I run Hooker # 2149 headers and will they fit any angle plug head? Does it have to be L98 angle plug head?

Heads in question are... PROCOMP 3001A.

Price is good, flow is 261 / 186 @ 0.500" and 268 / 190 @ 0.600" (which I'd never see...).

Will these heads allow my headers to fit properly?

 

I don't know the answer to the question about plug angle and
compatibility with the headers.

But I wonder how you feel about the reduction in compression that
64cc chambers will induce when used in place of OEM heads that
have 58cc chambers?

.

 

Well, I'll be doing some engine work (block replacement and probable cam replacement too). If pistons are OK, I'll continue to use them but maybe use thinner gaskets / get the heads decked a bit?

Dunno, going from 58 cc to a 64 cc I figure I'd lose about 0.5:1 compression ratio, and I figure I'm at about 10 right now, so I'd be ok with 9.5 ish I suppose.

 

I agree that there appears to be a difference of
about 1/2 a point of compression lost by increasing
chamber size from 58cc to 64cc.

The advertised compression ratio for the '89 L98
is 9.5:1 according to specifications for this year
at CorvetteActionCenter and in the owners manual.

So with no other changes, 64cc heads on an '89
results in a static compression of 9.0:1. This
could work out satisfactorily if the heads were
iron. Since these heads are aluminum, my vote is
that potential power would be left on the table.

Perhaps the loss of a 1/2 point static compression
could be made up by building dynamic compression
through changes to cam/valve event timing changes
such as shorter duration. (But people on CF are usually
more interested in making duration longer than OEM.)

The more common practice is to keep the block and change the pistons.
In however little or much wear has occured to the engine,
cylinders will have begun to taper and the cross hatch
will have worn. Pistons skirts may have become scuffed,
ring lands may have distorted. Finding a satisfactory
block that the existing pistons would fit into within
the desired piston-to-wall clearances would present a
bit of a challange. This is why it is customary to toss
the pistons in favor of new ones in the smallest oversize
that the cylinders in the block will clean up to with the
least amount of boring/honing to achieve a good surface
for new rings to have a chance to seal to.

Thinner gaskets may or may not lead to issues with preignition
or detonation as a result of inadequate quench / squish.
In some cases gaskets that are too thin might cause physical
contact between the piston and the head &/or valve.

Wrenching with Rob--Chemical Soup: The Mystery of Detonation

Quench Quest

.

 

Not all proprietary angle heads will work with your headers, the only thing I can tell you is that you can call the manufacturer and ask if they are L98 angled plugs, or if they know they'll work with that header.

Or call Hooker and ask them, sometimes they'll know.