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Hey Tom,
My view is, if you're going to have the machine work done to put in hardened seats, then put in bigger valves. Jack Lawrence stocks them. You should also consider a bit of machine work to open up the exhaust ports. Do a search for "performance 96" and you'll find a really great website in the UK- click on the 96 tuning tab and check out all you'll need to know about heads and valves- as well as many other mouth-watering improvements.
So here's some thoughts.
Option 1: If you want to have a bit of performance improvement, go with the larger valves. But...you really gotta have the head porting work done to get the benefit. Then of course, you have to have the flow through exhaust to get the benefit. Then of course you have to have the bigger carb to get the benefit. These three things have to be done together to get the improvement- carbs, heads, and exhaust. The nice thing, is they're all basically bolt-on improvements- you can even BUY a set of heads all ported and ready to go. This is the most expensive, but most satisfying.
Option 2: Just do the machine work for the hardened valve seats for the exhaust. You'll need new valves anyway. Decide if you want to go bigger or the same. Cheaper, little performance improvement. No worries about unleaded gas again.
Option 3: Scare up a set of used heads that have decent valve seats/valves. Clean them up, do a little hand lapping for the valves. Bolt them on. Add a little lead subsitute to the gas every now and then. You're back on the road in the cheapest possible way. Cost is the used heads, the gaskets, and your time. I bet there's a ton of people with a pile of spare heads that they're tripping over.
Let us know what you decide to do. It depends on your budget and the car itself.
eric in vermont
posted by 68.142.3...
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