Hey guys...would like to get some opinions here. I just recently fired up a new 388 in my old crusty nova. I still have a lot of bugs to work out of the car so I haven't got to drive it hardly at all. I have decided to yank the engine/tranny and drop the car off for paint/bodywork. In the meantime, the engine in my '78 1/2 ton truck is coming out and going into my 3/4 ton with a shot 305 (swapping cams 1st). This is going to leave the '78 with no engine for a while. I was thinking of dropping the 388 in the '78 so I could put some miles on it. Now heres the problem. The whole package of the '78 truck is wrong for this engine. Some specifics are 388ci, 200cc pro-topline heads, weiand 7530 team g, 750 edelbrock, 294s comp cam (248/248@.050, 110 lsa solid flat tappet), 10.3-1, etc. The truck weighs around 4500 pounds with me in it, has a th350 with a 2000 stall B&M convertor, 3.08 gears, 1 5/8" headers, and dual 2 1/4" exhaust. I don't want to change anything on the truck as I will be putting a fresh 383 grunt motor in it next year built specifically for torque. The headers concern me though...the pro-toplines require a 1 3/4" header to match the exhaust ports. A 1 5/8" tube physically fits, but they are like putting a round tube over a square hole...the corners of the header tubes protrude into the flow area. Not drastically but it is definately mismatched. Could I expect any sort of header gasket life with this setup? I don't want to replace header gaskets every other weekend, and like I said changing the headers/exhaust system right now is not an option. Another concern is the torque convertor. I have a brand new 10" ATI that is supposed to flash stall around 3400-3500 rpms in the nova. Obviously all wrong for the truck, but will the 294s have any driveability with the 2000 B&M thats in there now? I am concerned that the B&M is too tight, and the 10" is too loose for driveability. Adding a tranny cooler to the truck is no biggie, but I think the weight and gearing is going to make it feel very mushy around town...even with a good convertor.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

My suggestion . . . by a half-dozen cans of spray paint and call the Nova good ;)

Seriously, I don't think the 248* @ .050 is going to work well with a 2k stall. But if you never expect to floor it at 2k then it would probably be fine.

PS. Just guessing, but I bet the headers would seal up fine. It really depends on whether the sealing flange on the header crosses the port opening - it it clamps OK then it will seal. Hard to guess w/o seeing it.

im with erik i think the headers will work .the only sugestion i have is use red high temp silicon or copper silicon as a gasket .let it set for 24 hours before firing off motor and you have a seal that will last a long time. the silicon will also keep the header bolts from working loose. the converter should be fine for every day driver also it wont take advantage of your power ban but should be fine for idle with your 294 cam