what is a real good set of heads from a bone yard to get for a 383 stroker with 400+ plus hp and 400= FT LBS TQ

No offense. but if I had a motor like that I would not put anything major from the boneyard. But then again I don't much :)

i dont mean i going to get a pair of heads and trow sum d greaser on it and trow it on the motor, i just want some good heads that arent going cost me an arm and a leg that i can build up my self, im building up the engine my self and i want to do the heads as well

I don't think that there are any junkyard heads that will give you the performance that you are looking for. Oh, I'm not saying that you couldn't get some junkyard heads and then spend a big bundle of money on them to make them work, but not even as well as a reasonably priced out of the box aftermarket head. Save money and buy some aftermarket heads, Edelbrock Performer RPM heads at less than $1000 a pair is one good deal.

400 horses from a 383 is pretty easy to come by and a new set of Vortec heads go for about 400 bones new and breathe reasonably well out of the box...also being as they are iron you don't have any head gasket issues to worry about..................Dan

The right set of cast iron Vortec heads should do the trick, but don't get the truck heads. Then figure on spending some bucks on them to attain the horsepower figure your looking for. Keep in mind that by the time you do this, you'll be close to spending about the same as just buying a set of new cast iron non-Vortec aftermarket heads. Also if you do go with Vortec heads, you'll need an intake manifold that will work with them...more money. If you were planning on buying a new intake anyway...no problem, but if you already have an intake that you were going to use, it won't work with the Vortecs. Watch what you buy if used...a lot of sellers have no clue what their selling and intentionally or unintentionally mislead you. If you find some good OEM heads used for sale check the casting number at www.mortec.com to see if they are in fact what the seller claims. Also going with aluminum heads will allow you to run 10-1 compression (maybe a bit more) and still run on pump gas with no issues, with cast iron heads you may have detonation problems at 10-1 compression. If your looking to get 400hp/400 ft pds torque, you'll need to be close, if not more than 10-1 compression, of course the other parts you use will factor in. I tend to agree with Mrappi on the Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, but if you want to go Vortec style heads, check out the GM Fastburn aluminum heads, they run around the same cost wise. If you get the current GM Performance Parts catalog, it will give you all the part numbers you need to build a good 383 capable of 400+hp using GM parts. Or you could just buy a 383 crate motor from GM if you have da money...unlike me! :lol: Also, check out www.sdpc2000.com (crate motors) for some ideas. It's not to hard to get 425hp out of a 350 with the right parts.

I remember reading an article in Super Chevy years ago, Lingenfelter built a 400 with 882 heads. If I remember right he installed 2.02,1.60 valves with some minor bowl porting. It had 9:1 compression and a 280 comp cam. It was around 405hp and 415 torque. Performer rpm and a 750 Double pumper for the induction.