What are #516 Big Block heads worth?

[Kern Dog]

I know of a bare set of the closed chamber # 516 heads. The guy is willing to give them away but I want to give him a fair price. If they are rebuildable, what are they worth?

 

[69 GTX]

I would think 50-100, you won't know if they're any good till you have them magnafluxed. Don't they have a little smaller exhaust valve?

 

[Kern Dog]

The guy has a box with the larger valves from a set of # 906 heads.
I don't even need them, I just don't run across these or the #915s very often.

 

[4mulas]

If they need rebuild or are unknown his offer of free is a fair price in my opinion.

They must have the exhaust valves enlarged at a minimum and then apparently from every single debate I’ve read they don’t flow as well a stock 915, 906, 452 etc. So yah they are closed chamber but do you want to spend the time and money on them to make them equivalent to a better stock head...?

I think you’d find many will give them away free

Buy him a beer and have a visit for payment?

 

[F4R/T]

Don’t scrap them but not worth a lot unless they are checked out first. I know guys will say buy new for cost of refreshing but some of us guys still like iron heads.

 

[66Satellite47]

With unknown condition, I'd say up to $25. The 516 can work really well with a minimal amount of "pocket porting", smoothing the short side radius and adding the larger exhaust valves. They do just fine for a mild, smaller cam engine.

 

[Mark Barnes]

If he offered to give them to you, take them. He has already established the value TO HIM. If he likes beer, buy him a case as a gesture of goodwill.
My 516's have 76 CC chambers, ported, and 2.14/1.81 stainless Manley valves. I think they'll do ME just fine. Good luck and have fun with yours! If you torch the heads, almost painless!

 

[moparedtn]

I couldn't get any nibbles on here a few years back on a set I had, so I threw them up on
Craigslist and wound up getting a whopping $100 complete.
Thought I was gonna get stuck with them forever...

 

[ruffcut]

I bought a pair of 906's with a fresh valve job for 150.00 not long ago. ruffcut

 

[Lefty71]

Here's a thought.... and its just my crazy two cents... They just need unshrouded and seats opened up to be 915's right?? The value wont be there but they'd be about the same thing as a set of 915's which does give them some value. Why not look for a deal on an old Kwik-Way or Soiux grinding set and do the job yourself, or do with a little guidance from your favorite machininst?? You might be able to make something out of them, when they were destined to be pop cans or door stops otherwise..... I managed to pick up two very complete grinding sets and extra motors back in the Ebay heydays for cheap so i know they're out there..... Just depends on how bored you are i guess..

 

[chooch]

to me they are not worth the time or trouble I usually list them for sale $50-100 locally & even delivered to some shows / swap meets since they are not worth the expense of shipping to anybody & I'm betting just about 99% of the time I scrap them after tripping over them for a year.

 

[Jerry Hall]

Don’t scrap them but not worth a lot unless they are checked out first. I know guys will say buy new for cost of refreshing but some of us guys still like iron heads.

They delivered 325 HP in 67 383's and with a 174 exhaust valve and a little unshrouding the same engine delivered better than 375 HP with no other changes. As stated above they are usable and cheap for mild street builds. Free is great $50-$75 is fair. Anything over $100 is probably high, but IMO, they're not scrap iron.

 

[Nate S]

I junked a set a few months back, kept another better set just in case. Free is probably about right.

 

[cr8crshr]

I have re-worked 2 sets of 516's. They are capable of very good quench being closed chambered. New valve seats and bigger exhaust valves help out very nicely. They are basically good for a stock re-build and will not give you the performance of the others. That being said, free is free. But if you feel the need to offer some compensation, i would say not more than 100.00 for the pair...cr8crshr/Bill

 

[1968rt]

516 heads need more work than you realize. $$$ Valves, throats, runners etc. and at 84ccs your not gaining much compression. Good for quench but not flow.

 

[69 Sleeper Bee]

A set of 516's are worth around $100 at best and the cost of having them machined for the larger exhaust valves and hardened seats is something to factor in just to have a set of heads that will never flow like the 915's or 906's no mater how much you port them.
I have a set of 516's and 915's and the ports on the 915's are a lot bigger
Compare the port size on the 516's in the back vs. the 915's in front. Also look at valve spring size between both.

 

[qkcuda]

I just had my 516's done. Much smaller and flatter ports with almost no short turn. They did come in at 75 cc's with a .020 clean up cut. They will work fine for my mild build with a torque/RV cam.