I want to get a new cam i'm pretty sure i need new springs to handle the extra lift but can spring be put on with the heads still attached??? Do i have to get the heads machined for the new springs? Can i reuse the stock rocker arms? What else would i need to install the spring spring seats/valve retainers /new studs??

 

Yes you can change springs with the heads still installed. My favorite method is to bring the piston near the top, and stuff the cyl full of rope (about 1/4" nylon works great), and use either the claw type spring compressor or the kind tha tlooks like a giant prybar. If you have access to compressed air, you can also get an air chuck to go in the plug hole, and hold the valves up that way.

That depends on what springs you have to use.

Sure, if you don't care how much lift you get. Stock rockers usually check between 1.38 and 1.45, with about 1.43 being average. And that's just their static ratio.... they transmit even less lift when operating against a valve sprong, becaus ethey flex so much. You ought to watch a set of them with a Strobotach sometime... you'll never ever use a sheet metal rocker again. They look like rubber, literally.

When you get springs, get the right retainers and keepers to go with them. You probably can't change the studs real easy if they're still stock pressed-in ones. Get the Fel-Pro "positive valve seals. Throw away the factory "rotator" on the exhausts, and put about .100" of shims under those springs (one .060", one .030", and one .015").