Ok, I recently bought these heads on ebay... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ndexURL=0&rd=1

Now, I am off to college come the 24th of Aug. and will not be working on it till thanksgiving (I'm going to miss her so much!!)! I have to buy rocker arms and pushrods for these heads, why because my truck has 75,000 miles and if Im putting heads on I should just go all the way. I will be buying a new cam too, not sure of the specs and will be going all out with the engine. I do want to keep her street legal but if one of the mods pushes her over the limit (like the heads/cam)... all i can say is ooppss! If you check the link, the guy has done a lot of stupid junk to the heads. To get down to the question at hand, would the valves currently on the heads be legal? If there not, then I should just go up even more to 1.90/1.60 and be done with it.

I dont really plan on going above .500 lift on the cam otherwise the rmp range is out of what my truck runs at. Im putting the edelbrock performer intake on tommorrow w/ TB. The next natural step is the cam and heads. Anyones 2cents is more than welcome. Oh yeah, im keeping her NA, no supercharger or any power adders. I think its cheep!

 

Did adding your headers give you a nice increase in power? Did you have your chip reburned for it? And did the headers or the chip give you more power?

 

WTF? 1.81/1.45?
Stock exhaust valves with larger intakes. That makes NO sense since we all know that the SBF head has an exhaust flow problem. GT-40 iron heads run 1.84/1.54. Unless you plan on pulling some un-trucklike revs out of the engine, I'd leave the intakes alone, they're probably big enough (1.69 is stock on 96 vintage heads) but the exhausts are only about 64% the area of the intakes vs. 74% for stock and 70% for the GT-40s. I'd consider redoing the exhaust side to 1.54." Nobody ever complained that a SBF head had too big an exhaust valve.

Measure the valves first. The guy sounds like he knows what he's doing, maybe the 1.45 is a typo.

 

to answer beasties question... the chip was great, but the headers really helped. My dad even comented (hes a die hard 427-454/ camaro drag car guy.. he had 2) that the headers gave my truck a deeper sound almost meaner sound, and throttle response was increased quit nicely. The chip helped in the higher rpms, and both mods are worth it. I didnt get it reburned, mike said its not enough to need it With all the mods i have, the headers w/ the exhaust, it really lets the truck rev, not like a truck but like a true 5.0. I cant wait to finish the new edelbrock intake upper/lower. I am half way into the install, basically got the stock crap out today and scrapped the head/intake gasket off(had to stop, the girlfriend wanted to go out to dinner). The manifold is suppossed to really let me fly... OH i cant wait. I keep yah updated.

And to strangeranger, I have just begun trying to figure these heads out, these are just prelime questions. Thanks for the info on the gt40 stock valves, cause I had no idea. I am definitly changing the exhaust to 1.60. Like u said, u cant complain about too big of exhaust valves. I might just leave the intake alone. Im still not sure of rocker arms because i see roller rockers w/ the roller cam and im almost positive that i dont have a roller cam. I will buy one then i think im set. Until i stroke it out to a 347!! HA HA!!

 

Roller rocker arms work with or without a roller cam. They reduce friction and sometimes inertia in the valve train improve valve guide life and add a couple of HP. If you go to the 1.7 ratio roller rockers, they increase your lift and add something on the order of 10 HP to an otherwise stock engine. Using the high lift rockers with an aftermarket cam can cause some durability problems if you're not careful, discuss that one with your cam grinder before you do it.

As for the 347 stroker kit, maybe not a good idea. Think of them as pretty much a race-only part and not really suitable for street use. They have lousy rod/stroke ratios and are very hard on bearings. Guys that run them end up doing an annual engine rebuild. If you want a bigger engine, get a 351 or better yet just put a blower on your 302.

 

i was joking about the 347... sorry if you took that seriously! They dont last long at all.

If I were to go to 1.7 rockers, would I need longer/ shorter pushrods. I am really considering the cam and rocker arms along w/ the heads come the holidays while on winter break from school. I keep asking questions while at school and shell out the dough near christmas. So dont get to pissed if i ask some crazy things, cause Ive got to find the best possiblities. Thanks for the input!