where to get amc 304 reman heads

[hoobness]

Hello

Today I removed a leaky header to replace the gasket and seal it up w hi temp rtv to find a nasty little surprise. The fastener closest the firewall is broken off in the head and virtually unremovable unless i pull the head to get more room to ez out it out. Sure I can put it back together and continue driving a noisy POS sounding jeep but Id rather get this taken care of one way or another. Manifold exhaust leaks sound horrible imo.

Im on the fence as to what im gonna do. Since the thing has unknown miles, leaky valveseals, and a broken header bolt stuck in it Im leaning toward just saving a lil money up and replacing the heads with some remans.


For this engine Im noticing things are a tad more expensive and less common than the engines Ive done this job with in the past. To save myself some time and money Im asking the users here if they have any recommendations and or advice and some reputable suppliers of quality reman AMC heads.

If the price is right I may go so far as to ad some perf upgrades like cam and whatever else is accessible and kinda inexpensive while I have this thing apart.

Thank you

 

[flatie46]

Hate to hear that, that is a tight spot to try an remove a broke bolt. If it were me I might just pull the engine to get to it better and not pull the head. Be ware of the snowball effect...what starts out as fixing a broken bolt may turn into 3grand.
I wouldn't replace the heads and not do the bottom end of the engine if it's high mileage. Now I might replace the valve seals which can be done without pulling the head. I also might pull the heads and lapp the valves if I thought they wern't sealing off. These two things can be done by you pretty cheap. AMC engine parts are pretty expensive compaired to Chevy and Ford. Also I really think you have to watch the quallity of replacement parts you get for an AMC. Like a fellow forum member told me last week (Carnuck, I believe ), the oil pump will more than likely leak unless you use the gasketts from Bulltear. He was right... mine drips like a faucet.

If you decide to do any building or rebuilding of an AMC I would research it deeply. I would price a reman engine and weigh it out or keep your eye open for a good used engine, there are lots of stalled projects out there.

If it were me I wouldn't let the unknown miles part bother me. If it runs good, has good compression drive it till it drops. ( With a WIX filter )
This is just my opinion, my engine is well worn and I may be facing either a rebuild or replacement sometime down the road. I dread writing them checks! Good luck.

 

[SteelHeadz]

At one point in time, Edelbrock had the AMC 360 and 401 heads but they are pricey. I don't know if they still do.

 

[jps4jeep]

At one point in time, Edelbrock had the AMC 360 and 401 heads but they are pricey. I don't know if they still do.

This^^ last time I checked it was just north of $1000 for a set of edelbrock aluminum heads. Some simple machining, valve job and replace any components that appear worn will work wonders for your old heads. They are heavy, but AMC heads actually flowed pretty well from the factory.

 

[hoobness]

thanks guys. I found a shop local who will redo the heads for 250. Im going with that for now. magnaflux, new springs, seals, seats, 3 angle on both and a warranty.

 

[jps4jeep]

thats a very fair price assuming it include all the new parts and labor.