vicrattlehead

Hi All,
I'm kicking around the idea of putting higher flow cylinder heads and intake manifold in my '79 (stock L-48). I don't want the real expensive stuff, just something that will be strong, reliable, and give me a little boost in power. Has anyone had experience with the Edelbrook performer series? What about World products?

Also, I'm thinking about doing the swap myself. I've redone my suspension & interior and I'm good with my hands, but is a cylinder head swap a REAL bad idea for a backyard mechanic (they always make it look so simple in Hot Rod magazine ).

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

BeaterShark

I'd suggest getting a pair of GM Performance Parts Vortec heads, especially since you want a new intake already (the Vortec heads require a special intake manifold). They are about $400 a pair and flow real good. You may want to consider a little more cam also.

Swapping heads is not really that big of a deal. Just get a factory service manual and follow the directions.

78dave

I gasket matched my heads and radiused the corners. It could have been ported and polished very easily but I did not have time. Another thought is taking your heads in and having them ground to 2.02 from the 1.94 intake. Put some stronger springs on and change the cam. The vortec heads require several changes. Start adding it up and you'll see your costs go well beyond redoing your heads.

Ganey

You need a torque wrench to install heads. It's no big deal to change. You badly need another cam for that L-48 ! What's exhaust? 79 needs exhaust & cam, heads in that order. Doing cam & heads at the same time would work well.

:cool:

terryrudy

Exhaust and Cam made a BIG difference with my L48. I can only imagine what my lighter Aluminum heads (TrickFlow 23 deg) will be like. Just gotta save up more money for the extra bits I plan on doing during the swap (roller tip rockers, gaskets, pushrods). Wife won't let me put 'em on the card! :blueangel:

As far as difficulty. Cam/Intake wasn't a HUGE deal for me (still a learner myself) and I can't imagine heads being any harder. . .
-terry

vicrattlehead

Ya know, I thought about changing the cam in addition to the heads, but I figured that changing the heads/intake would be the good first step.

The idea of yanking out the radiator, timing chain & cover belts, hood, and all the rest for my first major mod kind of scares me. Do you think the addition of the cam could be done later without having to pull the heads off to play with the push rods? If that's not the case, then taking the heads off again in a couple of years would be a real bitch. I don't want to set myself up for double work.

By the way, what kind of exhaust and cam did you use, what difference has it made??

thebruce

Just put on the Trick Flow 23 deg heads. Had never done that sort of thing, though I did a cam swap a few months ago (kind of got hooked on performance improvements). I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but the one recommendation I will make is to use new bolts. I broke an old one off in the cam-- that sucked. It came out easily, but was a big delay. I got a loaner torque wrench from AutoZone. Free. No, I'm not kidding.

Good luck with the work. :flag

Tom454

On the torque wrench issue...

It's nice that Autozone lends out torque wrenches, but I would not have too much faith in their accuracy. You only have to drop a torque wrench once to mess up the calibration. How many beer-soaked gentlemen do you think have borrowed an Autozone loaner torque wrench and treated it with respect? Hmmm...

I'd bet that more than one person has snapped off a bolt because these torque wrenches are out of calibration... but that is just a guess on my part.
Torque wrenches aren't that terribly expensive.. and the risk/payoff of borrowing one with an unknown past just isn't a good modus operendi IMOP.
I wouldn't even borrow one from a friend. Sort of like having un-safe secks. You could snap the head right off.

:)



[Modified by Tom454, 8:11 AM 2/7/2002]

vicrattlehead

What kinds of things did you have to go through to get the new cam in? It's sounding more and more like I should think of upgrading the cam and heads as a single upgrade instead of dragging it out in sections.