I have 1 head with a broken piece, and need to replace it. I've found a pr. of 'boss' heads, needing remanufacturing, and am considering the swap. I'm told I will need to swap the cam too. Any advice?? Any reason/s not to?
Original Post
Nope. I'd check your compression distance & chamber volume to make sure you won't raise the C.R. above 9-1/2:1 or you'll have pinging/knocking troubles. A 'big cam' actually helps to stop pinging- it reduces pressures in the chamber at lower rpms. Fel-Pro sells thicker composition head gaskets that drop the C.R a bit over the steel shim type. You'll need the longer 'Boss' pushrods even if you run hydraulic lifters. Be wary- the "remanufacturing" needed is often because the heads have been on a boneyard engine with a couple of valves open for 10 years and the seat areas are wasted. The fix is to add hardened valve seats and like everything else, it can be done wrong... All your non-Boss stuff will fit, but I'd try to get the single-groove valves & keepers since the tendency is to rev up a Boss, and multigroove valve keepers sometimes drop a valve stem... with disasterous results at high rpm!