I am finishing up a newly built 350.... I recently ordered better IRON heads for the engine.

The basics of the engine are:
1988 350 bored 60 over hyp. pistons. the rest of the specs are not so important for these questions.

1> I need to order new head gaskets. Do I just need the same size as standard 1.94 heads for a standard block... I am not sure if the 60 overbore is even a factor. I just see the different sizes in the catalogs.

2> I also need new roller rockers. There is a fairly large cam in there and currently I am using stock gm rockers 8 bave already broken... which do I need for a slightly higher lift cam approx .52x would I need 1.6 or 1.5 roller rockers. I am not sure what size I have now can I upgrade to 1.6 or do I need 1.5 roller rockers.

I know I dont have much detail on the questions so any insight on what I need to find out would also be appreciated.

I mean really appreciated....

Originally posted by Dungeon:
questions.

I also need new roller rockers. There is a fairly large cam in there and currently I am using stock gm rockers 8 have already broken... I'm no small block guy, but if you broke 8 rockers with 1.5 ratio, you'll break even more with a 1.6 ratio. Do you have a retainer to guide clearance issue or a coil bind issue?

SBC head gaskets are usually 4.100 or 4.166 bore, so you're OK.

It could be the slots in the rockers are too short for the lift. Long slot rockers should solve the problem. Unless you are in coil bind or the retainers are hitting the valve guides. If you have either of these problems, 1.6 rockers will only make matters worse. Roller rockers will solve the slot problem, if you have that, but will do nothing for the other issues I mentioned.

Thanks guys... I ordered some 1.5 roller rockers to be on the safe side... I did some research on the header gaskets and it appears that I have found the right felpro gaskets. I did a LOT of searching to find out about the roller rocker problems and I think the set I have coming in will fix the problem.

I REALLY REALLY appreciate the input. I am learning so please forgive me if my posts are not complete with info. I am not sure about the coil problem... How would I tell. I mean the engine runs smooth as heck for now even but it has already gone through 8 rockers... the rockers were used on another engine that I have no history on so they may not be as well I had about 30 of them.

If someone could tell me how to test for the coil bind I would appreciate it. These rockers are not so cheap they are 1.5 roller rockers with the stamped roller tips. I dont want to break these so I would really like to make sure there is not a problem anywhere else.

Thanks