Recently picked up a 89 L98 350 with a 100K on it. ? is before we install it should we replace head gaskets and bolts? Plugs looked perfect and 0 indication of coolent leak. Just wondering. Also. Would be be wise to change valve seals?

 

how much cash you got laying around?

Theres about a thousand things i'd replace one an engine before i'd instal it.

 

well we were going to repalce head gaskets, bolts, valve seals , intake and plenum gaskets tb gaskets, waterpump, WP gaskets timing cover gasket, oil pan gasket starter, 1 freeze plug, alternator, injector o rings, timing chain, and tranny gasket and filter.

 

i know valve seals were already mentioned....

but i didn't replace them when i rebuilt my 305 last year.

guess who's car blows a lot of smoke on startup?

 

Dont stop at the valve guide seals. If you can you should have the heads gone through. If it were me I'd do the heads the other thing you mentioned and why not a cam swap since I was there but why stop, bearings, rings, oil pump ect.. You might as well just overhaul the engine if you want to get another 100k. Did you run a compression check???

 

no, all we did was look at the plugs, and pulled a valve cover... the inside of the valve cover was very clean, no sludge at all.

plugs looked normal, just a hint of rich in #6 cylinder iirc... we think it's because of the aftermarket (accel) injectors.

 

while the motor is out, i would put a two piece timing chain cover on it...

you'll be happy if u want to swap cams at a later date.

 

I second that. I wish I would have installed one while it was still on the crate...Lets say I did a cam change the "wrong" way. Worked fine but I wish I had the 2 piece cover.

 

Run a compression test to see if you really need to pull the heads. Compression comes back good I would just replace the o-ring valve seals with the new posi seals I think they are called. I guess it really depends on how much you wanna spend and how much work you wanna do

 

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