Pontiac Ram Air III Heads - Casting #48

Description

Offered here is a pair of bare Pontiac Ram Air III heads, casting No. 48, as was issued on the 1969 GTO Judge, and certain other Firebirds and GTOs. I purchased these in 1980 for a Trans Am rebuild and decided to go with a set of 62 heads instead. The 48s were
painted
up and put into storage at that time.
The heads are in decent shape, structurally sound, no cracks or welds and have not been modified from factory issue. They are ready for you to apply your own Pontiac magic to them. Spark plug seats are clean and threads are good. Valve guides are unknown as far as size, but they are all intact, no pieces broken off or cracked. Combustion chambers have not been modified from
original
and the pictures will show you that all are clean with only two or three showing very light pitting. Again, these are bare heads. No valves, springs, retainers, or any other hardware.
This set has only two issues that will require special consideration over and above what you would expect for a rudimentary head build.
1: The intake ports are slightly eroded at the flange at the thinnest point between the two adjacent ports. This rust sensitivity seems to be a Pontiac design thing. The problem seems to always manifest itself on the naturally thinner casting parting line. I have seen it on other Pontiac heads and if you scrutinize the pictures of other heads that are advertised here on eBay, you will see the same thing happening with some of them. I have tried to show the details of the worst of this in my pictures (see picture 2). My motor-machinist acquaintances assure me that this problem can be readily ironed out, but it IS an issue that you will need to address.
2: One or two valves may require seat inserts. There is some pitting right under one valve seat that may not fully clean up with a standard valve grind. Again, not an insurmountable issue. The pictures will show details on this (see picture 5).
Let’s be honest, the difference between the Ram Air heads and standard issue 400 heads is negligible. What you are paying for is the big ol’ number “48” cast into the center exhaust port. It’s an authenticity thing. I have had many regrets about using the 62 heads for my build instead of working up these 48s especially since I was designing everything around the Ram Air 3 configuration anyway. Hindsight = 20/20.
Please do not message me that the clock numbers are not what you are looking for and will I take for the heads. The answer is “No”. The clock numbers are what they are and if they match what you are seeking, then consider it a bonus.
I bead blasted these last week and immediately after the photo shoot I gave them a thorough coating inside & out with the rust preventative of my choice - Fluid Film. This is how you will receive them. FF will come off easily in a good parts washer bath, or the hot tank, which will probably be your first operation anyway.
The heads weigh 54 lbs each, more with. packaging, so shipping will not be cheap. Local pickup will be your cheapest option. To ship these, I would ship them in two separate cartons and pack them to the best of my ability to protect them during transit. The eBay app gives me no option to ship in two separate containers and estimate shipping costs for you on that basis If you are seriously interested in these, I might be able to arrange for truck freight in a pallet type wooden crate. If there is a place of business near you that has a dock or a forklift then truck freight might be the way to go. Either way, we will need to discuss this before you click the “buy” button so I can figure out how to get PayPal to bill you accurately. I live in Ohio, so you will have some idea of what to expect.
Thanks for looking.