i have recently rebuilt a 1981 360, bored .30 over with 4.00" stroke crank, performer intake with 650 4bbl carb i have a beast 284 cam w/.480 lift can the stock 360 heads support that cam, i know most of you rebuild cars this however is in a 4x4 truck with 3.55 gear ratio and a granny low 4-speed

I ran stock heads with a 271.284 with 485 /495 lift on an a 360 with stock heads with no porting and ran consistent 11.70's. so my answer is yes. Just make sure that you have the correct valve springs on it and if that engine has rotators on the exhaust valves, make dang sure to get rid of them and use a regular length spring and retainers. They make for a very short exhaust valve spring and they definitely won't take that cam before coil bind.

Thanks for the imput not sure about the rotators but ill check it out, thanks again

Moparforlife, Thats the kind of times I am hoping to run with a 2900# car. Can you give some more engine specs? What year engine did you use and what pistons did you have? 2.02 valves?

First word of advice is to get rid of the Performer intake and get a manifold like an LD340, or Airgap. A good 750 carb would be of essence too. I am/was running with a Chuck Nuytten modified 750 Holley. At the time I was running with a Crower 271/284 with 285/495 lift, KB107 pistons, and an LD340 (with is still on the car. Heads were cut to 60 CC's with no other porting or matching done. Valve springs were single with a damper that bought locally but had the spring rating that worked for the cam. Crank was cut .010/.010 but other than that as came from the factory as were the rods other than honing the pin bosses to float the pins. Same crank, rods and pistons are still in the engine other than a couple of rods and pistons that had an accident with a exhaust valve donut that came loose and decided to go from one piston through the intake and take one on the other side too. Got a couple of a friends spare pistons and a couple of rods from another circle track friend, had a sleeve put in and was ready to do the next week end. Home recurved stock distributor and chrome box & Hooker comp headers. Ran with a 4.30 gear and 29.5X10.5 M/T slick. The car ran a best of 11.71 with that engine set up. Tried a set of 1.6 rollers and ran a best over a season and a half of 11.69. Wasn't sold the rollers to a guy that wanted them worse than I did and went back to the hd stamped rockers that are still in the engine.

well first off im ashamed to admit that some of the stuff your talking about i have no clue but heres what i know, its a "81" 360 with a golden eagle crank with 4.00 stroke, speed pro hypernuematic flat top pistons .020 oversized, performer rpm intake with a holley 670 truck avenger carb, headers, i didnt have enough funds to buy high performance heads so i went with stock heads "81" as well but i have the larger cam now and was unsure if those heads would work, i was told that the stock springs would work but im not to sure bout that so thats why im asking, and like previously mentioned this is a 4x4 pickup that i off road with and do hill climbs and mud boggs,but dont get me wrong i love drag racing and when it comes to engines you are the guys who know what they are talking about not store owners who is told me that stock 360 heads and valve train would work although my cam would be pushing the limits because stock springs will handle .50 lift, im not very smart when it comes to cylinder heads ive never dealt with them before

take your valve cover off and look at the spring retainers...

if the intake and exhaust valve spring retainers look the same...you are ok...

if they look different...you probably have what is call rotators instead of regular valve spring retainers..

those need to be replaced with regular retainers.

i do not have rotators, both intake/exhaust look the same. i have also been told that the stock valve train would handle my cam stock springs and everything since there was no rotators. and then some one else said that for a larger cam i needed new pushrods,springs, retainers, new lifters pretty much everything had to be upgraded, if i stick with the stock springs what will happen, and when i am looking for new springs how do i tell if they can handle 444/467 gross lift w/ 288/298 adv. duration

first off i want to thank you for your imput, i am trying to rebuild this engine while being deployed here in iraq with the army, and no thats not all i do while im here its just what im doing on my "down time" to relax and it has turned out to be not so relaxing trying to coordinate purchasing, shipping, receiving, and assembly via the telephone or e-mail and ensuring that everything is there and will work without being there has become a difficult task not that i am finishing up the heads, i have never rebuilt heads nor have i installed larger cams with out high performance heads which were already set up for high performance cams so i appologize for so many questions but im tired of getting ran around by local mechanics and dealers who for the most part dont know any more than i do which is why im asking you guys first hand who have learned what will and what wont through experiance

once again another question, i know what your thinking just get a set of performance heads and shut up already, like previously mentioned im ordering everything online so all i get on valve spring information is pressure and install height,and compressed height, how do you know what the springs can handle by that information, and with the stock 360 heads, if i put upgraded springs will the stock non-adjustable rocker arm shafts and rocker arms work if the upgraded springs have a higher pressure rating and more travel

If the springs you order have the travel from installed height to coil bind of a minimum of .060 more travel than the valve lift you will be fine. Single springs with a damper will also be fine. Don't get a dual spring set up, you don't need it for that cam and they will require head work to install properly. Read this from Dulcich about what he says about the rockers.

Thank You very much that should wrap it up

Stock springs would not have enough pressure for a performance cam.