I finally registered and made an account to these forums. I have read them countless times over the years and I first want to give many thanks to the Corvette knowledge and wisdom spread throughout this website. You guys have helped me on several occasions more than you know.

My background, I own an 84 which turned out to be a complete electrical nightmare for which they are known to be so I bought an 87 which I love and runs WAY better than that 84 ever did.

I have a couple questions and this is going to be long so bear with me.

First, I have a leaky valve seal. And also let me say that my car runs like a bat out of hell currently. The leaky valve seal isnt terribly bad all the time but it has been bugging me if i should take the valve cover off and replace the seals. I had completed a disassembly of my 84 block and was in the middle of a rebuild when i decided to ditch that project and buy the 87. So i think this is something within my skill level.

I want to put on 1.6 roller rockers while i am there but i am thinking if i do that then maybe i should upgrade the springs and lifters and rods since i am in the heads anyway. But does it make any sense to do that and NOT swap the cam out?

And my second question, if i decide to change the cam, then should i port the stock intake manifold, probably upgrade to slp runners because i am not sure if the stock runners are worth porting, and the intake plenum? And should i port the stock heads and pick a whole cam set up that compliments all these elements?

I suppose I could just change the valve seals and put on the roller rockers and port the heads and stop right there.

I have a month and a half off this christmas between semesters at school so i am trying to decide what i would like to accomplish within the time frame.

One other thing, my radiator just went out, I am thinking about upgrading to the champion 3 row all aluminum radiator they sell on ebay. I have been hard-pressed to find anything negative about these radiators other than that the core pieces are probably all imported from china and put together here in america. So what? $200 for an all aluminum radiator or $500 for an American made DeWitts. I am all about supporting American companies but it just doesnt seem worth it right now to spend the extra cash for that.

And i just generally want more top end horsepower without giving up a whole lot of that amazing C4 torque. I have another car so this is not my daily driver and i am on the fence about upgrading to a green filter with an open lid, and air foil, highly debated as trash but i have seen dynos that show improvement, and some taylor spark plug wires because i am still using the delcos with my DUI distributor. Long term goals, replace my 3 inch Magnaflow precats with long tube headers and a catback exhaust.

Any feedback or comments is greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

 

Plenum porting wont do anything by itself but will compliment the upgraded runners and ported base (do the runners, too). Selll the stock ones or throw them in the trash lol.

You can port the stock heads, they wont flow stellar amounts by any means but will be noticeable improvement over stock;stock TB
Figure with stock valve sizes you may get to 230cfm int/170-180 exh.

To put large valves seats etc isnt worthit may as well get a better head all together.

A "256 to 262" type cam would work well. No tight lobe centers.
Dont know if youd need 24 lb injectors or not someone else can comment on that.

Headers a huge plus.

You wont lose a bit of low end. You wont get a top end rush as the runners are too long for that but your powerband will be stronger everywhere and raise the rpm ceiling some. Perfect for a street car/cruiser.

 

I see what you mean about not getting stellar amounts of flow with the stock heads vs aftermarket heads but i think $1000+ for some AFR heads is out of the question for now. And i should be happy with the results i get from the stock. I would not be considering any of this if i did not have the one bad valve seal.

 

Save your money, replace the bad seal , then build the engine the way you want it when you have the money/time. Better yet find another motor (not in a car) and build it. Once it's done, do the swap.