Is this the correct book for small blocks?

Dale Davies said
Yes, I did think that would get someone excited.

Excited? Naaaa But a good conversation is at hand I think and always good for the forum.

Dale Davies said
1: Upgrade rockers. The idea with this is to gain a bit of lift without having to replace the cam.

Of course!

Dale Davies said
2: may... spring upgrade. The reason I stated MAY require a spring upgrade is that the stock springs may be adequate, but should be verified.

Thumbs up

Dale Davies said
3: LS valve springs. The idea is to compare the stock spring installed height and lift before coil bind and compare to the LS beehive springs.

A wise course of action

Dale Davies said
4: used springs. A low mileage Chev will most likely have good springs in it. As any time you are doing repair or modification on your vehicle, the parts must be inspected. Used springs from a low mileage salvage vehicle will be fine provided they pass inspection.

Now here’s the caveat, who has a spring tester handy to test?
I’m personally do. Most do not. Expensive for a one time purchase.

Dale Davies said
5: used springs, retainers and keepers. Again inspection of the parts. If no damage or wear they should be perfectly acceptable to use. A bunch of this is low buck performance. Most of us have our budgets pinched more so these days than previously.

Dived this reply in half and the first one is a repeat of above and the second half is Amen! Crap is expensive!

Dale Davies said
6: roller rockers with higher ratio. Semi inexpensive with only the valve covers requiring removal. Now valve to piston clearance at 10° BTDC for the exhaust and 10° ATDC for the intake must be checked. Depends on which ratio is chosen and how much the calculated increase in lift they will provide. About 10° BTDC and ATDC is close to the point of closest approach of the piston and valves.

This can be a pricey experiment.

Dale Davies said
7: Magnum valve stems. I do not know for certain what the Magnum valve stem diameter is.

Valves seals I just purchased are 7.92

Dale Davies said
The guys involved with UTG Mission Impossible were talking about the LA valves being heavy with 3/8" valve stems.

LA head, yes.

Dale Davies said
SBC and SBF are 11/32" except the 221 and 260 SBF which had 5/16" stems, but much smaller valve head diameters. DV measured a used 318 LA intake valve at 118g. My used 289 intake valve that had been ground once is 113g. A new Melling 1.9 LS intake valve is 96g.

Yes, heavy bastards the MoPars are.

Dale Davies said
8: LS valve wear. This is according to DV who has a lot of experience with cylinder heads. He shows a used valve they plan to use in Mission Impossible, bigger head diameter and lower weight.

The wear is in the metal used against the metal it’s sliding in combined with valve lift. Rpm and length of service are the next two items. Highly variable.

Dale Davies said
9: port floor generally a dead area. Yes some contouring can help in the right place. Short side radius is the big one on that topic. Outside that the port floor will give minimal gain and can actually lose flow. Generally a bit of filling on the port floor reduces cross sectional area and moves airflow up into the active area. This increases flow speed and port energy. That is getting a bit past quick cleanup and bowl work for inexpensive and quick performance boost.

Thank you!

Dale Davies said
There are things that can be done inexpensively on a budget for a street cruizer and then there is the step up a notch or two to more bracket or race modifications.
To replace the cam will generally require the removal of the radiator and possibly evac and recharge the air conditioning to remove the condenser. All I relate can be done without that.

The A/C system should (key word) remain intake and require no disassembly that would kill the use of it once reassembled. This may very well depend on the flexibility and length of the A/C hoses.