My buddy is building up the 350 in his 89 Trans Am. He thinks it is better to do the internals first such as heads,cam,pistions,rods,ect. I think it is better to do the bolt ons first. My question is does it really matter?

 

depends if you do bolt-ons first eventually you have to unbolt them to do the internals.

 

I think it is better to do the bolt ons first. My question is does it really matter?

Do you really have to ask that question? Think about what your saying besides nitrous or SC how much hp do you think you can gain on a 245hp rated engine 40 or 50hp maybe? Heads can give you that by themselves. Did you read the TPI shootout section on this forum? A stock tpi made 410hp and 500tq with a 383 do that with just bolt ons. Your friend is right but I'm not saying his car can handle it once the engine is upgraded.

 

I'd say do the exhaust bolt on immediatly. Stock manifolds suck to say the least.
I put bigger valve, better flowing heads on an some light porting last year and saw very little change in my VE. The exhaust was my main restriction the whole time. That is changing this year along with the intake and cam.
He may just not want to pull the motor out later (Like I'm doing now) Which is not a bad reason either.

 

it's much better to have a planned and matched combination than to bolt on some random parts that are a compromise as far as preformance goes then go back and try to build it from the inside out and still make use of the odd bolt ons you have.