Recommendations in CT for head rebuild?

[mgoneill70]

My father passed down his 1971 Formula 455 H/O to my brother in the late 70s after having Ram Air IV heads installed and subsequently blowing the motor. Fast forward till now, still have the Ram Air IV heads in basement and one needs a machine shop to inspect and determine if it can be repaired. Any recommendations for experienced machine shops in CT or tri-state? Much appreciated.

 

[melsg5]

Just to be clear on one thing you cannt put a 1969/70 RA IV head with a 71 cc combustion chamber on a 455 without ending up with more than 11.0:1 compression. For a shop that does performance head work try the 2nd link below. Good luck

Pontiac Cylinder Head and Engine Compression Ratio Chart

Wallace Racing Home of Pontiac Powered Firebirds,Trans Ams,Pontiac Powered Dragsters,Pontiac Power Rules!

www.wallaceracing.com

Nitemare Performance | Custom-Ported Pontiac Cylinder Heads

 

[mgoneill70]

Which might explain the disaster that took place shortly after the RA IV heads were installed. Then again, because of that, the car sat in our garage until the 80s with less than 8k miles before my brother put another 455 in it. He still has the car and would like to do a total restoration so figured I’d get these heads checked out and go from there. Thanks.

 

[melsg5]

If you can provide a casting number it might help to confirm they are actually RA IV heads. The 71 455 HO head was somewhat similar due to both heads having round exhaust ports compared to the standard D port of other Pontiac heads.

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[mgoneill70]

My father was a real car guy back in the late 50s thru the 70s so I'm certain they're RA IV heads. I still have the original Shelby 10 spoke wheels from his 66 Shelby GT350 along with the rear "wing" off his 1969 Hurst Olds (455 H/O, white with gold stripes), he ended up taking the wing off and painting the car British racing green because the cops were pulling him over all the time. He also had a 67 327 Corvette for a short period that he hated the handling of. Anyway, the 71 Formula was his last muscle car before he started driving Chevy Blazer's and Suburban's in the 70s. He had a Chicago engine shop (I believe owned by the Granatelli Brothers) install the RA IV heads on the Firebird and blew the motor driving back from Chicago to CT. Like I said in an earlier post, that's the only reason the car stayed in the family as it remained parked in the garage for about 10 years.

 

[mgoneill70]

They are the 69 RA IV heads, #722

 

[mgoneill70]

Here is the 71 Formula looking for a complete restoration, hopefully soon.

 

[melsg5]

Have you considered the value of those heads to someone restoring a 1969 RA IV and using the money from the sale for a set of Edelbrock aluminum heads intended for a 455?

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[mgoneill70]

I will see about getting them rebuilt, my brother can then do with them as he pleases. My guess is he keeps them.