh and intake, see if the carb clearner leaks by the valves,, that'll tell you if the valves are still seated good.. if in doubt send them to the machine shop.. although you can lap the valves yourself.
do they have hardened seats already? if they're original and still have the old valves and seats they wont last long with unleaded.
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I agree with 53Sled, I would go with a modern set of heads, if possible..

 

Mineral spirits works great also for checking seapage (sp?)...

 

seepage
noun
1.
the act or process of seeping; leakage.
2.
something that seeps or leaks out.
3.
a quan***y that has seeped out.

The older I get, the more seepage I get,,

sorry Deuces,, I couldnt help myself,,,

 

Thats ok... I never was good at speelling..

 

Every time I buy used stuff to save money it winds up costing more in the long run. Get a set of Vortecs.

 

The last set of camel back heads i bought ended up costing me almost $400 to make right on top of what I paid for them. IMO if they're not at least up to date with hardened seats and the guides in good shape save your money.

 

I would like to stick with the old school look. As far as I know, Vortecs have the wrong bolt style. I could be wrong though...

 

One thing i havent seen posted yet is most all of the early camel humps 461's and 462's (and 291? i think) alike are 1.94 intake and 1.50 exhaust which is a basic 4BBL head. Only the TRUE "FUELIE" heads and 327"-350HP of the same casting #'s had 2.02/ 1.60 valves and the chambers were relieved on the intake side from the factory to unshroud the larger valve. It is very common after a few valve grinds that the 1.94 valves get replaced by 2.02 valves and the chambers DO NOT get relieved to UNSHROUD the valve. Since most head guys Dont have this cutter in their tool box. so be sure to watch for this !!!!

 

I'm stubborn like you,buddy gave me a set off his running engine,$ 650 dollars later I have a set like new!

 

My gut reaction is that at that price for a set of 2.02 camel bumps, he has already discovered something wrong with them and is trying to unload them on an unsuspecting rube seeking a bargain. Check CAREFULLY for cracks and sunk valves. If you want period correct for a small journal 327, camel bumps are the only choice, but I am a little uneasy about the asking price. If they were 1.94s, yea, ok, maybe, but there arent very many original 2.02s floating around anymore, so I would figure these heads have been re-done, my gut reaction is, that price is maybe too good to be true. Just saying proceed carefully.

Also check very carefully for cracks running from outside the outside of the intake valve seat out through the chamber from around 6.30 to 8 oclock. Its not unheard of for 461s and 462s to crack in this area, and they can be quite hard to see, essentially the head is ruined if its cracked in this area. FWIW, I have a set of original un-rebuilt 1.94 461s with a few sunk valves, less of an issue with 1.94s than 2.02s as you can machine the new seat on new material when you punch bigger valves in them, if I was gonna sell them, which I'm not, I would want at least $200 for them, probably more. If the heads are already cut for 2.02s x1.60s and the exhaust valves are sunk, you have a problem.

 

As with any factory SBC head the rocker studs are the weak link IMO, also there's usually a reason heads are removed from a running engine. I am also of the opinion that there are too many good aftermarket heads available at a reasonable price to throw money at worn out factory heads unless its for a restoration or period correctness. If performance is your only reason for these go after market.

 

This information is very helpful. I too am looking for a set of camel-humps for the sake of period-correctness. I've dealt with vortecs before and they're damn good heads, but they don't look right on a period engine. (Center-bolt valve covers, etc.)

Somebody needs to start re-popping heads that look like early power-paks or camel-humps but flow like new Darts or vortecs. I'd buy a couple sets for sure!

 

I just sold a set of complete early 60s camel humps this afternoon for $40.00 that needed to be gone through. I probably could have gotten at least a hundred, but everyone is right prices are coming down to make them worth fixing up.

 

Okay, here's the latest and greatest. I get to the guys house and we go into his garage and he's got three quads and a sled in there. The guy obviously likes his toys, but doesn't seem like a car guy one bit. Apparently these heads were in his vette until he blew it up or something that's why he was selling them. For this reason, I don't feel like the guy was trying to unload them on some poor ****er(that would be me), but instead getting rid of them because he truly doesn't need them anymore. I'm hoping that's the case.

So it turns out, these are 462 heads but they have the 1.94 valves instead of the 2.02's. Which to me, isn't that big of a deal. The intakes look like they have been cleaned up a little bit, but the valves still sit well above the seat. The seats still look bright and shiney. I checked the best that I could for cracks and couldn't find anything. I checked for play in the valve guides by trying to wiggle the valves and there was virtually nothing.

The best part of it all, is I only paid $100 for them. Even if they do need some work, I still think I got a really good deal on them.

 

Actually, unless the heads are pretty fresh, the 1.94s are PREFERABLE, for the reason I pointed out in my previous post, namely that when you get them machined for the bigger valves, your machinist will be cutting the seats on new material, rather than working with seats that have to be sunk because they have already been machined 3-4 times or more in the past. Sounds like you scored. Good stuff.