So originally I never intended to go this route...but I found a super cheap set of e7te heads for sale. I know most people regard these as no more than paperweights, but obviously better than stock 5.0 SO heads. I have convinced myself to go aluminum a long time ago, but these heads are very tempting. My original setup was gonna be Trick Flow heads and stage 1 cam with gt40 intake, mass air conversion, etc etc. But what about a set of e7te's built to what i want, which would be 1.6 roller rockers, ported, etc? Could it be worth to buy and build them to what i want or just wait to go aluminum?
Some things are worth waiting for, like aluminum heads. Other things, like E7's are not worth waiting for. Don't settle for garbage, hold out for the heads you want.
X2. Airflow on these motors is where the stock heads absolutely suck. You will spend a lot of time and $$$ trying to get a stock set of heads flowing what your cam really needs only to find out that the same money on a set of quality aluminum heads was what you should have done in the first place. I speak from experience on this as I had a set of '70 351W DOZZ heads that were mildly ported and polished, valve job, and new valve guides and got just the castings for $300. Then you get into putting good valves in them (Manley is my go to), keepers, retainers, and the correct springs. Then you have to make sure that the springs will give you the correct install height so that you get no bind, the correct open pressure and the correct close pressure. This usually means you have to cut the spring seat down to get the right height as these heads were never meant for high lift roller cams.
Just remember the 302/351W stock cast iron cylinder head rule - stop, don't, and run.
I wouldn't even do GT40's any more...next build will be aluminum heads...and I'm cheap as shag.
I'd pass. As others have stated a stock rebuild will eat up a bunch of money. Then if you do any port work you're hitting the cost of a decent aluminum head. Just save your money for a decent set of heads to begin with.