Hi there,

seems I will have to do the headgaskets in my 88 Convertible with the stock 350 SBC with 113 heads.
As I get air in the cooling system and I am almost certain it is exhaust fumes from the smell....headgasket time it seems. No overheating so far and I do not want to warp my heads.

So I need to order parts from the US and I only want to place one or 2 orders for shipping reasons.
I plan on buying from either Rockauto or Summit, but preferable Summit as they have better choices.

With the heads removed, I also plan on installing roller rockers and LT4 springs and new valve seals.

I could need some help here regarding the parts I will need:

1. Which headgasket will be the best choice? I found this set, but it does not show thickness or bore. I assume I have the stock 4.000 bore....
FelPro MLS should be ok, right?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FEL-HS7733PT-9/

2. Regarding rollers, I think of Scorpion 1.6, but I´m still uncertain if self aligning or not....and if NSA, which guide plates to order. (Other thoughts welcome, especially those which allow stoch valve covers.)

3. I will ask my Chevy dealer how much the LT4 springs run, the part no seems to be 12495494. What else will I need? (Shims, retainers.. whatever)
Please let me know parts number if possible, for a all parts I need for a complete LT4 Springs swap.


I know this is a lot asking here, but for me it also is quite a project for me and I want to do it right from start. I have done similar stuff before, headgaskets, valve seals.... so I am not a complete noob, I still have no FSM, but Haynes and some sense of wrenching so I guess I´ll tackle this down now before any damage is done to the heads.

Thanks in advance!

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/NAL-12480002/

There is an entire hotcam kit. It comes with the cam too. Not sure if the rockers are 1.6 or not.

That includes springs, retainers, locks, cam, roller rockers.

All you would need to order separately is the seals and the headgaskets.

 

Hm.. that surely is a nice set!
Although I did not plan to change the cam too.....I will definitively consider this.
If the rollers were 1.6, I could also do the cam another time and now just dig into the heads, right?

 

and will this work with my current stock lifters/pushrods?

 

You have an 88 which came with a hydraulic roller cam, so it should work with your lifters. Not sure about pushrods, you may need to change them but they aren't very expensive.

You could wait and do the cam another time, but if you have the heads off and are doing valve train upgrades, why not go ahead and do the cam right away? You are very close to the cam when you are down to the heads.

 

I assume I have to remove the waterpump when changing the cam as it might interfere.Am I right.

Removing the WP is something I would really hate to do as I installed a new one just a week ago. It was no fun....

 

OK Update:

I just ordered the LT4 Springs, and will most likely order the HS7733PT9 Fel Pro Headgasket set tomorrow. Unless someone has a good reason for not using it or a recommendation for another HG type as the set contains the standard 7733PT2 HG.
Are they the recommended teflon coated ones?

As for rollers, I am still a little uncertain. The LT4 set with cam seemed nice, but I´m not in the mood to to the cam now, I am happy when done with the headgasket and RR job. So I am still leaning towards the Scorpion 1.6 rollers. I have read that 1.6 RR may cause rough idle and 1.5 RR for exhaust valves might be worth thinking......anyone?

 

Oh and one more thing: I will order new head bolts, or should I reuse the old ones (don´t think so)?
The 18$ FelPro set ES7285 should do the job on my stock engine, right?

 

As for the MLS, I'd do a bit more research on those. I seem to remember that the MLS/Cometic style gaskets require a good finish on the cylinder heads and block to seal correctly. This was back when they were first coming out. I've always used simple gaskets such as Mr. Gasket UltraSeals or Victor Reinz and had no issues. Something worth looking into though.

 

The 7733PT2 FelPro should be quite the standard gasket to use. I read almost all threads I could find concerning headgaskets. I learned to better avoid the 1010, the 1003 seems also ok, but the 7733PT2 seems the most unproblematic of them....

As for the LT4 Springs, I ordered GM Numbers 12495494 (Springs)
10212809 (16 Shims) ,19171528 (16 Caps) and 12495503 (Keepers)

That should be it regarding LT4 Springs on 113 heads, right? May I need to adjust installed spring height ?

Best regards