"Market price" of core 333's?

[Richard/SIA]

What is considered a fair price for a set of "rebuildable" 333 truck heads these days?

With the cost of freight it may be important to get a set locally.

It seems a lot of people are speculating in "W" parts, so it's hard for the new guys to know what they should pay for many of these components.

I'm leaning toward new aluminum heads for my '59, but I may end up building a mild engine for a '55 2-Ton truck as well.

[chevytaylor]

The 333s work very well with the bigger valves. Put it this way, I for one will not be letting any 333s go. They don't make em any more. Price.........?

Carl.

[models916]

$200 seems like a fair price. Bare head is about all that is reusable.

[Tom Kochtanek]

Now is a good time to purchase these 333 heads, because we are all juiced up following Jim's excellent portrayal of truck engine builds :). That may increase demand a bit. Same goes for the 379s, which until recently I thought these may not be worth much at all (no offense to anyone who has them, or paid lots for them :)). Now we have flow data that suggest otherwise. I've always been budget-conscious and these to me look like good heads to have and to hold.

Used to be able to buy a pair for maybe 100 bucks, that is now about $200 as Models suggests. Might go even higher, but I don't see that on Ebay just yet.

I donated a set of 348 truck heads to my local Rat Rod group, all cleaned up and magged. They put them in the local swap meet last year, asking $100. No takers. This year they put them out and asked $200, same deal, no takers. Lots of lookers, no one wanted to buy.

It appears that the only set of heads less desirable than these are the 791s from 1958 (unless you are a '58 guy!!!). No offense to these folks, either, I'm starting to like the looks of those 58s :).

As Carl advises, I am hanging on to the sets I have, and am contemplating a 400 horse 409 truck engine build just for the heck of it. No car to put it in, but someday....

So it seems that there is a huge gap between the 379s, 333s and the next more desirable heads, the 817s. That gap may be narrowing, as $200 is not that much anymore for a GM 409 part. With 817s going for around $750 and up, and 690s for $2800 and 583s even more, there is a huge gap there as well. That's what Edelbrock is aiming at, whenever we get to see their prices...

The 1147s seem to be in a class all by themsleves, and we've seen those prices go up this past year. Sets go for $1000 - $1500 bare. Of course the Z-11 and whatever the castings are from the 1961 409 360 horse builds are also in their own class...

Cheers, and hope I am not offending anyone!

TomK

P.S. I am still looking to sneak up on a set of 690s or 583s for $500...

[Ronnie Russell]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=003&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=130201034157&rd=1
Bidding has ended, but could this be the future?

[skipxt4]

Ronnie: Your signature, sums it up, pretty well. Skip

[Richard/SIA]

It seems pretty clear that by the time anyone buys a set of the original performance heads, cleans them up, ports them even a little, puts in new valves, etc., the cost may easily exceed most after-market aluminum heads.

Unless it's got to stay original for racing or show purposes, I expect a lot of aluminum heads to be sold in the next few years.

Not sure how long this will last, the "W" is not THAT common, and not everyone will be buying new heads.
Everyone who can should probably grab their choice of aluminum heads while they are available.

I think I'm going to sell off a couple of my back-burner projects in order to accelerate my own "W" build.

[models916]

With new blocks and intakes comming, I think this is just the beginning. I think Region Rat is right on time with his projects.

[Tom Kochtanek]

Here's one that's still ongoing for a set of 333s that need to be dismantled and rebuilt. Not cleaned, magged, etc. You take a chance.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290210223230&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=019

Cheers!
TomK

P.S. I thought those 817s all freshened up went pretty high ($1500 plus) , don't you all?