Please see the attached pictures, I am trying to decide what I need to do with this engine. It is a 68 - 302 V8. Last night, I finally tore the heads off and found on my number 1 piston cylinder that there are light waves you can feel? This is not normal compared to the other 7 cylinders that are all smooth. What do you guys suggest? Find another used 203 block / engine? Hone it out? or take it to a machine shop? Also, what do you think would be cheapper to do?

Also, from the pictures, do the heads look ok, just dirty? They feel smooth, just alot of exhaust stuff on them.
Thanks again

 

i would take it to a machine shop and see what they have to say

 

That is usually caused by the piston rocking in the bore. How does the piston pin look? Is it loose at all? The heads need a good cleaning, but as long as they are out, you should have them redone with hardened exhaust valve seats if not already done. Unless you are on a really tight budget or need to keep everything original, a set of upgraded heads would not be significantly more money.

 

Many cylinders can be cleaned up with a .030 over bore and hone. A machine shop can tell you what to do, but .030 over is not a big deal if you are going to replace the rotating assembly anyway. As for the heads, are these plane janers? If they are and you do not want to make much power, a simple valve job and clean up will probably work fine. If you are wanting performance though, you are going to need aftermarket heads or fine someone who know what they are doing to port and polish the runner to help get some more air in those cylinders. Aftermarket heads are going to run circles around ported janers, so consider spending your money on something in the Edelbrock, AFR, or TrickFlow project line. Do some searches on heads because it has been discussed a bunch. I love the performance from my AFR 205s on my 383, but the valves suck. I have been suggesting to everyone who will listen that they put on hardened valve stem lash caps to prevent going through what I did.

 

+1 on the AFR heads and upgrades. I have 185s on my GT40 engine. I had the bare castings ported and polished, upgraded valves, springs, titanium retainers, etc. With a Comp Cams 31-760-8 solid roller cam (288 duration, .586 lift) on my 347, I got 530HP at the flywheel.