Show your rare chevy parts..

[m22mike]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: black69</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I can take a pic of some aluminum 60 315HP fuelie heads I have. Few were made, most were destroyed. Few made it on cars, and were recalled back. It was not until 61, they were released in cast iron form. May be too old of stuff for this thread though. </div></div>

Did 11 or so 60 Vettes get those heads ? A guy here has a 60 with aluminum heads.

Mike

[black69]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: m22mike</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: black69</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I can take a pic of some aluminum 60 315HP fuelie heads I have. Few were made, most were destroyed. Few made it on cars, and were recalled back. It was not until 61, they were released in cast iron form. May be too old of stuff for this thread though. </div></div>

Did 11 or so 60 Vettes get those heads ? A guy here has a 60 with aluminum heads.

Mike </div></div>

I think a few of them (2?) made it out the door is what I read once. I also heard a small amount made it out (11 seems right) and they got them back on a recall, but some did not make it back as many vettes got stolen back in the day. In an case, they it was very low numbers. The guy with the aluminum heads would be the best source for all of this.

[marxjunk]

nah..lets see the heads...

[black69]

Someone at GM put that paint on there.. I 'think' these were the first forms, of the double hump heads, that we all came to love on 283s and 327s...not sure, but I think so. The first 461x heads. You did not see another aluminum head on a chevy until 67, and it was a big block. Note on the last picture, how GM tech milled out the valve seats on one cylinder so you could not use again. Easily repaired today.

[iluv69s]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: black69</div><div class="ubbcode-body">. I 'think' these were the first forms, of the double hump heads, that we all. The first 461x heads. You did not see another aluminum head on a chevy until 67, and it was a big block. </div></div>

I have a set of chevy sm block aluminum heads dated 1963...(if I recall correctly)....probably rarer than these...I'll try and dig them out to post a few pics

Also I think I read that Mickey Thompson used or was involved w these 59 dated heads

[Nasblu]

[marxjunk]

thanks for sharing..


now thats cool stuff...

[novadude]

Do we know why they abandoned the aluminum head program in 1960? What issues were they having?

It would be interesting to get these on a flow bench and see if they are actually any different than 461 heads.

[black69]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: novadude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Do we know why they abandoned the aluminum head program in 1960? What issues were they having?

It would be interesting to get these on a flow bench and see if they are actually any different than 461 heads. </div></div>

That's a great question. What I do believe they did hit the 315HP target mark on a 60 283 fuelie (same rating as 1961 with cast iron 461x heads), as I do believe all they were going for was endurance testing verification. I read they had water passage cracking issues, warping, no steel valve guides, etc. Not exactly reliable. The metallurgy of the heads just were off, and that killed them.


I read somewhere, the new head gasket technology that exists today (o-ring), may solve the issues <span style="font-style: italic">some</span> of these early heads would have had.

[PeteLeathersac]

Below excerpt about the 59/60 Aluminum Head project seems logical and poster knowledgeable.
Info from this link...
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/foru...-1960-67-a.html

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete


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<span style="font-style: italic">06-30-01, 06:03 AM
Administrator
Tom Bryant

I'll try to give you the short version of the aluminum head story so I don't end up rambling. Both of the '60 FI engines were to have aluminum heads with 1.94&quot; intake valves and higher hp ratings. They were advertised and even people ordered cars thinking they were getting the heads. Never happened. They cracked between the valve seats and some even cracked during initial torquing. The '59 FI engines rated at 250 and 290 hp were carried over to '60 and the &quot;Advertised Maximun Engine Performance&quot; chart was revised in June 1960 to show this. There were only a few engines built at Flint with aluminum heads and they were sent to Warren Tech Center for testing.

There were no Corvettes delivered with aluminum heads by the St. Louis plant. The rumors of cars being recalled because of aluminum heads cracking are false and just rumors. Since there were no heads delivered there were none to recall so there is no service bullitin relating to this subject. This is varified by a letter from Joe Pike (Chevrolet Asst National Sales Promotion Mgr. and later Corvette News editor, from where most of us knew Joe) dated August 1961 stating that &quot;There were no 1960 or 1961 Corvettes produced with aluminum cylinder heads.&quot; The letter further states the use of the '59 engines in the '60 FI car and the new 315 hp engine in the '61. This '61 engine had an iron version of the aluminum head with the double hump marking on the end.

You will see some of the alum heads in private hands as they were cast by Chevrolet and other sources including Alcoa in the mid '60s for use in an Indy engine project. All seem to have the '59 casting dates that were in the molds. I don't feel that these heads would be good for anything except a display novelty. They would crack if you tried to use them and they wouldn't be correct on a restoration...</span>



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