Wait till you have them in hand. Pics don't do them any justice.

 

I think I have everything lined up, money sent, recommended 4.160 x .036 head gaskets, exhaust manifold and valve cover gaskets (they've been on and off quite a few times), shims for the Yella Terras and I scraped up enough for an ATI under-drive pulley. Hopefully in about a week I can start tearing it down. Looking forward to getting it done but my achy body isn't looking forward to the effort and I'm dreading that damn oil pump bolt to get to my timing set too.

 

This helped me on that oil pump bolt...

Lift all four wheels, not just the fronts and keep a magnetic retrieval tool handy. If you drop the bolt, it won't go all the way to the sump, and you can pull it out quite easily with a reach tool. Saved my bacon.

 

A friend of mine partially loosened it and put a fishing line around it before removal. I think it's harder to get at on a GTO too. I don't remember as I first installed the pump on an engine stand but don't you you have to drop the pan a bit?

 

Yes, you do have to drop the pan a bit. Mine developed a leak after this that I'm now thinking I'll need to drop the K member to fix, which is frustrating to say the least.

 

There is very little room to drop the pan on a GTO. At least you can drop the K member. I'd have to pull the engine.

 

The GTO pan is also front sump, so if it falls you're pretty much hosed.

 

Yeah I know it would be a long shot to reach that 600 mark. It would probably take a little more of the massaging of different things to make them more efficient than intended.

Also why do you need to re-degree?
Just curious...
Regardless good luck.

 

Or a snail looking thing pushing air...

 

This is true. However been there not really trying to go that route again. Took me forever just to change out the serp belt. So if it busted on the side of the road I'd be hosed.

Granted if half the other things I have done go wrong on the side of the road I be hosed anyways...

Just my reasoning I guess...

 

Well with the cc of the heads and my cam combo the DRC was up in the mid 9s and I had problems with detonation. I backed it off 2 degrees to help bleed off some cylinder pressure.

To work with the cam and heads Tony is getting me I have to go back to straight up. Hind sight is 20-20 but I wish I had had the money (and Tony had these heads available) last year when I built the stroker. It will all be good when it's done but I let out a loud groan when I knew I was going to have to pull that oil pump off. I am looking forward though to the end result.

 

Ahhh... got ya.

Yeah that is all you can do is look to the end and hope all comes out good.

I hear ya on the groan to though... been there done that...
Drive train on a C5 sucks...

 

I'm at about 8.96:1 DCR. Hopefully the "98" (Ron only) will work okay over here. It's roughly equivalent to 93 Ron/Mon. Love the mamo220's. Only been able to putt around and idle so far. Hope to live them more. :-)

 

This head/cam combo is going to drop me from the problematic 9.02 DRC I was at before and get me to 8.54 with the new stuff. Got the tracking# on the heads and should be here mid-week. I already have the ATI under-drive, Yella Terras, cam and all the gaskets I think I'll need (after umpteen header removals I'm finally getting new exhaust gaskets). The only things I'm still waiting to hear on are the head gaskets. No one seems to have them and I'm on back order from JEGS since last week.

 

Just so you know UFOs, Bigfoot and Mamo heads DO exist! There was a spotting today of a pair of Mamo 220s. Nice looking heads. I'm just waiting on a couple of small things and then fortunately (or unfortunately) this weekend is my 30th anniversary so my wife will be keeping me away from "the other woman". It's going to take a lot of wife attention to pay her back. Some pics until then. . .

 

DAMN IT!!! NICE!!!
And congrats on the anniversary (or not) whichever you prefer ha.

 

LOL, thanks. I don't regret the anniversary. She is a great girl. It's just too bad after waiting this long I have to wait a bit more to start this project. Even after getting the install done I'll have to wait for pushrods after I find out what length I'll need. Can't wait to start driving and tuning the car! She's a beast on the street now and I'm looking forward to her being beastlier.

 

Let's just hope they perform as well as they look.

 

I'm sure there will be an improvement over my current heads/cam package but how much bang for the buck is the question.

 

While I'm sure they will perform extremely well, they are not meant for any kind of bang for the buck comparison. They are most under the curve stock cube drivability heads which means $$$.