ALright heres the situation...
The endlink to my sway bar busted off. I was pissed.. but then i thought what the hell, i'll get new sway bars with the polyeurothine(sp? wrong i know) end links and bushings, and while im there a wonderbar. Im thinking now... screw the engine mods, i might jus do suspension, with sfc's, LCA's, and LCA brackets.
The problem is i have a new manifold, an LT1 cam, and RR's that have yet to be installed. I plan on getting these installed regaurdless. I was planning on getting new heads however.
Question: Should i just get the components i have installed and forget the heads, and work on my suspension? I feel like if i get heads, im really gonna be locked into this 305 till eternity.
But can the current heads support the LT1 cam (i know i need new springs, but the RR's are 1.6 so will the lift be too great?).
If its too much trouble i might just get new heads, hold off on the suspension, and live with the 305 till we both rot.
ANy input is greatly appreciated.

Ken

 

i pretty sure all you have to do to your current heads to use your cam and rockers, is get screw in studs, and higher lift springs. both of which, to my knowledge, are realativly cheap. check my sig, i have the same things waiting to go in my car. and ill be sticking to my LO3 heads for awhile. know that you will have to do some chip tuning to get the full potential out of that cam. thats the main thing thats been holding me back from installing mine. im not saying it wont run with the stock chip, it will, just not very well from what ive heard. IMO suspension is always a top priority anyway and if you dont want to be locked to your 305, i wouldnt buy heads for it. although the LT1 would definatelly benifit from better heads.

 

suspension is where it is at. i always suggest you build the platform before you build the power. besides you get to enjoy the suspension ALL the time i take EVERY corner i encounter at the speed limit (ahhh 90* rights handers at 45 ) any suspension mods you do, will be good no matter what power plant you have. traction is traction, weather it is from a 305 or a turbocharged 434. the suspension mods are really the best way to start out.

as for the heads, IMHO you are better off just picking up some used TPI heads for $50, and tossing them on unported, than trying to use the TBI heads. with 1.5 rockers and a stock LT1 cam, you should have zero issues, the lift isn't extreme, you shouldn't pull studs, and you should have coil bind issues, especialy if you get some z/28 springs from scoggin-dickey for $40. valve guide clearance should be fine also.

 

what is the max lift pressed in studs can handle before pulling out? i didnt think i could use my cam even without my 1.6 rtr, if i didnt have screw in studs. boy i wish i could get heads for $50 like everyone else here. man i envy you guys who dont live here!

 

it depends. most people say .470 is the max.

i have one friend running ,472 on pressed studs, no issues.

i have another friend who pulled 3 studs at .465

it really depends on exactly how tight the studs fit. i would say anything below .46 you shoudl be fine.

 

You really need to check for valve seal to retainer interference. Every 305 head I have checked won't take any more than .450 lift safely. I was running .454 lift and the clearance was so tight it actually compressed the seal at full lift. I wiped out a lobe when the valve springs lost a little pressure and allowed them to get really intimate. I found all this out after the fact of course so I checked the other 2 sets of 305 heads (one newer one, one older style) I had laying around as well as a set of older 350 heads. Every single one was very close at .454 lift.

This is why the cam I put in my first motor many moons ago wiped several exhaust lobes within the first 1000 miles. It had .466 lift on the exhaust.

 

you going to make my lazy **** go assemble a set of heads to check this aren't you.

i swear the l98 heads had close to .480 before the valve guide / seal became an interferance issue. but i do have a set of 416's laying around. i'll just have to find some seals and put them together and check this.

 

if you do decide to check that out dewey, be sure to post your findings please.

 

yeah, well i am moving this week, if i get a chance this weekend, after i get everything moved. i will be sure to measure everything.

 

lol...sorry didn't mean to make you get up. I was really surprised when I found out how close things were. The type of seal you use really affects how much room you have too. The hard teflon seal gives you about .010 more room on the exhaust side. My heads had the rubber positive seals on both intake and exhaust.

 

i thought stock heads only had the positive seals on the intake, and had umbrella seals on the exuast.

 

they do but my machine shop puts them on both exhaust and intake for some reason. Guess they seal better.

 

yes, when i do mine they get positive teflon seals on boths sides.

 

I was told by MANY people that cast chevy heads can USUALLY handle .480 lift if fairly new and in good shape. With some miles on them I wouldn't suggest going over .460 lift.

So pretty much, don't use 1.6 RR's with a LT1 cam on stock L03 heads. Just get some roller tipped 1.5's and throw that LT1 cam in there and call it a day.

 

funny thing is, i would guess a used set of heads is going to handle more lift. the studs are likely 'rusted' and 'frozen' in. on a new set of heads, i would guess the studs would pull easier.

 

interesting theory dewey. i agree

 

I guess i should just get the world heads just to be sure. With the 1.6 rr's the lift on the LT1 is about .490 (correct?), and the world heads say they can handle .550 lift. Even if the stock heads could handle it, it would be way too close for my comfort.
I'm definitley gonna do my own chip burning. Its taken me about 10 bins to get the fuel table the way i want it on my basically stock car(with headers, exhaust), and i havent even touched the spark yet. Everybody recommeneds tbichips.com, and he probably does good work and all, but how can he burn a good chip, even with the winaldl data, when all he gets is one datalog? Its such an iterative process, it takes hours of logging data to get he right tune.

Ken

 

you took the words right out of my mouth, young jedi.

or should i say....

"took the words right out of my mount, you did, young jedi "