help with heads

I was wanting to upgrade my heads and cam on my 77 firebird that has the pontiac 350 engine. I've been looking for a new set but keep coming up with chevy 350 heads people keep telling me that I can use the chevy aftermarket heads on the pontiac but an old timer at a car show told me he thought that the water ports were diffrent in the heads from chevy to pontiac is this true or not? and what about a cam?

A pontiac 350 will NOT be able to use ANY Chevy 350 parts. Pontiac didn't make a "small block" or "big block", they were simply Pontiac. Dimensionally they were the size of a Chevy big block but use none of the same parts.
While this may seem to limit you on parts it really helps instead. You can use pretty much any Pontiac head on any Pontiac engine (V8's). The only thng you have to be aware of are the different combustion chamber sizes, but the same is true of a small block Chevy too.
Check these guys for Poncho parts http://www.jbp-pontiac.com/
http://www.tinindianperformance.com/
http://www.wallaceracing.com/
http://www.proformanceunlimited.com/pontiac.html

Morley is correct. However, there are a few "pitfalls". It is commonly considered that "bigger is better". When it comes to Pontiac heads, that's not necessarily true. In fact, to up the performance of a 400 or 455, it is common practice to use the very 350 heads on your engine now! The casting number of the head is located on the center two exhaust ports as they protrude from the head. Yours should be "4C" or "5C".

In '75, compression ratios were "through the floor", creating poor performance from most American V8s, including Pontiacs. A pair of '68, '69 or '70 350 heads would gain significant power by increasing compression. For iron heads, though, static compression should not exceed 9.5:1. A 68 CC chamber would be right for your 350 (really 354 CID if doing calculations). The more popular casting numbers are 17, 47 and 11. These heads are mostly sought by collectors and have little "performance value" among the bigger Pontiac engines. Price should be reasonable, about $250 for a pair of good cores.
For '69, a few 350 "HO" engines wre equipped with a small-chamber version of "48". While a very good head for 400-plus CID engines, due to the 2.11" intake valve, these heads aren't as desirable on 350 as others. With any larger-than-stock camshaft, they tend to run the intake valve into the block... NOT good...

When it comes to the Pontiac engine, listen to the old timers. They have respect and won't steer you wrong. The last year that engine was installed in production cars was '79.

Get an Edelbrock "Performer" intake, Comp XE262H cam, Hooker "Comp" headers and that little 350 will FLY!

There's a current book available regarding the Pontiac engine. "How to Build Max-performance Pontiac V8s" by Jim Hand, published by SA Designs. It is all about a modern street performance approach to the old Injun.

You will find Jim Butler Performance (jbp-pontiac.com , also found at "butlerperformance.com") to be very helpful and offer a tremendous amount of aftermarket performance parts. They will probably try to steer you away from spending much on the 350. It's true, 400s and 455s have a TON more potential. But it's YOUR money, spend it how YOU want!

Wallace Racing keeps their website for those doing research. They have a huge database for Pontiac production numbers and combinations. For the most part, VERY accurate. They're pretty much "non-commercial", just hardcore Ponti-yakkers...

Tinindian is another matter. Reports on business practices are "mixed". Let the buyer beware.

I know very little of performanceunlimited, so I can't comment.

Two other VERY good suppliers of all things "Pontiac" are Performance Years and Ames Performance. These folks sell ONLY Pontiac restoration parts and "trinkets". No Chevrolet spoken there!


Jim