I took the heads and all the AIR lines off yesterday along with the headers in preparation for my new Trick Flow heads and Hotcam to go on. BTW-LT1 intake from John will be used also. Anyway, here's a couple pics. Does everything look normal here? Like a L98 should after taking the heads off, no cleaning done. And should I clean the top of the pistons,or do they look OK? Thanks.

 

Good view of pistons.

 

Closeup of piston.

 

BTW- See in the first pic, the cylindrical part on the back of the block with the brass fittings attaching it to the block and the wire going to it. Anyone know what this is and what it does? Thanks again.

 

I think that may be your oil pressure sending unit?

 

Your stock oil pressure sender should be located right above the oil filter. Do you have an auxillary gauge? Whatever that is is plugged into the oil galley. As for the pistons, I wouldnt bother cleaning them, they look okay. If you do, do not use Scotchbrite pads.

 

Not in all years. Some have it right where his is.

 

I did almost the same, tfs heads and lt1 intake but I went with a comp cam. Your pistons look a little cleaner than mine at 48000 so I would just leave them alone. I went ahead a bought a new timing set when I did mine and since I raised the engine to do the cam swap I changed the pan gasket and cleaned the inside of the oil pan. so you might want to think about that. On my old 89 I put my aftermarket gauge in and used the same sending unit in the same place as shone in addition to the factory unit.

 

I do already have a double roller timing set ready to go on, too. Also a two piece timing cover. I thought about doing the pan, I would have to jack the engine up, right? I want to change the engine mounts anyway. So how hard is it to do this? Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

Hey Slayer, what kind of lift are you getting with the comp cam? I have heard some rumblings about valve clearance issues with the Trick Flows.

 

Well I took off my hood and used an engine hoist to raise the engine up to about chest level. You don't have to get it that high but it makes it a lot easier to work on. I'm running a comp cams 304 210/220 duration @ .050, .500/.510 lift 114 lsa. I've heard the same thing and I plan to get better springs in the next few days, but right know I'm waiting for my pocket programmer to be repaired so I don't have a computer chip at this time. I remeber a month or two ago there was a thread about tfs heads and springs not holding up to roller cams so you might want to try a search. If I remember right the 1.25 diameter springs don't hold up to roller cams well. I'm just planning on getting the next size up from trick flow.

 

Right when I bought the heads I got the 1.47" springs good for .540 lift, which should be plenty for the .525 lift I&E I'll be getting with the Hotcam and 1.6 RRs. Thanks again.

 

Well the 1.25 springs are great if your car isn't running like mine. I just need to get my chip burned,springs changed and exhaust hooked up and I can drive my baby again. With the warm weather finally here I can't wait much longer.