OK, the car is smoking on start up and i'm told it has to do with the valve seals or something. Well a shop wants $1500 to fix it, so i know i can get new heads or even a crate motor for a little more. And if i do the work to fix the valve prob, i might as well, replace the heads and get some more power out of it.

Thou i was looking at this 383

Or should i just get new heads, and if so what would you guys recommend? This isn't going to be a drag racer or anything, so streetability is more important.

Would this be a simple swap and bolt up the TPI system or what?
or would it be just a giant headache and need a new computer and all that jazz?
I'm not a mechanical wiz or anything, but i can turn a wrench and figure things out when they're in front of me. I rebuilt a riding lawnmower without any reference material, so i have some apptitude for it. and this isn't my main car so i don't mind if it takes some time to do. Plus it would be a learning experience.

 

Do you plan on modding the car for more hp and tq (cam, intake, etc.) anytime soon or ever? This is important when deciding on what replacement heads to get.

 

i plan on eventually going with new exhaust (headers,hi-flow cat, cat back system, intake runners, and i will be putting the ram air air box on it too.

:lala:

 

theres dozens of choices available, having tryed several , Id say the AIR FLOW RESEARCH 190cc and TRICKFLOW 23 deg heads
are exceptional values for the money spent. both are direct bolt-on for the TPI engines, both give a very noticable gain, both work better if matched with a cam with approximately these spec.

hydrolic flat tappet

http://dab7.cranecams.com/SpecCard/D...1=Display+Card

hydrolic roller
http://www.crower.com/misc/cam_spec/...00230&x=13&y=7

 

$1500 for valve seals? I dont know where those labor times came from, but that should only be about 6.8hrs labor. I dont know what their hourly rate is, but $1500 is way too high. You can do it yourself with hand tools, an air compressor and a valve spring compressor.

 

Well they were all talking i need a valve job and quoted like 10-13 hrs at $80 plus $200 for the valve job. I was like yeah thanks but no. This place used to be really good, i took my 91 240sx to them and it went from running like **** and stuttering and stalling, to running like a brand new car, and that only cost me $300, and included new valve cover gasket and radiator flush.

I think they just didn't want to do the work on the T/A as the tend to have lots of smaller cars that they work on.

 

Geez, those guys are idiots if they think that smaller cars are easier to work on. I guess you mean they are more familiar with those kinds of cars. Really our TPI cars are much easier to work on than a lot of these newer cars with their cramped engine compartments. Their price sounds kind of high, but it's not unusual for the type of work you need. High prices like this are the reason that I decided I'm going to learn how to fix my cars myself.

I'd go with, AFR, Trickflow, or ProLightning heads for a tpi car. I also think Dart is good. Trickflows and ProLighning may be better buys, but I think AFR is better if you want a close to race-ready head. You will see a good gain with any of these heads, but to see a huge gain you will need to put in a new cam, with a lot of lift.

 

for 1,500, you can get a set of modified vortec heads, SDPC vortec intake, a nice cam and still have $$$$$$ in your pocket!!

 

ok, where's a good place online to get heads???

 

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sum...fo/heads1.html

http://www.competitionproducts.com/page11.html

http://www.trickflow.com/

http://www.martelbros.com/store/Html/afr/afr.html

http://www.dartheads.com/

http://www.brodix.com/

http://www.jegs.com/

http://www.flatlanderracing.com/

http://www.canfieldheads.com/

http://www.dirttrackthunder.com/

http://www.midwestmotorsportsinc.com/

http://www.worldcastings.com/.

 

Save your money for when you are ready to drop a whole new engine in there. All you need is one saturday, some valve seals ($20) and 5 feet of 1/4"-3/8" nylon rope and a lever type valve spring compressor tool ($20).
Remove all your plugs and both valve covers. By hand, rotate the engine till #1 is coming up on compression. Feed 3 feet of the rope in through the spark plug hole (tie a knot in one end so it can't all go in), then slowly rotate the engine until the piston pinches the rope. Now you can remove the rocker arms and compress the springs, remove the locks and keepers and spring, change the seals and reassemble the rocker arms, back off the engine and remove the rope. Next go to #8 (next in firing order) and do the same, keep working through the firing order till they are all done. Reset valve lash, renstall the plugs, start engine and recheck lash, put valve covers back on and viola! you are done and for a ton less money.

I doubt they could tell if you need a valve job or not without seeing the valves, they just want to "job" you.

 

I'm with Morley.

 

Yeah, I agree with Morely too, but the guy wants to get new heads. www.totalengineairflow.com is a great place and they're cheaper than most. Ask for Brian.

 

If you've got your mind made up on new heads, then AFR or TrickFlow. But leaking valve stem oil seals really isn't a reason that I'd go out and buy new heads...new engine is a good reason for me...to each his own, if you want em and feel you need em, go for it. But get the best you can and make sure they will be compatiable with your future engine (if you have one in mind), no sense spending that kind of money twice

 

hey why not that 383 from speedomotive and some heads from afr or trickflow. would make great power and streetablity. i had a 383 with stock 305 tpi and trickflows ran 13.2 for my best times for over 2 years. about 25k miles on it was still running strong when i decided i wanted to go faster.