Basic head gasket replacement questions, 5.7 Vortec

[redfishsc]

Some of y'all have me convinced to go ahead and swap the head gaskets on this 99 Suburban K1500. It has 230K miles and the main thing I'm risking is that it has been driven with some coolant in the oil this summer, so the bearings may have been damaged. Engine ran smooth as silk when I drove it home (8 mile trip). Rest of the truck is in pretty good cosmetic shape for it's age.


Anyhow, a few rookie questions. I've been watching Youtube videos since I've never done a head gasket swap before. However, I've done the intake swap on these (on the other 1999 Suburban I have).

1. For a bone-stock engine and a bit of a lead foot driver, what brand head gasket should I consider?
2. If the CSFI spider injector seems to be functioning just fine, should I consider just swapping it now to the MPFI upgrade while I'm in all this?
3. Do I need to re-install the valve train pushrods into the exact same spot they came out of? I see some guys label them all, and other guys just seem to toss them in a pile when they remove them and shove them in whatever spot they felt like at reinstall.

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

FWIW i would take the money im saving, by doing the work myself, and put to upgrading as much as possible while in there. For a few hundred bucks more than just the headgasket you could have upgraded mpfi, new lifters, pushrods, and valve seals.

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[skylark]

1. For a bone-stock engine and a bit of a lead foot driver, what brand head gasket should I consider? Fel Pro and Fel Pro. It isn't worth doing the job twice. You also don't need new head bolts. Even though the bolts are torqued to angles instead of foot pounds, the aren't torque to yield.
2. If the CSFI spider injector seems to be functioning just fine, should I consider just swapping it now to the MPFI upgrade while I'm in all this? If you plan to keep it for awhile then yes do it while you are there.
3. Do I need to re-install the valve train pushrods into the exact same spot they came out of? I see some guys label them all, and other guys just seem to toss them in a pile when they remove them and shove them in whatever spot they felt like at reinstall. Being organized is certainly a good habit but in this case it really isn't a big deal. These parts aren't "mated" for life like a flat tappet cam and lifters.

 

[skylark]

I do agree with @Keepinitoldskool about putting a set of valve stem seals on there while you are there though. I will say that I've never had a GM roller lifter fail in a stock application so I personally wouldn't change them.

 

[98vortec]

i agree for sure replace the injection to mpfi i made a misake of doing intake gaskts and then find out it would not start.... but ran fine before... somehow the injection went bad... 98 chevy 305 vortec