The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 848 heads

I have heard a lot of talk about 848 heads, but as a rookie I have no idea about them,,what makes them so good, what yr and where do you find them,,appear to be hard to find but good heads,,any response would be appeciated... regards..Fred

I belive the 848, heads were used from 1959 to 1962. the reason that they are desirable is they will give you a higher combustion ratio,thus more hp. old navy 51..............

I have a couple of those heads

Not to argue the point, but the info I've seen says the 848 head was started in '56 and ran through '62. As old navy 51 says the comp ratio is higher than the older 913 head (8.6:1, I believe). Also, they were cast with a higher nickel content to help prevent cracking and warping. HTH.

are they an exact match for a 54 yr 235??

If its for a 235, bolt her on and go. There were 848 heads for the 261 also, and of course there is all of that stuff about the steam holes.

I have one on my 56 era 235.

Yes, they will work on the 1954 and newer truck 235 (and on the '53 Powerglide and newer automobile 235). They will not work on the pre-1954 truck 235s.

So I can bolt an 848 on a 54 block(I have a couple nos short blocks)and go?

Joker, If you are looking for a 848 head go to Bishop Engines in Oak Clif. That is where I bought mine for a hundred bucks. I put it on my 54 235 and it works great. By the way when I got mine they had racks full of them and you could pick the one you wanted. They garentee that you will not get a cracked one but they won't pay for the magnafluxing. Hope this helps.

Here is the ~Torque that Head --- Properly!~ from the Inliners International website. It includes 216/235/261 (and GMC 228/248/270/302) head bolt patterns, torque sequences, and instructions/hints.

Note the 261/235(later 235) bolt locations are the same but the torque sequences are differences. As noted above, if the 848 head is used on a 261, the 6 additional water passages need to drilled (use the 261 head gasket as a template).

Tim

The advertised compression ratios were just that,advertised, more often than not,at least 1/2 point lower in reality to allow for fuel and production variances.
And you always have to consider the piston height at TDC.On the engines with standard size GM pistons,the piston is about .010 below the block deck at TDC.On all the stock type oversize replacement pistons I've seen,the piston is as much as .040 below the deck.
Raising compression within reason improves throttle response,torque and fuel mileage and increases the feeling of engine vibration.
I had a modified 261 in my 37 truck,an 848 head milled .030,the block decked .030 with flat top pistons .010 below the deck height.Actual compression was about 9-1.With a hotter cam ,headers and some other hot rod tricks it ran real well.
Then I dropped in a 302 GMC built about the same way as the 261,I'll never bother spending money on hot rodding 235/261's again
It's all in the head,and the 235/261's are limited by a poor head design.

well today I found some 848,,,,never had looked at my numbers on my truck so today at the swap meet Cletis popped the hood and sure enough,, already got them,, Guess I should start looking at numbers sometime,, only had the truck for 8 yrs, always thought it ran pretty good for a stock 54/235.