LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Question about heads.

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Old Oct 5, 2011 | 06:12 PM
  #1  
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Default Question about heads.

Got another question.

Been doing a lot of research into bolt ons and heads, I'm already settled on getting a set of port and polished.

My question is, would this be a good move knowing this car really was owned by.. um.. somebody who was clueless.

The seafoam I ran through it.. omg.. I killed every know race of butterfly on the planet, BEFORE I even hit the hiway.

When I changed the oil(after seafoam) it was like some sort of tar like substance.. actually I think it was tar.. just thicker lol.

Even the throttle body after the deep creep, omg.... the poor cats ran and hide from the cloud of insta-kill comming out of the back of my car, thankfully it was wafting over the fence into the field lol... i hope it doesnt kill it....

My thoughts were to pull the heads and get a new set with valves rockers springs ect and replace the pushrods also, just to avoid top end failure. basically brand new port and polished heads + pushrods

Is there any point to replacing the intake/fuel rails? or just clean them.

Injectors are being done in addition to plugs just waiting for a special socket to make it faster.

I've also ordered a set of new sensors for.. well every sensor the car has expect the maf I've managed to clean that perfectly(it was gross imagine somebody storing your maf in tar.. for 7 years... ya...)


Ps. love these cars looks like a bullet next to my mustang, and way sexier.. stupid mustang owners.. pfft what do they know lol.
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Old Oct 5, 2011 | 08:50 PM
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Well sounds like you have your hands full. If you're going to heads you might as well cam it up too. 99% of the people on this board are going to tell you to either call Lloyd Elliot or AI for your head work. I went through Lloyd personally. He's a great guy and the price for heads and a cam was really good. I haven't done the install yet so I can't really give you any advice on the spot your engine is in. If you have the funds it couldn't hurt to do a full on rebuild if you think it's that bad.
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Old Oct 6, 2011 | 12:38 PM
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I wouldn't get crazy with heads and mods if it has a lot of miles on it unless you're planning freshening up the whole thing.
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Old Oct 6, 2011 | 12:56 PM
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Need to know your goals to make recommendations: HP goals? how do you drive it? how much $$ you got to blow? how much time and effort are you willing to sacrifice to reach said goals? Just ported heads alone would be a poor choice as far as HP per dollar goes. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Cam would be the first engine mod as far as HP per dollar goes....then you might as well do heads, then you might as well do ect, ect.... it gets expensive quickly unless you research and plan everything before you start buying parts. I would drive it stock for a while until you have the cash to do everything you want, or stick with bolt ons....JMO.
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Old Oct 6, 2011 | 09:07 PM
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Originally Posted by ahritchie
Need to know your goals to make recommendations: HP goals? how do you drive it? how much $$ you got to blow? how much time and effort are you willing to sacrifice to reach said goals? Just ported heads alone would be a poor choice as far as HP per dollar goes. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Cam would be the first engine mod as far as HP per dollar goes....then you might as well do heads, then you might as well do ect, ect.... it gets expensive quickly unless you research and plan everything before you start buying parts. I would drive it stock for a while until you have the cash to do everything you want, or stick with bolt ons....JMO.
^^^
hes exactly right
I'm doing a 383 stroker build in my 95 t/a
I had a vague idea of what I wanted but didn't realize what all was included In rebuilding a motor.
But in saying this I'm doing EVERYTHING right
It's expensive
But it's better than doing it over and over
What in saying is,
Just doing heads isn't gonna solve anything
It's just blowing money unless you cam it, and so on
My advice is,
Change the oil twice every 1,000 miles(I use mobil 1 full synthetic 10w-30), run premium fuel, use Lucas fuel injector cleaner in every fill up, and change plugs and wires.
After that save for a full rebuild
All that will make the motor last a while
Long enough for you to save.
That's what I did.
It worked
And most importantly
ENJOY!
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Old Oct 7, 2011 | 07:55 AM
  #6  
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Good advice all!

Did some thinking and I think I"m going to just focus on making this engine strong and clean in its current form.

I will probably work on the exhast and install a full quality exhast system since that can stay but ya, I will keep the engine unopened and when the time comes I will have one built for the car.

Probably right, with 145k on it, and in the condition I got it in, who knows what shape the bottem end is in and it will probably just cause me more trouble them its worth.

Thanks!
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Old Oct 7, 2011 | 09:29 AM
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at 145km (90k miles) it shouldn't be in bad shape. Sounds like it just wasn't maintained well. Get it running clean first before you tear into it and see how it holds up. Guys have put heads/cam on their cars on here with a lot more miles than you.
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Old Oct 7, 2011 | 09:32 AM
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I'm still learning about mechanics, have not even gone to my first year classes yet(in heavy duty)

But, if you replace the heads, and everything that goes with them, lifters, valves ect, along with the pushrods dont you elimiate a large number of things that usually fail? After that wouldnt I just have to worry about compression in the cyls?

I suppose I could run a compression test on all the cyls when I get that far.....

I kind of balked when ppl suggested cam, I dont feel I have the ability to do a cam swap on my own and sending it to a garage kind of kills it for me.

Oh well, thats a ways yet, I want her running solid and the body/interior done.

This site is great for information!!! Been reading it now for two days straight.. lol...
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