suggestions wanted
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,445
Likes: 971
From: Tennessee/Rhode Island
The 882 heads on your L-82 are not great and the L-82 cam with .450/.460 lift, LSA 114, 222 duration can be upgraded to much better ones. A moderate upgrade with better iron heads and a more aggressive flat tappet cam-.468/.489- would really wake the motor up. Great aluminum heads like the AFR 180's and a roller cam will make the motor scream-easy over 100+ more HP than the stock motor.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,305
Likes: 2
From: Lewisburg WV
thegazman
The 882 heads on your L-82 are not great and the L-82 cam with .450/.460 lift, LSA 114, 222 duration can be upgraded to much better ones. A moderate upgrade with better iron heads and a more aggressive flat tappet cam-.468/.489- would really wake the motor up. Great aluminum heads like the AFR 180's and a roller cam will make the motor scream-easy over 100+ more HP than the stock motor.
Listen to JB on this. I have a 79 L-82. I spent over $500 on the heads, and didn't gain much. A few dollars more and I could have bought a good set of heads.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 300
Likes: 10
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,445
Likes: 971
From: Tennessee/Rhode Island
I just went though this exercise on my 78 L-82 4 speed (3.70 gears)-66,000 origin miles-basically a stock engine with no emissions, 2.5 duals, shorty heads, Holley 4175 650 Vac secondary Q jet replacement etc. 2 years ago was thinking of aftermarket iron heads and lunati flat tappet cam-.468/.489 duration 217/225 ( I think) and that combo would have been a real wake up call for the L-82. Switched gears about 6-9 months ago and decided to dive 3/4 in with AFR 180 64 CC aluminum heads (bumping the compression to over 10:1) and a Howards roller cam (.525/.525, Duration 219/225, LSA 110). Discovered a burnt piston on tear down and went all in-complete rebuild of the L-82 with new pistons/rings-bored .030, bearings, etc-everything with the AFR's and Roller cam. Fired the engine for the first time in early June and it has been running great since. Holy smokes does it have serious power-and I mean real power! Easily more than A GM crate 350/383. If you optimize the correct combination of parts, your L-82 can become a real demon….
Hope that helps!
Hope that helps!
