whyt86roc

iTrader: (13)

I am in the process of building an 89 L98 engine... Im going to keep the stock cam in for now.. will be adding Pro Comp aluminum heads and retaining the stock TBI for the time being... i was told when I bought the heads that I would need a .100 over stock length pushrod... and from what I gather I have 7.200" puchrods since this engine is a roller cammed engine.... it came from an 89 Corvette... stock short block with 115K miles on it... Im replacing the timing chain, rear main seal, and the oil pump on it... taking the oil pan from the 305 and transferring it over....
a few questions I have are;

Will these heads work okay with the setup for now?

Any advice on head gaskets? I know that I should prob go with the 1003 Felpro gaskets... brinelling of the heads is a concern...

Can I work with the stock 305 injectors on the throttle body for time being? I know I have to go up to the 350s soon... Im running a modified chip right now..

I'm hoping to run some stock 1.6 rockers.. the heads have guideplates in them already so I dont need the self-aligning ones... pushrod length still be at 7.300" or will they poss need to be longer?

I think this is all I have for now.... please feel free to add your input... Im in the process of gathering the parts so I have a a little bit of time for input on this... any and all will be appreciated!
Thanks, Edward

Damon

Don't assume you need longer sticks. You might, but you might not. Measuring is the only way to be sure. With the aftermarket heads you don't know- they often move things around in subtle ways vs. stock which just makes measuring all the more important. If you were running stock heads I'd say stock length sticks would probably be very close, but I wouldn't want to guess with the aftermarket heads.

Stock TBI intakes all used the somewhat oddball 87-up intake bolt pattern (up to the time they came out with Vortec heads in 97, which are totally different). Not sure if the heads you are looking at are available in an 87-up bolt pattern- I'd ask before you drop coin. Alternatively, you could use an 87-up carb intake and an adapter plate to mount your TB- there's plenty about doing that in the TBI forum on this board.

Stock injectors can probably handle the power requirement (possibly at a higher line pressure using an upgraded fuel pump) but don't even think the stock programming in the chip is going to run it very well- you will need a custom tune. Again, plenty in the TBI forum about this sort of stuff.