Specs are in sig. The car has been in storage the last three years while I finished college. Now I have a job and want to get it back on the road. It was smoking on startup when I parked it so I am going to take the heads off to have them rebuilt.

There is a really good engine guy in town who will do the heads for me. I know the valve seals need replaced. But was wondering what else I should have him do while the heads are out of the car?? Any parts that are recommended for replacement. The car is around 155,000 miles, I dont think the heads have ever been worked on. Any help is appreciated, I am new to this rebuilding process. Also, just out of curiosity, is it possible to swap the cam with the engine still in the car???

Another note, I believe I have three bad injectors. I was researching and read about the ford 19 pounders. Do they have any problems fitting, are they basically the same size as the stock injectors, I was concerned about them leaking, etc.

THANKS

 

Have the heads checked for cracks, new valve seals, upgrade the springs (will allow you to add a cam with a larger lift later on if you desire), have the valves radiused, and maybe a little exhaust bowel blending.

I had all of that done to the heads on my camaro.

 

I planned on having them checked for cracks and new valve seals. When you says spring upgrade is there a specific one or just a universally better spring?? And what do your last two points involve, trying not to sound stupid, but I have never heard of either. I have also thought about doing the cam now, but is that possible with the engine still in the car???

 

if you want to go cheaper, just replace the valve seals, he won't have to take the heads off for that (bigger $$$).

If you're going all the way, like AZ recommended, i'd use comp 981 springs, as they'd fit in the stock pocket without machining needed. Valves being radiused involves machining the valves, to help increase flow around them. The exhaust bowl blending is the start of head porting, not sure if you're ready to get that done now, or if you were just planning on maintenance stuff...

 

I found the 981 springs at summit, set of 16 for about 60 bucks. Those will for sure work with everything else staying stock?? Getting the valves radiused sounds like a good idea. But what will be gained for bowl blending?? I am not looking for huge HP gains right now. I would just like to get it running smooth and back on the road again. This is hopefully going to be my biggest expense, so it doesnt matter if it costs a little more to get these heads rebuilt the right way the first time.

Thanks

 

well if you just replace the seals and springs, you (they) don't have to remove the head from the engine, which saves about 3-4hrs shop labor, and a head gasket (and maybe a few other gaskets...).

If you do the valve radiusing, and bowl blending, you may gain a few HP, but i'm not sure what the shop would charge you to do that... Chances are the shop doing this work wouldn't be the same type of shop that'd do the porting for you.

I'm pretty sure the comp 981 springs are ~1.25" OD, and should work with stock retainers, and fit in stock heads. They are strong, so you may want to pin the rocker studs, or put in screw in studs. This is only necessary if you're thinking of upgrading the cam later.

 

Here's some typical things I would do for a semi-performance daily driver.

1. Guides need to be replaced (not knurled) at that many miles.

2. You definately need seals. I like SBI brand positive style viton seals. Don't get these until the guide work is completed. Your machine guy will know this.

3. With that many miles the stock valves can often be worn or some bent. Just be prepared in case you're told that you need new valves. This is a great excuse to upgrade the valve size.

4. Bowl work makes a big difference and is definately needed if you swap to larger size valves. It consists of metal removal directly below the valve seat area. This removes the biggest restriction on the entire engine, so it's worth it IMO. I would do this even if sticking with stock size valves.

5. Ask for a 3-angle valve job for both the seats and the valves. It takes twice the labor time to complete this compared to the run of the mill recon job, but is well worth it. If you have to replace the valves you may order valves with this already done having at least 2 cut angles.

6. The heads will need to be resurfaced. A cut of 0.030" inch is no problem for a 305 head, and actually prefered if you're going to be using a much thicker fel-pro type replacement gasket. Otherwise, just swapping to the thicker gasket will lower your compression.

7. Here's where the hi-performance question comes in. While the heads are off getting machined is a good time to do this if you ever plan to, but not necessary for a mild street build. I think it best to machine for screw-in studs and guide-plates, open up the pushrod slots, and re-cut the spring pockets. This will allow you lots of room to play later on if you want to add a good sized camshaft and higher capacity springs. You would not need to remove the heads again. It is absolutely extra cost in machining, drilling/tapping, and the neccessary studs, guide-plates, and harded pushrods of the correct length. If your machinist works it in as a good package deal then it's something to consider. Some shops use stuff like this to rape you on the labor and parts. If you're NOT swapping to a cam much larger than stock, then you can skip all of #7

I'm one of those people that don't worry much about cracks. The way I see it, if you have one that will cause a problem then you would already know that there's a problem. Some cracks never seem to hurt anything, and if they do cause a leak they can usually be repaired. The checking is one of those things some shops insist on, but remember it's also an extra charge like cleaning & assembly.

 

And at that point, the coxt of parts and labor would just about cover a set of aftermarket heads. Time to perform some comparison shopping?

 

just a word of caution, if you rework the heads ,and dont do the bottom end ,its gonna suck oil by the rings ,and smoke worse than before.just put valve seals on them for now.itll stop the smoke at startup ,and wont cause other probs.

 

Thats not necessarily true... smoking at startup is a sign of bad valve seals in the heads, which rebuilding them would cure. Why would the rings no longer seal because of a head rebuild?

 

It's just an old wives' tale

Go ahead and get the heads done. Your motor will work fine

 

I picked up a set of 416 heads for $20 and ported them myself for basically free and had the valves refaced, seats all done, and the guide tops milled for .525 lift cam. I also put new 981 springs on em and new valve seals....Total cost was $187 parts and machine labor. Of course I assembled and disassembled the heads on my own. Shop around, basic work like seats, guides, and valve faces do not require a highly skilled hi-performance engine builder to have done correctly.