Is this head useable?

I tore down my '76 455 Olds block this week, but one of the heads is in pretty sad shape (looks like the valve cover was full of water at some point). I found a set of older GA heads for it on ebay, but there is some rust in one of the valve seats. This is my first time building an engine, aside from the 1.9L Escort engine we did at school, so I'm not sure if the rust is a big deal or not.

http://enginesleds.com/images/Oldsmobile%20Auctions/Misc%20Stuff/Ga%20Heads%20Bottom.jpg

I've seen way worse, thats for sure

Send it to a head shop and let them pull it down and put them through the parts washer. Its probably all surface rust and are fine

Those heads look used enough that they should probably be rebuilt anyway before using them. If so, don't worry about it too much. I might ask for a closeup of that chamber to try and assess how much pitting there is, but valves and seats are easy to machine/replace. Its not cheap; valve jobs require a good bit of labor, but that appears to be a perfectly rebuildable head.

Most machine shops do an "exchange" service, give them your cores and they take a refurbished set off the shelf and you're good to go. They should be able to come up with exact matches to what you want.

But if you want to have your eBay heads redone, it may cost you a few extra bucks, as they charge for parts that are required, usually no more than some valves or valve springs that need to be replaced. They have a standard "rebuild" process that includes disassembly, hot tanking, inspection, testing the springs, grinding the valves and seats and reassembly.

The exchange process is a set price, as long as you supply a core, regardless of condition.

Bob