hmmm pressed in studs in the irons. Dang i need to get back to that yard and grab some pics of a iron headed lt1. My rrs cleared for my stock valve covers just fine. But with all the info and differences between these two heads, im just going to go ahead and grab a set of larger valve covers to be on the save side. I got to say though im such a fan of the ltx because they are such an underrated disrespected motor and we tend to get a lot of back lip from our parent lt-1 and the current lsx brethren. Mostly because of that optispark deal. But non the less on my end, to have such a heavyweight hitter and have the performance of the lightweight high aggressivs f/y body, is really bad *** stock. But can be such a beast modified... In fact i cant wait to get my hands on another f body with an lt1.

 

Going to upload some pics and show you guys what im working with so far. Just a second.

 

 

 

how many miles on the opti, i would change plug wires and opti, water pump to if its never been done. have you considered sending heads to lloyd and have them done. http://www.elliottsportworks.com/
also may want to look into a cold air intake. i see you have a hot air intake on it.

 

Opti may be original, have not replaced it since ive had it. Ive got a MSD cap and rotor still new in the pack sitting here in front of me. Been contemplating on if i want to put that on or just by a new one just because. Mine seem to be holding up well at the moment. Everything else has been replaced and is not even a month old. New water pump, msd coil, summit 8mm wires, 160 thermostat, all my sensors have been replaced except the knock sensors and o2 sensors. Every vacuum hose has been replaced including heater and coolant hoses. So just about everything under the hood has been replaced except one or two things which will be addressed soon enough.

 

I havent looked at lloyd but i have a.i. though. Probably going to be a coin toss as to whom does the job for me. As for the intake, not much if any heat is getting into the intake. The setup is based off the RAISS intake. Ordinarily my radiator would be exposed with the stock fans. But im not running the stock fan 2 piece setup. I am using the one piece w body impala fans off a 2003 impala ls. It has its own shroud thus covering the entire radiator and blocking the heat, but still does its job of cooling.

 

opti will usually last between 60 and 100k miles. although cap and rotor can make it run better what will go in the opit is in the base.

 

See, thats the part that concerns me as to when exactly the opti was replaced from the previous owners if it was even replaced. So in all likely hood i will be replacing it when the head swap comes around. Hopefully it holds up until then. LOL. Ive got the heads scheduled to go on by mid febuary. So i will probably get a new opti within the next few weeks. Hell i might throw it on before the heads go on.

SS has about 168xxx miles on it.

 

i like the 396 in my impala ss over the 383 best of luck either way you go