[Grease Munky89]

I am a college kid so I have a very limited budget. Would it be worth it to get the stock cast iron heads ported? I'm running an E303 cam with 1.6 rr's.

Also, I've heard that you have to soak the lifters in oil before installation. How long and what kind of oil should I use?

How should I go about doing the valvelash when installing new rocker arms. I have 1.6 rr's.

Next question is what kind of MLS headgaskets should I get. I am going to spray the crap out of the car, so I want something that will hold up.

Laslty, what should I torque the ARP head bolts to with the MLS headgaskets?

Sorry for so many questions, I just needed help. Got no shops I trust in town.

[GhostDog 5.0]

I would get a set of ported heads if you can aquire them cheaply. The only time you need to soak lifters is if you install new ones or if your old ones have been out of the car for a while. After any kind of head or cam installation, it wouldnt hurt to pour some oil on top of the lifters. Whatever oil you normally use is fine.

Here is how I do it.
http://www.cranecams.com/pdf/453e.pdf

Whatever heads you get should be torqued to whatever the manufacturer specs say. Stock heads say 55-60 lb/ft the first time you torque , then torque again to 70lb/ft.

[95fiveoh]

I put Stock ported & milled heads on my 95 5.0. Didnt get much of any power out of it. If you want more power, bigger valves are the way to go. But I'm like you...a college kid on a budget.I'm also sprayin my car with 100 shot dry kit. I blew my head gasket at the local strip because I failed to replace the stratched head bolts. I replaced the gaskets and put new bolts in and I'm using FEL-PRO High Performance Head Gaskets from Advance Auto for like $25 each. They sell specialty gaskets for nitrous and supercharging, but Something a little better than OEM should be fine. good luck.

[Grease Munky89]

Cool. Thanks for the help guys.

I pulled the heads earlier today and found that when I sprayed, the car leaned out like crazy. Ever heard of red spark plugs? I hadn't either until I pulled them off my car. Now come to find I have red valves, too. Hah, whoops! Anyway, I'm probably gonna drop in some new valves, new valve guides, and get them ported. I am just taking my time on this. I just spent nearly $800 on parts and I still need at least another $700 worth to get the car to where I want it. Still need headgaskets, ARP hardware, get the heads done, longtubes, and an alternator.

Anyone know of a good alternator that can handle the load? Stock one failed. I have an underdrive kit on the car, so I thought that might be part of it. I was gonna get a Powermaster 140 amp from Summit. Hopefully that'll get the job done. (For $189 it damn well better! )