I have been making a to do list for my camaro complete with prices and was wondering about the heads. It is a 98 with the 3.8L. The car has 200xxx miles on the clock and I do plan on putting in a more aggressive cam. All this is down the road cause I still have to redo the suspension, rearend, and transmission but I don't know how sting the heads are after so many miles.

 

You will need to replace the Valve springs and rockers. The guides will be the big cost because when you replace/knurl the valve guides you have to do a valve job. If you have to much play in the guides then the valves will never seal right. Since all this work will need done at a machine shop it can get pricey. If you are on a budget you could probably find a Cheap set of low miles heads then just relap the valves by hand. If you are doing a cam you should do aftermarket Valve spring either way.
You might was to look into series III heads I think they are direct boltons and have slightly larger valves.

 

With 200k miles, after you make the heads nice and tight again, you'll wind up getting blow-by issues past the rings. Right now, your whole engine is worn together as a unit. After reworking the heads, the rings will be the weak link for holding back cylinder pressure. You'll definitely want to install a catch can to collect all the oil that will otherwise get sucked into your intake breather. Or you could do it the right way, and rebuild the engine.

 

yea I agree. if your gonna spice up the top end your better off rebuilding the motor. you'll have to do it eventually if not now.

 

Oh I intend on rebuilding the whole thing I was just curious if it would be wise to buy new heads or not. My plan is to have only the block and possibly the crank as original and replace everything else.

 

My plan is to drive it till the engine gives out and then rebuild it. I am buying tge pieces one by one so if all goes to plan I should have at least most of the parts I am replacing in my posession. But we all know about how plans go so I'm just trying to have an idea and a direction to go in