I agree the 5.3 heads are crap. Hope they are at least ported.

 

I had a 224R in my 98 and ir drove fairly well with a atock converter but did pull on the brakes some. Got used to it after a while but IMO a 220R or 212/218 would have been perfect if you want some lope without having to upgrade everything else.

 

I ran a 226/226 on a 112 patriot camshaft on a stock converter. Ran 7.90 @ 92 1/8th mile that way. Didn't really push to hard on the brakes with a 650rpm idle speed, didn't bother me at all personally. It was a tiny bit better on the 60ft, but pretty much identical (iirc it was a high 1.8 and was a low 1.9 prior to cam).

If I was to do it again I would have started with the converter, then the cam, but I wouldn't go any larger than the cam I had with the stock converter.

 

Probally one of Thunder Racings Cheater Cams.