Edelbrock

[Shane Kelley]

I have actually never ran into that. My motors are 70 and 71 and I have (2) 71's both running the Eddy heads. They have been bored with aftermarket pistons so something could effect their deck height. All 4 are zero deck. Maybe they varied?  I'm not saying it's not true but I can definitely say with confidence it's not the case with the ones I have. I just tore down a original untouched 71  motor last summer and it was zero deck. I guess he better verify before slapping on a set of aftermarket heads.

[Chryco Psycho]

I've used the performer manifold and cams in 2 engines and for smooth idle and cruising its perfect for what I want. Never used their heads. I have and edlebrock carb on my 51 Dodge pickup with a 400ci engine and I have put 11K miles on it and never touched it since it was installed. Runs great.

You have no idea how much performance is missing yes it starts & runs great but it leaves so much on the table .

[Chryco Psycho]

Are your pistons taller than the deck at TDC? If so you must use the open chamber heads, if not you have options and they are much better than open chamber heads...

Bringing this back to the top since it's important...

A 68-71 340 is one of very few engines with a positive deck height stock... Which means you can't bolt on a set of closed chamber heads unless the pistons are changed...



That rules out allot of head choices like the Trick Flows..  And the Edelbrock that's not designed with an open chamber....

Edelbrock offers a head with an open chamber but most folks prefer to not have to use it..

I agree , the 340 @ 10-1 is above deck height however you can run a Cometic gasket thick enough to handle the problem so any head sis doable , I would recommend cometic anyway with alum heads .

[bennydodge]

850 proform at the track is a whopping .09 better than the 800 eddy on my motor. And yes the 850 was tuned correctly. The Holley 870 was faster than both of them. It was .17 quicker than the 800 Eddy. I guess if I had a 9 second race car the Holley would be the hot ticket.

[bennydodge]

Are your pistons taller than the deck at TDC? If so you must use the open chamber heads, if not you have options and they are much better than open chamber heads...

Bringing this back to the top since it's important...

A 68-71 340 is one of very few engines with a positive deck height stock... Which means you can't bolt on a set of closed chamber heads unless the pistons are changed...

That rules out allot of head choices like the Trick Flows..  And the Edelbrock that's not designed with an open chamber....

Edelbrock offers a head with an open chamber but most folks prefer to not have to use it..

Yes, I think the early 340's had the piston .018 above deck..

[Chryco Psycho]

I would look more to a Mopar designed cam to take advantage of the extra wide lifter , which will yield more lift @ less duration Lunati VooDoo , Engle & Bullet all come to mind  .
As for heads I would use Trick Flow or W2 , there are a few options , some are better for the $$ some are just more $ & Performance , the Eddys I haveseen have terrible core shift & do not seem to make a significant amout of extra power .
This just in direct from the dyno , we tuned an engine with a Proform carb & got the best # , then swapped to a factory Carter AVS the dyno operator was arguing with me on which was better , I took the Carter apart to make sure it was set up correctly to give it the best chance , net Loss was 40 + HP using the Carter & eddys AFBs are not as good

[Cbridgewater]

It's set up with TRW L2316 pistons, solid cam and lifters (do not know cam details). Was looking for an easy and semi-economical set up with cam, intake, heads etc. I have never built an engine before so this is all pretty new to me.

[bennydodge]

I would look more to a Mopar designed cam to take advantage of the extra wide lifter , which will yield more lift @ less duration Lunati VooDoo , Engle & Bullet all come to mind  .
As for heads I would use Trick Flow or W2 , there are a few options , some are better for the $$ some are just more $ & Performance , the Eddys I haveseen have terrible core shift & do not seem to make a significant amout of extra power .
This just in direct from the dyno , we tuned an engine with a Proform carb & got the best # , then swapped to a factory Carter AVS the dyno operator was arguing with me on which was better , I took the Carter apart to make sure it was set up correctly to give it the best chance , net Loss was 40 + HP using the Carter & eddys AFBs are not as good

Was that factory AVS the smaller or larger one? Did you try the 800 eddy AVS? 

[1 Wild R/T]

It's set up with TRW L2316 pistons, solid cam and lifters (do not know cam details). Was looking for an easy and semi-economical set up with cam, intake, heads etc. I have never built an engine before so this is all pretty new to me.

Bring a piston up to TDC & lay a straightedge over the piston and deck... I think you will find that piston is taller than zero...  They cut a chamfer around those pistons to clear the head gasket if it should overhang the bore..

As Neil (Chryco) mentions you could use a cosmetic gasket and Trick flows or the closed chamber Eddies... Just gotta be aware and double check clearances...

[jimynick]

This begs the question of how far out, if any, are the pistons? A couple of thou shouldn't be an issue with a .039" gasket. 

[oldmoparbuff]

Tag for more info.

[1 Wild R/T]

This begs the question of how far out, if any, are the pistons? A couple of thou shouldn't be an issue with a .039" gasket. 

Like Benny Dodge mentioned I think.018 is the spec... so with a .039 gasket you get .021 piston to head...

.039 is fine, .035 is fine, .030 I'm concerned though some folks have run them that tight, actually I've seen the pistons & heads of one that ran that tight, on cold start up it knocked till it warmed up and the piston quit rocking in the bore...

At .021 bad stuff is gonna happen...

[Shane Kelley]

These are the recommended gaskets for the Eddy heads. Which aligns perfectly with what @1 WILD R/T saying. I have to wonder since 71 is the transition year if that explains why I have zero deck? Since were talking about .018 my 70 block could have easily been that. I never put a straight edge on that one and only eyeballed it.