Right now, my engine is leaking coolant from three places (water pump, intake manifold, and one or more frost plugs). A compression test showed 160 psi or more for all cylinders, but the plug for cylinder #1 had a lot of carbon deposits. I haven't noticed it burning any oil while running, but it used to burn some when I'd first start it up. I say "used to", because I haven't noticed it lately, but I also haven't been driving the car much lately either.

Given the cost of fixing the coolant leaks (they said the engine will have to come out to get to the frost plugs that are leaking), and anything else wrong with the engine, I've been wondering if just rebuilding it would be a good idea.

I've always planned on replacing the engine with something better, just not this soon. My goal is to have something streetable and 20+mpg highway with about 350-400hp that'll pass emissions (just a sniffer test).

So, given that I can't go crazy with the rebuild, what can I do that will get me closer to my goal? Or at least what can I do that I won't have to undo later on down the road?

Here are some of my thoughts... hopefully you guys can give me some feedback.

It would seem to me that picking up new heads would be the way to go instead of spending money on the old ones that would just get ditched anyway down the road? But what heads could I get now that don't cost me an arm and a leg that will let me reach my goal. I noticed the modified vortech heads + intake base from Scoggin Dickey, which I might be able to swing. But I was also reading about Edlebrock E-Tec heads. Since Edlebrock makes the intake base too, that might be a better option as I may be able to get a discount on Edlebrock stuff.

My heart isn't set on keeping the TPI, but right now, a whole new intake is out of my reach. For the short term, new heads plus a better base sounds good. But in the long run, would I be better off spending more money on heads and just keeping the stock intake with the intention of replacing the intake down the road?

Another consideration for any changes I do is how well will it drive without prom tuning. I've never done any myself (yet), and I'm not sure where (or how much) I can get it done... so how drivable will the car be?

Also, I realize headers are pretty much necessary to make the best of things, but those too, are out of my reach for the moment.

The other option is just storing the car until I can afford to do exactly what I want. Which I'm more than willing to do if there are too many compromises that have to be made. I'm just trying to get more information and figure out all my options. If all this is just wishful thinking, I need someone to tell me. :P

 

You really don't need to worry about prom tuning at this point. Unless you put a wilder camshaft in, or a high flowing intake on, just changing the heads shoudn't affect the computer too much. No matter how well the new heads flow, they'll be kept tame by the stock intake, exhaust, and cam anyways. I would definitely recommend getting heads first since it'll be easy to change them while the motor is out. The intake manifold is cake to do with the motor in the car, so that can wait til later. Sounds like you're still making really good compression, so your rings are probably still in good shape. For heads, I'd suggest getting ones with about 180-190 cc intake port volume for a street driven 350. You'll also want to stay close to a 64 cc combustion chamber since that will keep your compression ratio the same as it is with the stock heads and the same pistons. The factory L98 head has a 64 cc chamber. Unless you're stuck on the idea of getting aluminum heads, you can get a real nice set of cast iron aftermarket heads for quite a bit less money than the aluminum. Take a look at the Dart Iron Eagle heads for example. If you're having a shop replace the freeze plugs, make sure they replace them with the brass ones. They only cost a few bucks more than the steel ones, and they'll never rust through.

 

Thanks for the tip regarding the brass frost plugs.

As far as cam goes, what I was thinking was doing what I could with the engine when it's being rebuilt, including a cam. And just keeping the intake/exhaust/tuning as is until next spring or summer. If that's even practical.

The heads don't need to be aluminum, they just need to be something I'm not going to want to replace down the road.

I just don't want to spend money on something doesn't lead to my final goal. A stock rebuild would certainly fall into that category, so I want figure out what I can do to minimize any wasted effort.

 

I've decided to just patch up the coolant leaks for now and deal with upgrading the engine down the road when I have more money/time.