360 heads on a 304 will it work?

i have a 304 in my new rig but it is lacking power, i want to try and fit higher flowing heads to get more power out of them. So i think throwing a pair of AMC 360 heads and im hoping they would be compatible. If not what, should i just try and have the heads machined to flow more?

 

Valves are too big and will collide with edge of the cylinder on a 304. AMC heads are supposed to flow very well. At the RPMs a Jeep engine would typically see bigger valves may actually cause your low-mid torque to suffer due to reduced intake charge velocity and turbulence. For low and mid range performance the quality of the valve job matters more than size of the valves or size of ports.

To pep up low and mid range performance of a 304 that is in otherwise good condition I'd:

• 
  Advance factory cam timing a few degrees
  Run vacuum advance from manifold vacuum, not ported vacuum
  Advance ignition timing a few degrees from factory spec
  Maybe install lighter springs on mechanical advance flyweights
  Have a good valve job done using stock valves
  Upgrade ignition system and increase plug gap
  Maybe increase compression...maybe
  Install a free-flowing muffler, 2-1 exhaust
  Put on as big an air cleaner as you can find and keep it clean

I intentionally left off headers because they're noisy, they leak, they affect mainly higher RPMs, and factory manifolds actually have pretty good shape compared to a lot of manifolds.

Above all else keep the engine in a proper state of tuning. Rich and lean conditions across your operating RPM band will hurt performance a great deal. Same with timing: static, and advanced.

If a well tuned 304 lacks power change the whole engine out with a 360. I find my 304 to be plenty for my needs.

 

Pretty much agree with Chilly's post. He's right - the 360 valves will collide with the cylinder walls.

Old school - the 4 Cs: Cam, carburetion, cubic inches, and compression.

Likely the cheapest HP for the buck is to swap in a 360. Easy cubic inches. A 360 is basically a bored-out 304 with bigger valves. They are cheap and available. You'll need a flywheel for a 360, but otherwise it drops in.

Keeping the 304, install a hotter cam, mount a 4V manifold and your favorite 4V carb, plane the heads to boost compression (a little - hard to get much without new pistons), add a free-flowing crossed-over dual exhaust using the iron manifolds, upgrade the ignition system, and you should see a big improvement. All this could be done to a replacement 360 too.

 

great thanks so much for your help guys!