86 block / E7 head question
 

I am doing a head swap for my brother on his 86 GT. As the subject shows, I will be putting on a set of ported E7's on his car. I know the piston to valve clearence is ok with 1.6's but what about 1.7's ???? Anyone done this ????

Thanks, Tim

Well, with the 86 your dealing with flat top pistons, no flames, but how do you know that piston to valve clearance is okay with ANY rockers without checking? Or have you?

1.7's will give you .30 thousands more lift, even if clearance is okay, you should definetly replace the valve springs.

Let alone the Speed density issue now.

gtsr515 , I have know of a few people to do this swap already. But, do to the "rare" flat top pistons being involved, I don't get many chances to work on an 86 block with these in it. Yes, all clearences will be check before final assembly. But, I didn't know if anyone had done this before. It might save some time on buying parts and looking for deals. I am trying to see if I should tell my brother to look for a set of 1.6's RR or find a set of 1.7's RR . Know what I mean ? Its nice to do the head swap and rock arm upgrade once, instead of twice.

gotcha, I have done this, what I did was 1.6 on the intakes and 1.7 on the exhaust. Wish you success.

So how did it work for you ??? worth while or not ?

Tim, I'm not sure about the clearance but you should definately change the springs when you do it, Jegs has a set of crane springs for about $60, i got my comp's from summit for about $70

when you helped me put my rockers on i didnt notice much gain at all, and after i swapped in the T-5 i noticed i had valve float at about 5400 and higher, when i put the new springs in i could definately notice a good gain in power, not to mention i could rev all the way to the limiter :D

i dont know how much the springs helped, but with the combination of them, an elec. fan, and VERY cool weather i picked up over 5mph in the quarter (101.4 to 106.8best)

are you gonna be doing it soon? i've got a break from school starting thursday and going all the way through next week so i may stop by some time and see how its goin

good luck , talk to you later, Drew